Horror Movies

Viewers need to be quick if they want to catch the harrowing tale exploring the “twisted depth of maternal love”

There are now just days left to stream a film viewers believe “everyone should watch” once in their lifetime.

Currently available on Netflix, the story centres around two children, Victoria and Lily, who are found abandoned in a dilapidated house in the woods years after the death of their parents. Experts are left completely baffled as to how they have survived with seemingly no food or resources around them.

The sisters are brought in to a safe facility where they are monitored by childhood behaviourists who believe they have likely been alone for five years.

In order to reintroduce them into society, the girls are taken in by their uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his partner Annabel (Jessica Chastain) who intend to provide them a safe and loving environment at home. However, they soon learn there is more to the case than first meets the eye.

The film in question is 2013 horror, Mama, which will be leaving Netflix at the end of the month. Viewers have until July 25 to stream it before it’s gone for good.

As per the official synopsis: “Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for five years…. but how alone were they?”

Alongside Oscar-winner Chastain and Game of Thrones alum Coster-Waldau, the cast also includes revered horror actor Javier Botet. Mama was directed by Andy Muschietti, famed for his work on the IT horror franchise, with Guillermo Del Toro also on board as an executive producer.

At time of writing the film has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 63 per cent from critics and 55 per cent from audiences.

“Mama expands a chilling short film into a full-length feature exploring the dark, twisted depth of maternal love,” penned one viewer, as a second declared: “Everyone should watch this movie at least once.”

“This is actually a pretty good movie,” said another. “I don’t understand the hate from some critics. I haven’t seen this movie in many years, but it has aged very well. It also has a lot of great scenes and creepy moments.”

Meanwhile a fourth watcher added: “I don’t know what it is about it, but this film somehow stuck with me. In my opinion, it does not get the credit it is due. Very atmospheric movie.”

Mama is now streaming on Netflix. It will leave the platform on July 25.

The Scream movie series is one of horror’s most successful franchises and has seven films under its belt

A star from the horror film franchise Scream has revealed the surprising amount he still earns from one of the movies.

Back in 1996, the Scream series kicked off with its first instalment. Directed by Wes Craven, the film followed Sidney Prescott and her friends being targeted by a sadistic killer who donned a black cloak and white mask: Ghostface.

Due to the first film’s success, several more movies followed including a sequel in 1997, and a third instalment in 2000. Then, after 11 years Scream 4 was released in 2011.

And more recently, the slasher franchise was brought back in 2022 for a fifth movie and 2023 for a sixth. This year, a seventh film was released which became the highest-grossing film of the series so far.

The satirical whodunnit was a huge hit thanks to a clever script penned by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven’s direction, while the characters’ awareness and acknowledgement of horror film clichés was uncommon at the time. Scream helped to revive interest in the teen slasher genre.

And this week, a star from Scream 2 revealed his residual pay from the film 29 years after its release. Actor and comedian Craig Shoemaker appeared in the sequel, Scream 2 – which made $172 million at the box office.

Craig played the role of ‘Artsy Teacher’ in the instalment. Taking to his Instagram, he shared a photo of his residuals cheque which revealed he made a total of $34.09.

He captioned the post: “In 1999 | was cast in the role of the film professor in the sequel of the original Scream movie, Scream 2, where I lead a conversation in class about film sequels. The residuals keep rolling in, baby! What should I buy with my 34 bucks?”

The latest Scream movie, Scream 7, was released earlier this year. The film shifted the focus back to the original final girl, Sidney Prescott – played by Neve Campbell and her teenage daughter Tatum, played by Isabel May.

Neve didn’t appear in the sixth Scream film in 2024, which starred Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera as sisters who discover a serious connection to one of the original Ghostface killers, Billy Loomis.

Neve announced she would be stepping away from the 2024 Scream film after a dispute over pay. She said in a statement: “Sadly, I won’t be making the next Scream film. As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream.

“I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise. It’s been a very difficult decision to move on,” Neve added.

She continued: “To all my Scream fans, I love you. You’ve always been so incredibly supportive to me. I’m forever grateful to you and to what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years.”