Saleem’s Annual Horror Scene Gallery #6: Mama

Movie Title: 

Mama

Movie Scene: 

Edith Attacks Dr. Dreyfuss

Forgettable as the overall movie may be, this particular scene in 2013's Mama is what I can confidently consider as being a perfect representation of “top notch horror cinema”. As the character of Dr. Dreyfuss enters into the creepy darkly lit and cabin investigating, he witnesses what appears to be a black moldy-like hole in the wall dripping with possibly blood and a moth fluttering out. Already from the imagery alone, there's a foreboding sense of impending doom lurking without the titular entity appearing. And then...it happens. An offscreen blood curdling groan takes center stage, and much like the investigator, the audience is completely on their toes darting around with panic.

Dr. Dreyfuss's flashlight begins to go out leaving in him in a pitch black room resorting to his only light source being that of his camera's flash. With each panic induced flash we can make out the decrepit details of the room's conditions giving the scene an even more unnerving feeling of dread. But the true terror of this moment lies within the utterly disturbing groans happening within the eerie nighttime setting. Speaking as someone who has watched countless of supernatural horror properties where ghostly entities are involved, these are by far the most frightening sounds that I've ever come across in this genre. 

With a combination of anger and yet anguish in the groans, the entity of Mama (Edith) sounds like an older woman in both pain and irritation giving it more unexpectedly humanistic dimensions and intent. The cinematography brilliantly presents a sense of desperation with Dreyfuss's camera flashes in various parts of the room being followed by the point of view of the scene itself moving to meet his angle. This perfectly immerses us in the headspace of Dreyfuss as he desperately relies on his one limited light source for safety. And as the groans of the entity escalates with a gradual sense of anger, the camera then lingers on one corner of the room revealing a fragment of Edith appearing as if eerily sliding out of her hiding place with each flash before attacking him. 

The heightened contrast of the lighting gives her an absolutely freaky looking, ghoul-like appearance while the growls being heard transition to full on screams of sheer rage. The scene is downright nightmare fuel from a visual and audio standpoint and a gold standard example of how to craft a scary ghost scene. Yes, it's a CGI effect on the entity which doesn't look entirely flawless in certain scenes, but the thoughtful use of lighting and sound design makes it feel like both a heart racing scene of cinematic frights as well as a surprisingly realistic piece of paranormal documentary footage.