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Reviewed by Jesse Miller, MoreHorror.com

Anything that has a “Guillermo Del Toro Presents…” tag above a film, be it horror or otherwise, I know I can get excited about because that man just has an eye for some bizarre and refreshingly original content and he hasn’t let me down yet.

Mama comes from the twisted minds of Andrés Muschietti and Bárbara Muschietti and is the result of Guillermo Del Toro discovering their 2008 short film Mamá and being so impressed by it that he helped the duo develop a feature film around the concept with bigger toys to play with in the sandbox.

I could begin this sentence by going into the plot and setting up the storyline for you all, but Mama is one of those horror films where you are best going into blind and discovering plot details for yourself and even beginning to describe how this...

Today’s film is the 2008 short Mamá. The film is written and directed by Andres Muschietti, and produced by Barbara Muschietti. Andres and Barbara Muschietti made their feature film writing debut on the horror film Mama, which was released in American theatres this weekend, under the tutelage of Guillermo Del Toro, who produced the feature length film and introduces this particular short. Andres Muschietti also made his feature film directing debut with Mama.

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For those of you still with no background on Andrés Muschietti’s supernatural horror film Mama, it can all be traced back to a powerful little short film, well, short scene if we’re being more accurate. Depicting the return of a mother to her two young daughters (we assume), we find out Mamá isn’t all that into hugs and kisses, and she’s actually some kind of apparition our pint-sized protagonists fear. Running only at about two and a half minutes, we get no explanation or backstory for what could have happened to Mamá, but someone rather influential became instantaneously impressed with Muschietti’s effort, jumping on board to produce a feature film based on the tiny Mamá short. That man, as you now know, was visionary director Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth/Hellboy), who can now be seen introducing Muschietti’s short film for all to see.

Academy Award®-nominee Guillermo Del Toro (Pan.s Labyrinth, Hellboy series) presents Mama, a supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day their parents were killed. When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something wants to come tuck them in at night.

Five years ago, sisters Victoria (Red Riding Hood.s Megan Charpentier) and Lilly (Mirador.s Isabelle NÉLISSE) vanished from their suburban neighborhood without a trace. Since then, their Uncle Lucas (Game of Thrones. Nikolaj Coster-waldau) and his girlfriend, Annabel (The Help.s Academy Award®-nominated actress Jessica Chastain), have been madly searching for them. But when, incredibly, the kids are found alive in a decrepit cabin, the couple wonders if the girls are the only guests they have welcomed into their home.

As Annabel tries to introduce the children to a normal life,...

Mama Short Film. Andres Muschietti‘s Mama (2008) short film, with a Guillermo del Toro introduction, stars Victoria Harris, Irma Monroig, and Berta Ros. Mamá‘s plot synopsis: “Litle Victoria is waken up by her sister Lili who insists on leaving the house because somebody unpleasant has come back”. We previously published the Mama (2012) Movie Trailer [...]

Continue reading: Mama (2008) Short FIlm: Andres Muschietti, Guillermo del Toro Intro...

Coming to theaters next month is the horror-thriller Mama, executive produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by Andres Muschietti. The story actually started out as a short film, which was what convinced Guillermo del Toro to get involved in this feature. Today, the full short Mama has been released, with an introduction by Guillermo del Toro, who calls it, "one of the scariest little scenes I've ever seen." Check out this short before Mama hits theaters January 18.

Mama - Full Movie

Mama was released January 18th, 2012 and stars Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Jane Moffat, Daniel Kash, Julia Chantrey, Hannah Cheesman, Isabelle Nélisse. The film is directed by Andres Muschietti.

Mamá was released in 2008.

Short Rounds is a biweekly column dedicated to spreading the love of short film. Every other Wednesday we'll curate a number of flicks around a theme, from current film festivals to whatever is in the air. You know you've got the time. Tim Burton’s original Frankenweenie debuted in 1984, almost three decades ago. Now, all these years later, we get to see his new stop-motion take on the old film. Yet while the wait is extraordinary, the project isn’t. Shorts get adapted and expanded all the time, often to great success. District 9 comes to mind, or Bottle Rocket. Others are currently in the works, like Spencer Susser’s I Love Sarah Jane and Andres Muschietti’s Mamá. Some of these are more faithful than others. Frankenweenie...

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There is a long history of creepy kids in horror movies, from the twins in The Shining to Samara in The Ring. Now they are joined by Victoria and Lilly from Mama. Produced by Guillermo Del Toro (a seal of quailty after taking producer duties on The Orphanage and Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark), the movie tells the story of Anabel (Jessica Chastain) and Lucas (Game Of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who take custadoy of Lucas' nieces after they were left alone in the woods for five years. Needless to say events take a turn for the strange, making the couple question how alone they were. Based on director Andres Muschietti own short film, Mamá, this movie promises to be immensely creepy and atmospheric. The trailer creeped me the hell out anyway. Released: 18th January 2013 (U.S.)/ ? (U.K./Irl)...

Blanket statement: let’s stop associating with feral children. It really hasn’t worked out too well, you know? Cinematically speaking, we have Nell from Nell (heartbreaking), Howie Mandel’s character from Walk Like a Man (embarrassing), Jason Vorhees from Friday the 13th (yup, he lived in the woods), The Penguin from Batman Returns (yick), and the little monsters of the upcoming Citadel (monstrous). When it comes to real life, well, perhaps you can draw yourself away from this brief listing of feral children over at Wikipedia, which I’ve been studying intently for quite awhile now, but good luck on that. That all said, look! New feral movie children! What a terrible idea! In Andres Muschietti‘s Mama, a pair of kids are discovered years after their mother was murdered and also after they disappeared into some nearby woods. To live in. Ever since. For years. Let’s definitely adopt them! Of...

While rumors about Guillermo del Toro’s The Hobbit were recently debunked, the director has enough projects on the horizon to keep our attention shifted elsewhere. Even though Del Toro is up to his proverbial eyeballs in film, he somehow managed to find time to support the work of budding filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti. Del Toro will be helping them develop a feature version of their short film, Mamá, which was a festival hit during its release in 2008. Though the clip looks promising in its own right, it wouldn’t hurt to have thee Del Toro backing them. He helped [...]

Post from: Screamstress...

Even though Guillermo del Toro is prepping The Hobbit down in New Zealand, he's still finding time to mentor budding filmmakers. In 2006, Guillermo produced and developed Juan Antonio Bayona's The Orphanage, which when on to become a minor hit for Picturehouse. Del Toro has now found two more filmmakers - Andy and Barbara Muschietti (as announced via the Risky Biz Blog). He will help them develop a feature version of their short film Mama which has caused a stir at a few European film festivals. Andy will direct, and Barbara will produce, through their Madrid-based company Toma Films for Universal. Apparently the short Mamá is only three minutes long but has won numerous awards in Europe. That photo you see above is a behind-the-scenes production photo and is all that's really out there right now. The story is about two young sisters who wake up one morning and find...