Mama is my first horror film on the big screen, discounting Pizza and the awful Charulatha. At the cost of sounding boastful, I must say horror movies don't easily scare me. I even criticized Pizza for falling flat when it came to scares, scares which largely worked on most of the people I discussed the film with. Despite knowing how well films of this genre open at American box-office, I was unsure if they were actually effective when, in spite of the great sound, one is surrounded by hordes of people. My Mama experience has left me with mixed thoughts.
Because watching the trailer beforehand marginally diminished the film's impact, I will refrain from going into the story and try to be vaguer than I usually am. After being rescued from the cabin in the woods, the girls take a long time to get used to civilization. The older one is closer to society, but the little one appears to have been scarred beyond recovery. Their uncle Jaime Lannister and his girlfriend, played by a delicious looking Goth Jessica Chastain, devote their time to rebuild the girls' life.
Mama has a decent story and is a generally well made horror film which avoids the genre's cliches. It doesn't go for cheap thrills and never ceases to be interesting. It is also supported by strong crafts. Yet, ultimately, it doesn't deliver on the scares even as much as I would have liked it to. So, again, like with Pizza, I think I should be recommending this film nevertheless.
The back-story about this particular person who the kids refer to as 'Mama' presents itself to the many lead characters in the form of dreams (nightmares, actually). It makes sense that characters take their time before realizing that they are in a horror movie where weird things can happen. But everything is pretty apparent to the viewers who know what they have got their selves into. So once the revelations stop being revelatory, it is up to them to go all out on the scares. I honestly don't know how films belonging to this genre work. I am just telling you what could have made this far more interesting for me.
On more than one occasion, we are made to believe everything we witness in a static frame is normal, and then, by the introduction of newer information, we suddenly understand that things are not okay. It is of the more interesting devices the film uses, and to great effect. Sometimes, the joke is on us; rest of the times on Chastain, who happens to be our only connection to this story where strange things can happen.
In our movies, we don't like to see good people get hurt. From the little horror I am accustomed with, I understand the world works in such a way that people get hurt/die when they are not particularly affable or are a little too curious. This rule holds true in Mama, where generally everyone is good in their own way and make their own share of sacrifices to look after the girls' betterment. But in order to have some sort of catharsis, we have a circumstantial antagonist in the form of the girls' grandmother who is out to secure their custody from their uncle. So even though she's not a bad person, people were very pleased to see her come in harm's way because she is placed relatively low on the goodness scale.
I saw it in a theater which boasted fancy Dolby Atmos sound system and I am still not convinced these films work better on the big screen. I think Mama is definitely a film worth checking out. I leave it up to you to decide how you want to watch this film.