Mama trailerLet me just address something up front: the title of this article -- like most articles online -- is designed to get you to click and read. Sometimes I exaggerate or rely on hyperbole more than I normally would, because that's the nature of the web-writing game. HOWEVER. In this case, I'm being completely honest. Mama is the scariest movie trailer I have ever encountered, and I am a huge horror fan who's seen hundreds of effed-up movies.

Maybe it's because it involves little kids and parenthood. Maybe it's because it's presented by executive producer Guillermo del Toro (the genius behind Pan's Labyrinth), who has an unrivaled knack for bringing nightmares to life on the big screen. Maybe it's because of the thing you barely glimpse in the last 15 seconds of the trailer.

Either way, watching this literally made my skin crawl. Check it out ... IF YOU DARE.

Let's start with a brief synopsis: Mama is a supernatural thriller about two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their parents were killed. When Victoria (Megan Charpentier) and Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse) are rescued years later and begin a new life with a loving adoptive couple, "Mama" doesn't seem quite ready to let her daughters go.

Here's the clip in all its shivery glory (watch it full size):

Are you still there? ARE THE HAIRS ON THE BACK OF YOUR NECK STANDING STRAIGHT UP LIKE MINE WERE?

Man, I'm feeling like this movie has a lot going for it. For one thing, those little girls look like they turned in some amazing performances (especially the youngest one, holy crap), and it's always nice to see Danish hottie Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (AKA Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones). Jessica Chastain is an intriguing choice as the adoptive mom, and what a departure for her from, say, The Help.

The only potential downside is that Mama's being released on January 18, 2013, which film geeks are already citing as reason to doubt this will be as good as it appears. Studios tend to offload movies they're not confident about during the first of the year after the big holiday releases, so maybe the best 2:30 of the film is cleverly packed into this preview?

On the other hand, horror movies have a built-in genre audience, so they don't require as much marketing. Who knows, all I can tell you is this trailer freaked me RIGHT THE HELL OUT, and I can't wait to see the full story. While peeking through my fingers, and possibly peeing my pants.

What do you think of Mama? Did this trailer give you the chills?


Image via YouTube