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Why ‘Mama’ Was a High Point For Modern Horror

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As Andy Muschietti preps to adapt Stephen King’s It, let’s revisit his debut feature.

In less than three minutes, Andy Muschietti and sister Barbara Muschietti established themselves as forces to be reckoned with in the horror genre courtesy of the 2008 short film Mama. In the short, two young girls get out of bed and go downstairs to find a truly nightmarish entity in their home, and when he saw it, Guillermo del Toro was so impressed and terrified that he knew he had to help turn the simple concept into a feature. So he used his power to do just that.

Five years later, the del Toro-produced Mama opened in the top spot at the domestic box office, but three years after that, I can’t help but feel that the film has never quite gotten the respect it deserves from the horror crowd. And it deserves a whole lot of respect.

Dark even for a horror film, Mama begins in the wake of a man murdering his wife and business partners amid the financial crisis of 2008. Afterwards, he drives his two young daughters to a remote cabin where he intends on killing them too, but the horrific plan goes awry when a strange entity shows up and saves the girls. Several years later, the deceased man’s brother tracks down the sisters, who had been living in the woods all those years, and he and his girlfriend adopt them. Happy family, right? Not exactly. Because Mama wants the kids all for herself.

We eventually learn that “Mama” is the vengeful spirit of Edith Brennan, a mentally disturbed young woman who escaped an asylum in the 1800s and jumped to her death off a cliff, her own baby in her arms. As it turns out, the baby got caught on a branch on the way down, and so Edith entered the afterlife without her child in tow. After spending decades wandering the woods and looking for her baby, she came across sisters Victoria and Lilly, taking them under her wing as if they were her own.

And she’s not letting go without a fight.

Boiled down to its essence, I suppose you could call Mama a haunted house movie, but it’s because of the ambitious and emotionally-charged storytelling that it’s something more than just another spooky tale about just another haunted house. A custody battle by way of a supernatural horror film, Mama is primarily centered on the struggle between a living woman who doesn’t really want children and a dead woman who will stop at nothing to get them, and it’s this key idea that makes the film so very compelling.

On the living side, a pre-superstardom Jessica Chastain is Annabel, who has reluctantly agreed to play the mother role for feral sisters Victoria and Lilly. The character is immediately established as the sort of young woman who can’t even bear the thought of being a mother – in an early scene, Annabel’s day is made when she learns she’s not pregnant – making her the complete antithesis of everything Edith stood for in life and especially stands for in death. Annabel is a very interesting character for this sort of story, and her arc from budding rockstar to loving mother is the heart that beats at the center of the film.

And then there’s Edith Brennan, aka “Mama,” who is unquestionably one of the most unsettling horror villains to haunt the big screen in the past ten years. Looking more like a Xenomorph than a human being, Mama is visually stunning in the most nightmarish of ways, and that’s thanks in no small part to yet another creepy performance from Javier Botet. The distorted facial appliance, combined with Botet’s unnatural movements, proves to be the recipe for a tragic horror villain that will endure and continue to terrify for years to come. How many modern horror movies can stake that claim?

It sends chills up my spine just thinking about the sounds Mama makes.

If it feels like a traditional haunted house film during the second act, and indeed it does at times, Mama firmly establishes itself as the twisted fairytale it most definitely is when it comes time to wrap up the story. The finale, fittingly set on the edge of the very same cliff Edith jumped off of many years prior, boldly achieves a sort of fantastical beauty that calls to mind the work of both Tim Burton and Guillermo del Toro, and with it Muschietti proves that he’s a visionary filmmaker of the highest order. He’s also a filmmaker who’s not afraid to see a story through to its logical conclusion, no matter how dark he has to go in order to do that – the film ends with Mama grabbing Lilly and jumping off the cliff, ending her own pain and killing the young girl.

When Mama’s body literally explodes into hundreds of black moths upon impact, there’s simply no denying that Andy Muschietti’s debut feature is less a run-of-the-mill horror film and more a striking piece of dark art. In more ways than one, it’s quite unlike anything you’d ever expect to see in a Hollywood-made horror film, and though there may be some familiarity inherent to the proceedings, Mama is altogether the sort of creative and boldly original genre effort that us fans are so often begging for. Backed by a compelling story and full of genuinely terrifying imagery, it’s a gem that more than deserves a second look from those who maybe didn’t appreciate it the first time around – I know I didn’t, and I sure as hell do now.

If Mama is any indication, we’re all in for a real treat with Muschietti’s It.

mama

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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