As with most films of the horror genre, I'm not fond of them specifically for reasons of the creativity relying far too much on the shock factor, buckets of blood, predictability and usually poor writing. Certainly this genre has been receiving a much needed overhaul what with "Get Out" and "Us". So, to continue in that mold we are offered "Ma" where suspense is coupled with horror to hopefully kick start a tired genre.
Octavia Spencer stars as Sue Ann, a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie (Diana Silvers), a new teenager in town, to buy some booze for her and her friends, and Sue Ann sees the chance to make some unsuspecting, if younger, friends of her own. She offers the kids, including Haley (McKaley Miller), Andy (Corey Fogelmanis), Chaz (Gianni Paolo) and Darrell (Dante Brown), the chance to avoid drinking and driving by hanging out in the basement of her house. But there are house rules: One of the kids has to stay sober. Don't curse. Never go upstairs. And call her "Ma". But as Ma's hospitality starts to curdle into obsession, what began as a teenage dream turns into a terrorizing nightmare, and Ma's place goes from the best place in town to the worst place on Earth.
Others to round out the cast are Juliette Lewis as Erica, Maggie's mom, Luke Evans as Ben, Andy's dad, Tanyell Waivers as Genie, Allison Janney as Dr. Brooks, Dominic Burgess as Stu, Heather Marie Pate as Ashley, Missi Pyle as Mercedes and Tate Taylor as Officer Grainger.
It was directed by a filmmaker that's not uncomfortable to venture out of his comfort zone, Tate Taylor ("Pretty Ugly People" '08, "The Help" '11, "Get on Up' '14, "The Girl on the Train" '16) plus TV and a short. This director knows how to get his actors to extract the most effective emotions, and the fact that he has an extensive acting background gives him that ability a little easier--he knows what actors go through so he can empathize. I can truly respect the chameleon-like attribute of this filmmaker. He takes chances and succeeds well. It will be interesting to see his next film, "Eve" which is in post-production, and his "George and Tammy" which is in pre-production. It was effectively written by Scotty Landes (tons of TV as far back as 2010). Other than Spencer's presence in this film, what makes this film a bit different from the typical horror film is that it builds the suspense, as opposed to going to the juggler of the audience almost immediately. Sue Ann comes across as just a lonely woman who just wants to make friends. Then, looking at this through Sue Ann's eyes, as others starts to disappoint her, she begins, subtlety, letting her obsessive-compulsiveness to bloom and soon, all hell breaks loose. There is a method to her madness which the audience will see as the film unfolds, but, of course, nothing justifies her ultimate psychosis.
This film certainly was written to convey this growing psychosis, however there were some inconsistencies and things that just didn't add up that concerned me. Was this just the character's psychosis or an error in storyline? Usually the problems that newer writers have is they need to hone there skill on more TV, but this writer has already gone down that road a lot, so I feel that if this guy could just get more scripts thrown his way, I believe this writer can become that artist he is. He has talent--he just needs more work. He does have his "Deadcon" which is in post-production, so it will be interesting to see if he does improve with that one. We'll see.
Surely, this will satisfy the staunchest of horror fans out there, especially with Octavia Spencer in the title role. She truly makes this film palatable at all--certainly memorable. Certainly, it does its job in keeping its audience on the edge of their seats, which is total escapism at its finest.
Out of 4 Stars: 2.5 Rated: R 99mins.
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