Mama Reviews
Badass Digest
MAMA's a little silly and a little flawed, but it's a blast, it's original and, most importantly, it carries genuine emotional weight.
Fan The Fire
In the end the clichés and overly repetitive plot structure can't derail what is a well-played, well-shot horror flick.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
3AW
Just how scary is Mama? Put it this way; if you're suffering from constipation, this'll cure you.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
sbs.com.au
There are lots of shocks but no real surprises in Andres Muschietti's Mama, a grimy, unpleasant Canadian-Spanish co-production from the stable of Guillermo del Toro.
Movies.com
[Andy Muschietti, Neil Cross, Barbara Muschietti and Guillermo del Toro] have an intuitive understanding of internalized chaos... and, best of all, the pleasures of a really cool, skinny-limbed death-entity living in the closet.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
Urban Cinefile
Haunting with its tragically melancholy story, Mama doesn't treat audiences as naïve fools. I am most impressed
Urban Cinefile
Mama delivers good old fashioned scares without cheap gross-out and even moves us by its surprising and effectively executed lengthy climactic sequence
SFX Magazine
Very European in its direction, aesthetic and narrative, Mama possesses a strong, emotional core that will surprise those jaded by some of the lazier horror titles of late.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Daily Star
There are just enough twists to the old formula to keep you guessing to the end.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Bloomberg News
The digitally created Mama is spooky in smaller, sudden doses, a spindly, broken-boned corpse-like thing with fingers like tree roots.
Full Review
| Original Score: **1/2
Irish Times
If you can swallow the porcelain Chastain as a tattooed bass player in a punk band, then the supernatural hooey will not seem in any way hard to believe.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
The Ooh Tray
It seems churlish to admonish Andrés Muschietti for pushing our buttons so effectively for much of the running time, but one wonders how many variations on this increasingly well-worn theme remain.
Birmingham Mail
It's an original concept but still uses horror clichés to signal shocks - loud noises, slamming doors and flickering lights.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Daily Mail [UK]
Mama is an old-fashioned offering that's low on gore and high on atmosphere, not unlike some of the better Japanese shockers that came out after The Ring.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Daily Express
Atmospheric and initially quite intriguing Mama turns more conventional once the lights start flickering and things go bump in the night but it is still a superior supernatural shocker.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Contactmusic.com
Expanded from a sharp 3-minute short, this horror mystery is packed with clever jolts and witty freak-out moments.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Flick Filosopher
There is some majorly cheesy stuff going on here... but some elegantly simple scares too, really primal stuff involving unknown things that might be under the bed and shadowy things that might be in the closet.
ViewLondon
Watchable horror flick enlivened by stylish direction, some nice ideas and a strong performance from Jessica Chastain, though it overplays its hand a little towards the end.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
The Skinny
While well executed, Muschietti's feature debut lacks the originality and flair to have much staying power, though it ends on a high with an unexpected, oddly bittersweet conclusion.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
