"Mama," by Guillermo del Toro, is nothing short of amazing.

One of my daughters and I went to see this tonight -- and both give it an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Mama is our favorite kind of horror story: The ghost story.

Haunting, sad, scary, moving and never quite what one expects.

A story as moving as it is unnerving, but one that engaged our imagination and heart from beginning to end.

Note, the two child actors in this film deserve oscars for their work. And the this film proves that it is still The Year of The Woman in film for 2012/2013.

I should also note that this film is another unintentional commentary on the problem of having too many guns in our midst. Especially guns in the hands of the emotionally overwhelmed and unstable. Something which is going to be even more of an issue in our post Sandy Hook world. Interesting that this film and the trailers of so many other films we saw tonight were all connected to the issue of tragedy at the hands of gun related violence. A sorry commentary on our times, I fear.
But, right now I'm still processing the astonishing imagery and visual beauty of this dark tale.

-- I can't begin to state how much I did I love this story for so many reasons: The original story, the wonderfully emotionally demonstrative children, the unique unfolding of the narrative…So much to love about it, even though it was certainly easy to watch, or anything I'd take my younger daughter to. For a few years...but for my older daughter and I, the film both touched our hearts and scared us in just the right kind of ways -- for a scary film.

Mama is unique story-telling well-done. But, my older daughter, the elder sister of my younger one, Anna Lily, found the ending rather sob-worthy. But, you'll have to see it, to know why.

Needless to say we both had to come home and hug her right away afterwards.