Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 35 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 151 Ratings

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 35
  2. Negative: 3 out of 35
  1. Reviewed by: Tasha Robinson
    Jan 16, 2013
    83
    Plenty of horror movies are willing to settle for making audiences jump. Mama is more ambitious by far: It makes sure viewers are emotionally committed even when they aren't clutching their armrests or covering their eyes.
  2. Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    Jan 17, 2013
    80
    Instead of delivering buckets of guts and gore, this ghost story offers a strong sense of time and place, along with the kind of niceties that don't often figure into horror flicks, notably pictorial beauty, an atmosphere throbbing with dread and actors so good that you don't want anyone to take an ax to them.
  3. Reviewed by: Mike Scott
    Jan 18, 2013
    60
    It's a good, old-fashioned sit-around-the-campfire ghost story, one that delivers on its sole reason for existence: to raise the hairs on the back of your arms.
  4. Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    Jan 17, 2013
    38
    There's something dead and rotting at the center of Mama, and it isn't the ghost of the woman who lends the horror film its title.

See all 35 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 57
  2. Negative: 9 out of 57
  1. One of those very rare horror flicks tat never fail to impress u.A lot of genuine scary scenes.Even if ur one of those people who can sit through all of the scenes that cause a stir the storyline will never disappoint u.the story has been well written.The movie is calm and quiet throughout the story moves at a decent pace...also not one of those dull movies or those set of horror movies that end on a depressing note..and yes, it also does a brilliant job at making u jump out of your seat when u have to unlike most other movies that try to force tat upon u and fail. Expand
  2. 8
    It was a good movie,starts slowly but bottom stage get the momentum,and ended nicely.Well written script and decent effects.End was better than i predicted. Expand
  3. This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This was a disappointment - expected more from Del Toro, even if he wasn't directing. The premise was interesting enough and riffing off financial collapse (now that is a horror movie) was a promising start. But despite good acting and decent cinematography the film falls into cliches and is disjointed. And can we all admit that CGI is not frightening? It just pulled me right out of the film and any hope of feeling horror soon turned into annoyance. There were a number of jolting moments but generally these turned out to be cheap stunts to get a rise from the audience. I'd recommend as a rental. Expand
  4. If you like horror movies with non stop CGI, a storyline used over and over, unlikable characters, no real scares, and a ghost that looks like something out of a bad cartoon. Than this is for you. The theater was laughing non stop at the stupid that is Mama. Its as dumb as the title. Collapse

See all 57 User Reviews

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