MOVIEmeter
62
Down 22 this week

Mama (2013)

6.3
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.3/10 from 37,810 users   Metascore: 57/100
Reviews: 179 user | 314 critic | 35 from Metacritic.com

Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years.... but how alone were they?

Director:

Writers:

(screenplay), (screenplay), 3 more credits »
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 2364 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 574 titles created 18 Jul 2011
 
a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 2653 titles created 11 months ago
 
a list of 333 titles created 09 Apr 2012
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Mama (2013)

Mama (2013) on IMDb 6.3/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Mama.
8 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Evil Dead (2013)
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods. The evil presence possesses them until only one is left to fight for survival.

Director: Fede Alvarez
Stars: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci
The Collection II (2012)
Action | Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

A man who escapes from the vicious grips of the serial killer known as "The Collector" is blackmailed to rescue an innocent girl from the killer's booby-trapped warehouse.

Director: Marcus Dunstan
Stars: Josh Stewart, Emma Fitzpatrick, Christopher McDonald
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.3/10 X  

A mother and daughter move to a new town and find themselves living next door to a house where a young girl murdered her parents. When the daughter befriends the surviving son, she learns the story is far from over.

Director: Mark Tonderai
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, Elisabeth Shue
Stake Land (2010)
Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

Martin was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in an empty pit of economic and political disaster. A vampire epidemic has swept across what is left of the nation's abandoned ... See full summary »

Director: Jim Mickle
Stars: Connor Paolo, Gregory Jones, Nick Damici
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

In 1988, young sisters Katie and Kristi befriend an invisible entity who resides in their home.

Directors: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Stars: Lauren Bittner, Christopher Nicholas Smith, Chloe Csengery
Crime | Drama | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

When Brent turns down his classmate Lola's invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge.

Director: Sean Byrne
Stars: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, Victoria Thaine
Carrie (1976)
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A young, abused and timid 17-year-old girl discovers she has telekinesis, and gets pushed to the limit on the night of her school's prom by a humiliating prank.

Director: Brian De Palma
Stars: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

In the dreams of his victims, a spectral child murderer stalks the children of the members of the lynch mob that killed him.

Director: Wes Craven
Stars: John Saxon, Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp
The Tunnel Movie I (2011)
Horror | Mystery | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.8/10 X  

An investigation into a government cover-up leads to a network of abandoned train tunnels deep beneath the heart of Sydney. As a journalist and her crew hunt for the story it quickly becomes clear the story is hunting them.

Director: Carlo Ledesma
Stars: Bel Deliá, Andy Rodoreda, Steve Davis
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.5/10 X  

A group of young adults discover a boarded up Camp Crystal Lake, where they soon encounter Jason Voorhees and his deadly intentions.

Director: Marcus Nispel
Stars: Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Amanda Righetti
Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5/10 X  

Six tourists hire an extreme tour guide who takes them to the abandoned city Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. During their exploration, they soon discover they are not alone.

Director: Bradley Parker
Stars: Olivia Dudley, Jesse McCartney, Nathan Phillips
The Evil Dead (1981)
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.

Director: Sam Raimi
Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
Lucas / Jeffrey
...
...
...
Dr. Dreyfuss
...
...
Jean Podolski / Mama (Voice)
...
David Fox ...
Burnsie
Dominic Cuzzocrea ...
Ron
Christopher Marren ...
Cop
...
Nina
...
Judge
Diane Gordon ...
Louise
...
Young Cop
Edit

Storyline

Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years.... but how alone were they?

Add Full Plot | Plot Synopsis

Genres:

Horror | Thriller

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and terror, some disturbing images and thematic elements | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

| |  »

Country:

|

Language:

Release Date:

18 January 2013 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Majka  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$28,402,310 (USA) (18 January 2013)

Gross:

$71,588,220 (USA) (29 March 2013)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

,  »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Annabel is searching Dr. Dreyfuss' computer, the folder containing his research is mistakenly labeled "Reasearch." See more »

Quotes

Dr. Dreyfuss: There is no rational explanation that supports this theory. But it is only the ability to embrace the different reality, that makes science expand beyond the limits of what we know. However, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs.
See more »

Connections

Spoofed in Mad: Papa/1600 Finn (2013) See more »

Soundtracks

"VAMPIRE GUITAR"
Written by Gerard Misael
Arranged by Alberto Bernad, Marcel Cifré, Gerard Misael, Sergio Roldán y Javier Ruiz
Performed by Mr. Mîsael & Los Atormentados
(r) 2012 by Mr. Mîsael & Los Atormentados
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
A Nutshell Review: Mama
18 January 2013 | by (Singapore) – See all my reviews

The title may be tacky, but this Canadian-Spanish co-production, with Guillermo del Toro lending his name as producer, is one of the better horror films to have come out from the West in recent years, despite being filled with the usual clichés, actually contain a proper story, and delivered really well in terms of chills, thrills and everything that's necessary to creep you out and make you jump at your seat. Co-written and directed by Andres Muschietti, Mama shows how it boils down to story, building upon his short film of the same name some 5 years ago, and a solid cast to gloss over the expected bag of tricks.

Many of the clichés were put to good effect, which in some ways you'd come to expect certain things to happen in a certain way, and they did. While it may be blunted in terms of anticipation and build up, it didn't shy away from delivering that sucker punch when required, and kept good work in framing and editing for maximum impact when the moment called for the unabashed dip into tried and tested elements. One thing you'll note is how assured Muschietti's direction is, as if doing it all for the very first time, with the aim of wanting to stir up its scares really well. Liberal use of CG also helped, but never done in slip-shoddy fashion, which added a layer of positive production values to the film.

I mean, there's creepy children, a ghoul that gate-crashes a reunion of sorts, and the usual spooky house no thanks to noises during strange timings, and the rote blinking of lights. All ingredients that you've seen utilized to the death in various horror film productions, but coming together really well in Mama, playing to the strengths of these elements while fiercely ignoring the negativity associated with lazier filmmakers who just slap these elements together, expecting them to work. It's not a special effects extravaganza when it's not required, and Mama showed just how its story and characters were allowed to lead, rather than to have strangely illogical moments, even for a horror film, fall coincidentally into place.

Jessica Chastain may be the latest IT girl in Hollywood, and it's encouraging to note she's really going all out to take on various roles in different genres, despite her more recent art house leanings of late. Here, she's the quintessential scream queen, albeit only just, given her role of Annabel being a rock star wannabe, sporting almost full body tattoos that betray a rather soft demeanour, when her maternal instincts get called upon to look after the nieces of her boyfriend Lucas (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau). They were found after having disappeared for five years, which the opening sequence and credits would have pointed to an unnatural upbringing under the hands of the titular Mama ghoul. Battling for custody, it is with reluctance that the couple take the children under their wing, probably because Annabel knows she'll eventually be dumped with the kids, which did happen.

And the entire middle act is when the fun begins, for fans of horror films forking out good money to be entertained with the roller coaster ride of scares. Muschietti and his story collaborators Neil Cross and Barbara Muschietti managed to keep an entire back story up their sleeves, to reveal them in teasing fashion, which worked to keep you engaged throughout. And credit must go to Muschietti and his DP Antonio Riestra for having framed the initial introduction to the ghoulish elements that went for maximum WTF surprises, especially with sleight of hand techniques that didn't jar the narrative, nor relied on the necessity of a jump cut edit to hammer home its creepier moments. It grows, slowly, and that's one master stroke Mama had that worked wonders.

This is the second film in a row that had its child actors provide top notch performances. Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse play sisters, who with the aid of CG move around complete with unnatural mannerisms, having it in term to creep you out, before having to develop their characters into emotional cores that added a lot more depth to this film as it steamrolls its way to the finale. Andres Muschietti is the name to watch now for taking something that's expected to be cliché in a horror film, but fulfilled more than you'd bargain for. A definite recommend!


71 of 107 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
'Mama' was atrociously terrible aikijutsu
Two things I don't get irish12-690-159753
Significance of Victoria's glasses OldYoJembo
This was a great movie, up to the time mama showed up. jimwestby
The Dog that followed 5 years old trail elated-firefly
Two questions apostatul
Discuss Mama (2013) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?