Mama (2013), produced by Guillermo Del Toro and directed by Andres Muschietti is without a doubt, one of the best horror films produced since the existence of Paranormal Activity 3.
The story starts off with a lunatic father, who after killing his wife, rushes off to make a quick get-away with his two young daughters. He loses control of his car after driving too fast on a snowy road. After surviving the crash, they are left stranded and wander through the woods, until they come across an abandoned cabin. Once they enter the cabin, the father is about to kill his daughter when something emerges from the dark and snatches him away. His daughters, Victoria and Lilly are then left parentless.
Five years later, they are discovered and rescued by friends of their paternal uncle. But by the time their uncle and his girlfriend adopt them, they seem to have lost all sense of civilization and have a disturbing tendency to scuttle about spider-like on all fours. For the duration of the film, the family is used as a single unifying master-figure, which the haunting tale is built around.
The psychiatrist who is treating Victoria has a sound explanation for everything the children do, see and experience. According to him, the children invented an imaginary mother during their years of parentless existence in the remote forest cabin. But it turns out, the ‘Mama’ they speak about, is in fact, a demon instead.
What sets this horror film apart from others, is the fact that the storyline is an exceptionally sensible one. There are no unconnected dots or, anything that happens without a logical explanation.
When we finally learn why the ghost has been interacting with Victoria and Lilly, the pieces of the narrative puzzle fit together perfectly.
A MUST SEE MOVIE!
-Shanawaaz Sonday
