Mamá

Mama (2008)

*** (out of 4)

Andres Muschietti's three-minute short is what helped get his 2013 film made. Fans of that film (whick I'm one of) will certainly want to watch this just to compare how the sequence here looked in the feature. What we basically have is two little girls walking around their house when they notice mama and try to get away from her. This scene was actually redone in the feature to a very good effect and considering this thing just lasts three-minutes there's really no reason to try and treat it the same as a feature. With that said, I was actually quite impressed with this short as the director at least managed to build up some tension and the pay-off was nice. I will also admit that I actually liked mama from this short better than the feature, which was good but often times relied on too much CGI. Both Victoria Harris and Berta Ros are good as the children.

Open your eyes kids! No innocent mother would open up her crusty arms and tilt her body in an unspeakable shape, rapidly looming in for a hug. None! Muschietti manages to build enough tension within the short two minute runtime, so much so that a feature film was produced years later. Slow camera movement through dark claustrophobic corridors, crafting an adequate amount of suspense. The minimal use of lighting also enhanced the atmosphere, further illustrating the bleakness of the house. However aside from his technical prowess, it simply is just a horror sequence. A clip if you will. Not exactly a complete short, and unfortunately not a memorable one. Sure, "Mamá" herself is eerie and needs to eat a hamburger or five. But with no substance, it is just a disposable short that really doesn't give enough scares. Think of it as teaser. "Oh, that would make a good film!" is what Muschietti was aiming for. To which he succeeded. Alas, a few more minutes to further set the mood and create some memorable scares were required, and could've set a high bar. Mamá creeps on in, and yet quickly creeps out of your mind. Thank God the film was better...

It was an okay short. The atmosphere is creepy and well done.

Feels more like a "demo reel" or a preview than a proper short, but it was a decent watch.

I liked it at first, a very creepy and unsettling atmosphere was created with the two little girls in the empty house. Unfortunately it devolves into horror cliche nonsense and becomes stupidly goofy and predictable. Haven't directors learned? Imply the horror, don't show it.

Little Victoria (Berta Ros) is waken up by her sister Lili (Victoria Harris) who insists on leaving the house because somebody unpleasant has come back.

Although I watched this through the tainted point of view of seeing the feature film first, I think I can judge and review it objectively. (At least I hope so.) In this very short film, we have two little girls scared by an unknown entity. We do get to see this "Mama" a bit, and she is indeed something to fear. I actually think the effects look far better here than they do in the full-length version.

This excels as a short film because it leaves us wondering: who are these girls, what is this Mama, and where are the parents? And despite leaving us with questions, it is very self-contained. The lack of plot is actually more effective than having a plot.