9 Awesome Movies That Started Out As Short Films
6. Mama
Mama is one of those perfectly formed horror shorts. You get no backstory or context, you’re just dumped in the middle of a scary situation while the director takes you for a ride.
The Spanish language short has two young girls sneak out of their room when they realise “Mama” is home. They try to leave the house, only for Mama to catch sight of them, and we learn she’s some kind of freakishly deformed demon. Even though it’s only three minutes long it’s a stylish and beautifully shot affair, with Mama herself being pure nightmare fuel.
Guillermo Del Toro proclaimed it the scariest short he’d ever seen, and produced the feature-length version in 2013. The film expands naturally on the concept, and while it lacks the short, sharp jolt of the original the feature length version is one of the better studio horror movies of the last few years.