10 Great Horror Films Ruined By Terrible Endings
2. Mama
Andy Muschietti's first dabble with feature length horror is a loving, tender piece of work. Following two young girls rescued from an abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods, the orphans are followed by a dark presence named 'Mama', one that intends to look after her children with a ferocious maternal instinct. An ancient spirit that longs for her lost baby, Mama wants to reunite with her child in the afterlife, with the two girls standing in as substitute.
Whilst the ending doesn't ruin the film outright, it suffers the same affliction as Sinister in ruining the 'horror' part of its narrative - showing too much of the titular monster and dampening her threat as a result. Mama moves from a dark, shifting, unknowable entity into a clear CGI baddie, one shown in a way that isn't worthy of the build up the rest of the film delivered her.
The rest of the ending works as tragically charming of course, with one child used as a stand-in for Mama's lost baby and giving her life to be with her. It's ballsy, but the quality of Mama's design doesn't hold up to make this land quite as well as it could of otherwise.