“Mama”: a modern horror movie full of suspense

By Meem Mohsin,

HUB Staff Writer–

Modern horror movie “Mama” instantly throws you off with an incredibly fast paced first scene, leaving you in a state of absolute confusion. Throughout the movie, all questions are slowly revealed along with horrifying scenes.

“Mama” starts off with two little girls, the older sister Victoria and younger sister Lilly, being abandoned in an empty, wrecked cabin deep in the woods after their father murdered their mother. Shortly after, the young girls mysteriously disappear without a trace.

Their loving uncle, Lucas, has been desperately searching for years to find his two nieces. After five years, two old men who are friends with Lucas are searching for the two little girls as well.

Fortunately, they find the same cabin that the two girls disappeared in. To their shock, they find Victoria and Lilly, but the state they the two girls are in is extremely critical and animal-like due to them losing human contact and being isolated in the woods, naturally becoming similar to creatures. Though they were abandoned at such a young age, they managed to survive on their own. The younger one, Lilly was just a toddler, leaving her unable to communicate. Victoria was fortunate enough to recall her vocabulary since she was older.

Immediately, Lucas and his girlfriend Annabel adopt them and are able to live at the girls’ old house. It takes a lot of patience for both Lucas and Annabel to make the girls feel comfortable with and re-connect with the world again.

After a couple of days, a series of questionable events happen which make Lucas and Annabel question that Victoria and Lilly have company along with them – evil, frightening company that isn’t another human being. The couple takes action immediately after they confirm something is going on. In order to protect the girls, they risk their own lives. Unfortunately, the disaster begins all over again.

“Mama” ties into an old fashioned story which almost anyone would be interested in for modern days. “The Grudge,” a horror movie made in 2004, is fairly similar to “Mama” where they have a distinct past story leading to the movie plot.

I personally enjoyed “Mama,” though horror movies are a lot for me to handle, especially at a movie theater. It kept me on the edge of my seat, which was an enormous thrill. If I’m going to watch a scary movie, I want it to be worth it by making me absolutely terrified.

Although the ending was disappointing, I was highly fascinated by the central plot and I liked that I was in a state of “what’s going on” the whole time and yet had all my questions answered thoroughly. “Mama” officially comes out on Jan. 19, 2013. If you can handle a suspenseful thriller, I’d recommend this movie.