'Mama' starring Jessica Chastain - trailer review
Mama Directed by: Andres Muschietti Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: January 18, 2013
TRAILER SCORE: 8/10
Thoughts by TSR: Recently there have been some solid horror films released towards the beginning of the year – I was a fan of The Woman in Black back in February – but I’m still generally skeptical. Before watching this I thought Jessica Chastain would be the only reason for hope (while I like Guillermo del Toro, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark didn’t work for me, so his involvement isn’t quite as big of a selling point). Having seen the trailer, however, this is no longer a film I’ll reluctantly check out. These 150 seconds offer some genuine chills, and I look forward to seeing what’s left to discover about Mama.
This is quite the transformation for Chastain, and she looks to be giving a strong central performance. That being said, the big star is the atmosphere. There are plenty of creepy moments to go around, from the opening with the men finding the girls in the cabin to the brief shot of legs floating in the air as the door closes. Even though none of it feels especially new, director Andres Muschietti seems to have a good handle on what makes these types of films effective. I won’t be entirely surprised if Mama fails to have many more scares, but I will be disappointed. Either way, this very successful trailer gives me hope that we’ll be able to find some real terror in theaters early next year.