10 Horror Movies Monsters That Just DIDN'T Work
5. Mama - Mama
In Andy Muschietti's folk horror Mama, two girls are abandoned in the forest by their unstable father, where they're fostered by a spirit called Mama. When the girls are found and adopted by their uncle, Mama becomes consumed with jealousy, urging her to haunt the family.
As can be observed in the IT franchise, Muschietti has a talent for focusing on slow-burn tension and atmosphere. Although there are jump scares, they're executed well, thanks to Muschietti's clever filmmaking techniques.
For the most part, the camera cuts away just as Mama is about to be seen, perpetuating her mystique. Mama is so unsettling that she would've functioned as an overarching villain even if she never physically appeared. So, when Mama makes her presence known in the third act, the intrigue and mystery behind her instantly dissolves, since she comes across as a generic monster.
On top of that, the CGI for Mama is so poor that it feels like the special effects team ran out of time working on her. Even though the final confrontation is meant to be haunting, Mama's incomplete rendering is deeply distracting.