Mama

Starring: Victoria Harris, Berta Ros, Irma Monroig
Directed by: Andy Muschietti
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Short, Horror
Length: 3 minutes
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two girls are terrified when Mama returns home.

Review:

Tim: The main reason to see Andy Muschietti's short film, Mama is to get a better understanding of the origin of his 2013 feature film of the same name. This Spanish short film is really just one scene (which is updated but very similarly presented in the full-length film). This movie is more of a concept movie than anything else. It showcases his talent as a director and his vision for what a longer story might be.

In this short, we see two young girls who are awakened when Mama returns home. We quickly discover their main feeling is not excitement, but terror. There's an effectively frightening sequence of Mama arriving and scaring the heck out of the girls (and us). It really is meant to evoke a desire to see more. It feels very much like a single scene, Muschietti made no attempt to tell a full story in just three minutes. Obviously, his work paid off- Guillermo del Toro became a fan, Muschietti was able to expand on this for a feature film five years later and his career was off to the races.

I watched this short right after concluding the feature length film and I found it fascinating to see the origins of this character and the story. As I said, this short film shows up in the movie, almost identically shot. It's one of the most frightening sequences in the film, so it makes sense that he would incorporate it from the short to the feature. You can tell the production values were of lesser quality here, the budget had to be minuscule. Even still, I found the film to be sufficiently frightening. I did read some reviews of bros claiming this movie wasn't scary at all. To each their own, of course, but I personally found Mama to be a terrifying presence. I loved how she was depicted here (and in the feature film). I think this short shows clearly that Muschietti had a brilliant idea to expand upon and the talent to frighten audiences.

I enjoyed Mama and it was fun to see an early Muschietti film. I'm a fan of the director and I think he's really talented. This short film is well worth a watch. It's definitely one of the scariest short films I've ever seen.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- N/A



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Mama (2013), Geometria