ONLY 6.2!!!!!!
OK this movie deserved way more than a 6.2. Why the low lating
shareNo, this is not a good movie.
shareCan you explain why you didn't like it? Just curious.
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I think that the fact that it is actually quite scary and needs no blood and a great story makes mama deserve about a 7.5 rating as far as horror genre ratings go. Even the best of them aren't usually very high so a 7 would do it justice.
At the same time I say screw the IMDb ratings half the time because people love to give films like this a 1!!! I get it if you did not like it but people that don't like films are quick to give a 1 or 2 and that's ludacris. At the lowest this film deserves no less than a 4 or 5. Regardless I enjoy it and the first time I watched it I was really scared and jumpy. That works for me in a genre that has so few of the qualities that I mentioned earlier. People just don't get what real horror is and the younger generation especially thinks SAW films and that crap is horror.
THERES NO ROOM IN MY CIRCUS TENT FOR YOU !!!!
I agree completely, even if I hate a film, I won't rate it that low unless it really is that bad. IMBD has a lot of trolls pretty much, like if a movie has a all black cast, they down vote it like About Last Night, I bet most of those people never saw that film. Rating this a 6.2 makes no sense, this was scary, had a great story, good directing, and it was deep. My guess is that they want trash like Saw or something like that. Its not the best ever horror film, but its a top notch one. What I find funny is that the Woman in Black is rated 6.5. That wasn't a bad one, but this was clearly better. To it was worse than that film is way off, so yeah who cares about IMDB ratings like that?
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I dislike it because it follows the annoying fatalistic trend of movies where no good side can ever win and in this case some ugly insane ghost just gets away with stealing a child.
The woman who suffered her death and then became this horrible child stealing monster has absolutely no redeeming qualities. There are films where the entity which seems evil at first actually has some redeeming element to them. For example they know some secret crime of the ones they kill. Like they seek out people who are actually evil, and maybe avoid those who are ok people. Or alternatively, some higher power protects the innocent ones. If anyone is innocent in this film is the little girls whom the evil ghost has stolen.
This film goes along the same trend of films over last twenty years or so in which there is no happy ending, or like in this film, the morality or the laws of the ghost world and world of the living are so messed up and nonsensical that it's just stupid. For example if the ghost was upset that her child was killed and then actually protected the children in the cabin, then why does she essentially absorb and destroy the girl in the end? She'd continue defending her.
I have to disagree, and I think you missed several important details.
If the ending was as you claim it is, then both the girls would have died, perhaps unwillingly, and Mama may have even killed one or both of the couple for added measure. As is, one chose to stay behind with her family, the girl who was old enough to remember and have a significant connection to her previous life. The younger sister had no memories of her life before she met Mama and no connection to anyone as significant as her connection with Mama. Therefore she chose to stay with Mama.
Why does Mama want to drown the children she claimed to care for?
Did you miss the part where it was explained that "a ghost is an emotion bent out of shape, condemned to repeat itself time and time again". Mama was doomed to repeat what she had failed to do earlier, jump off the cliff and take her baby (Lilly) with her. This time she succeeded, and upon doing so both Mama and Lilly were able to move on together.
So I would call the ending bittersweet, with perhaps an extra side of bitter. While it has certainly a good deal of sadness, there was also a twinkle of hopefulness as well. The remaining three embracing, and Victoria looking up with a smile as the moths flew away into the sky, symbolizing that her sister and Mama had moved on to a better place; both are strong indicators that the ending isn't entirely as fatalistic and depressing as you make it out to be.
I have to disagree with you. You're the one that has missed important details and moreover, not addressed Vortexrider's points at all.
He claimed the ending was unreasonably upsetting, with a "torture porn"-like quality to it. This is true. The baby of the family gets killed by this monster. Two sisters who are incredibly close from birth are torn apart and this family that was just beginning to get a second chance at life is left indelibly traumatized. The ending serves only those who like to see evil win. Whatever you said about both girls dying and the couple dying as well makes no sense. Maybe if the spirit had done that, you would then say, "Well, she could have easily killed everyone in the city or everyone in the world, but she's such a good force, she didn't do any of that!" It's not about the number of deaths or, conversely, about screaming for a "happy" ending. It's about an ending that makes sense - one that resonates with our emotional and logical cores.
The younger sister did not choose Mama. She chose her sister in the end, holding on to her older sister as long as could, before she was evilly dragged away by the monster. You try to explain why Mama would want to kill "her" children, as if that makes it all ok. She was criminally insane in life and a vengeful, evil spirit in death. Normal audiences were robbed of the satisfaction of seeing this thing get destroyed because there are a class of people who enjoyed seeing this thing win - among them, the filmmakers of Mama.
Umm, she was an escaped asylum patient, so yeah, she was kind of insane. And I and the movie already explained her obsession with drowning the child. She wanted to fulfill what she had failed to do with her own child previously.
If you want to look at this ending as a "toture-porn" bad ending, that's your choice, though I might recommend that you actually watch a few of the Saw and/or Hostel movies if you're going to make a claim like that, because I honestly think that's kind of ridiculous.
I stand by my claim that this movie's ending is bittersweet. If you want to watch movies with totally depressing endings, check out Requiem for a Dream, Eden Lake, Funny Games, Dancer in the Dark, The Mist, or any of the Saw or Hostel movies. By comparison to the endings of those movies, this one is like a Disney style happy ending.
Gruss Vom Krampus!
Again, you haven't addressed vortexrider's central thesis: this film follows the same frustrating trend of horror films not having positive endings. Your argument is, "Oh, the monster only killed one child, not both, therefore this ending is 'bittersweet'" That does not ring true or correct - the family is still torn apart and an innocent child is killed by the monster. I understand that Mama's ending may seem a teensy bit brighter when compared to an awful movie like Funny Games, but I am still amused that you find anything sweet about Mama's ending.
Saw and Hostel don't deal with supernatural entities. A lot of films that do (see Sinister series, Insidious, Halloween series, Friday the 13th series, Nightmare on Elm street series, The Witch, Paranormal Activity series, The Descent series) end on the awful note of the monster/evil entity winning and killing the innocents they trap in their snares.
In my opinion, great horror can be as much about redemption, self-actualization and a meaningful, character-driven, journey as they are about the visceral scares over the course of the film. I'm thinking of films like The Exorcist, The Others, Poltergeist, The Conjuring, among others). Good horror can also have negative endings (The Blair Witch Project comes to mind) but it is rare for me that film is both entertaining and has a negative ending.
There was absolutely no reason for Mama to have reneged as she did and kill Lilly when she seemed initially satisfied with the offering of the dead remains of her actual child. An ending that showed both Mama at peace and the family in one piece would have been infinitely more satisfying and organic to the narrative.
He claimed the ending was unreasonably upsetting, with a "torture porn"-like quality to it. This is true.
Only if you define "true" as adhering to your own opinion and making it fact.
The baby of the family gets killed by this monster.
And in the beginning, a man, not a monster, kills his wife and is about to kill his girls when this "monster" saves them from him. That doesn't seem to bother you. How is one "torture" and the other not?
Two sisters who are incredibly close from birth are torn apart and this family that was just beginning to get a second chance at life is left indelibly traumatized.
It wouldn't have happened if Victoria hadn't made a choice. Would you prefer her to die as well? They would be together then.
The ending serves only those who like to see evil win.
How reassuring must your good vs. evil view of the world be. And how naive.
Maybe the ending is just for grown-ups who weren't fed Disney lies.
It's about an ending that makes sense - one that resonates with our emotional and logical cores.
Apparently it resonated with some of "our" emotional and logical cores. Just not yours. Doesn't mean the movie is terrible or that everyone should agree with you.
For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco share
Only if you define "true" as adhering to your own opinion and making it fact.I don't get your issue with my statement. I said "This is true" to the sentiment that the ending is unreasonably upsetting. Films are subjective experiences. This is my opinion and that sentiment is true to me. Do I need to end every sentence with, "...to me." to make that clear for you?
And in the beginning, a man, not a monster, kills his wife and is about to kill his girls when this "monster" saves them from him. That doesn't seem to bother you. How is one "torture" and the other not?One is completely unrelated to the other. When did I ever talk about this random plot point you've brought up bothering me or not? The youngest child is killed by the Mama creature. Jeffrey Desange (the man in the beginning) got what he deserved - did Mama?
It wouldn't have happened if Victoria hadn't made a choice. Would you prefer her to die as well? They would be together then.Again, you try to 'prove' the superiority of your opinion with non sequiturs. Now apparently I somehow indicated I would prefer Victoria to die? No, what I said was (and I hope this is clear enough for you), I didn't want Lilly to be killed by the Mama creature. Also, you state Victoria's choice tore the two sisters apart. 8-year-old Victoria sensed the real danger the evil Mama was pulling the two girls towards (the fall off the cliff). 5-year-old Lilly could not sense that same danger because she was too young, nor could she assert her need to be with her sister strongly enough because of her vulnerability. Lilly clung to Victoria as long as she could, till Mama forced Lilly away towards the edge of the cliff. There is no evading this fact: Lilly was then killed by the Mama monster.
How reassuring must your good vs. evil view of the world be. And how naive.You don't know my world-view. I stated that the Mama creature is evil (which in itself is a subjective sentiment). The film essentially depicts this creature as having won. I don't like this. I would have to like seeing evil win in order to like this ending. It's that simple. You're the one talking about grown-ups, Disney and lies. Again, non sequitur.
Maybe the ending is just for grown-ups who weren't fed Disney lies.
Apparently it resonated with some of "our" emotional and logical cores. Just not yours. Doesn't mean the movie is terrible or that everyone should agree with you.That's sensible. Thank you for stating clearly it resonated with your emotional and logical core. That helps define a satisfying film experience. I am glad you got that from this film. I don't need you to agree with me and I certainly don't need everyone to agree with me. However the movie is terrible...to me. share
jambawala writes: "Lilly clung to Victoria as long as she could, till Mama forced Lilly away towards the edge of the cliff. There is no evading this fact: Lilly was then killed by the Mama monster."
Mama did not force Lilly to do anything. Throughout the entire film, Lilly is crying out for Mama or searching for Mama. Lilly goes with Mama out of the purest love.
And, Lilly does not die. Mama gives to each person exactly what they were searching for. To Victoria, Mama gives a new mother (Annabel); to Annabel, Mama gives a daughter; To Lilly, Mama gives her a spiritual re-birth (Lilly becomes a butterfly as a caterpillar becomes a butterfly -- a caterpillar does not die when it enters a cocoon, as Lilly enters a similar enclosure with Mama: Look inside and you will see Lilly smiling!)
Celebrating 100 Years of DADA * Feb. 5, 1916 * Zurich
The Mama monster did force Lilly away from Victoria. It's right in the movie, Lilly is pulled away from Victoria by the evil creature and Lilly is bawling as this happens. That's literally the scene and not my opinion.
When you say
Lilly goes with Mama out of the purest love, that's absolutely your opinion and frankly a nonsensical opinion where I'm concerned. Lilly is five years old - she's comfortable with the Mama creature because that's all she knows and unlike her older sister, she's not mature enough to discern the evil and madness within Mama, nor can she surmise the awful end she will meet by continuing to engage with this Mama creature.
Your last paragraph is wholly your opinion as well, there is very little in the movie that actually bear your statements out. So you're saying Victoria specifically was looking for a new mother but Lilly wasn't? Where in the movie is that demonstrated? This is the part that gets me though - you're saying a five-year old girl was searching for a spiritual rebirth?. Lilly was an innocent child with little-to-no awareness of normal and evil or safety and danger. In fact, the movie juxtaposes Lilly's actions with Victoria's throughout the film, and at the end, Victoria's relatively greater awareness, maturity and presence of mind saves her own life. Lilly's age and consequent immaturity means she calls out to the Mama monster, out of a child's innocence. This spells her own death unfortunately. share