Earlier
this year, Andrés
Muschietti and Guillermo del Toro released the
horror film Mama, a story about two young girls who are raised in the
forest by an unseen force. The girls' father takes them into the
forest intending to end all of their lives, but is attacked by a
mysterious entity before he can complete his plan. Five years later,
the girls are discovered and brought back to civilisation where they
tell stories of their protector, simply calling it 'Mama'. The
girls' uncle, played by Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, takes
the girls into his home and begins to raise them, along with his punk
rocker girlfriend Annabel, played by Oscar-nominated Jessica
Chastain.
As
the make-shift parents begin to take care of the girls, the strain
begins to take its toll on Annabel, who doesn't want to be the girls'
new maternal figure, striving for freedom to play in her band.
However despite this, the girls begin to bond with Annabel and
reluctantly vice versa, causing 'Mama' to become increasingly
jealous. 'Mama' begins to act out towards Annabel, culminating with
Annabel fighting the supernatural force for the children which she
never thought she'd care for.
Mama
was a refreshing change within the horror genre, since the characters
felt more realistic than those found in a typical ghostly thriller.
Unfortunately, as a big Game of Thrones fan, I was hoping to see more
of Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister in the HBO series, but
his role is quite insignificant compared to those of the film's
women. Where most films usually would focus on Annabel trying to
connect and be a mother to the girls, it was innovative to have a
woman striving for freedom, and who did not really care for the
adopted kids, heartless as that may sound. Annabel seemed more of a
three-dimensional person with selfish aspirations, who's character
development could be believable and interesting. Their central
relationship and the theme of a mother/daughter bond made me recall
another horror film featuring the same motifs; Silent Hill.
Silent
Hill is a disturbing and grotesque gem of a horror movie, adapted
from a highly-acclaimed video-game. A young American couple, Rose
(Radha Mitchell) and Christopher (Sean Bean, another Game of Thrones
star, unfortunately sporting an incredibly irritating American
accent), adopt Sharon, a young girl who constantly suffers from
nightmares of a place called Silent Hill. So like every sensible
mother would do, Rose takes her adopted daughter to the ghost town of
Silent Hill to try and cure her of these dreams. (There's proper
horror-movie-logic for you!) Unforeseen complications leave Rose
alone in the ghost town and searching for Sharon who has disappeared.
During the search, Silent Hill's history is slowly revealed to Rose,
all surrounding an old witch-hunting cult and a victimised young girl
who suspiciously bears a resemblance to Sharon.
Now
with the exception of the Game of Thrones men, the main cast of both
films are women, a relatively rare feat for horror films today, since
through the years they have either been gender-neutral (Final
Destination/Saw etc.) or male-orientated (The Thing, Death Watch,
Outpost). I find both films unique as both focus on rarely touched
subjects, such as the bond between mother and daughter, with Silent
Hill containing the more probing aspects of gender persecution and
victimisation. Male characters in both films are seen as ineffective
meddlers, brutal destructors or insidious molesters, highlighted by
Silent Hill's Janitor-creature and the iconic Pyramid Head. Too
often horror movies stereotype and victimise their starring women and
I feel like Mama and Silent Hill fight against those standards.
Mama's Annabel and Silent Hill's Rose and police officer Cybil fight
for their freedom as well as what they hold dear, showing strength in
their emotional and physical sides.
Whilst
the films share a common gender theme, the films differ in their
treatment of the overall horror aspects. Silent Hill is made only
more frightening and detailed by the exposure of it's monsters,
whereas I felt that this is where Mama lacked quality. Don't get me
wrong; there are sections of Mama that truly frightened me, but just
not as often as Silent Hill. During Mama, you are subtly shocked by
surprises and intrigued into a scene before being shown the full
picture and I appreciated the way Muschietti and del Toro held back
on showing 'Mama' for as long as they could. However, these moments
happened so infrequently that I was disappointed when subtlety
disappeared and Muschietti decided to reveal 'Mama' in all her
cartoon-ish glory. The previously-discussed Pyramid Head, the
Janitor and the terrifying Grey Children of Silent Hill all added to
the horrific alternative reality and fleshed out the world that they
inhabit, but the evil spirit of 'Mama' disappointed me. It's full
form was revealed too early and looked like a child's drawing than an
all-powerful threatening ghoul, ultimately negating all tension in
the final scenes where Mama is in full view.
I
must reiterate that I enjoyed both films, but I thought Mama could have
done more with it's potential. It slipped into standard
horror clichés too quickly based on the strength of it's original
premise. However both films are fine examples of alternative horror
movies, with women being the kick-ass heroines, rather than the
victimised babysitters that were so popular in the '70s and '80s.
(I should also recommend the British horror film The Descent when discussing effectively threatening, all-female thrillers but the feature is called 'Two For Tuesday' and it had to be sacrificed, but it is an equally terrifying and powerful film!)
Mama - 6/10
Silent Hill - 8/10
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