MAMA Short Film with intro from Guillermo del Toro

I  usually don't add to hype, but I am very excited for Guillermo del Toro's Mama. I was a little underwhelmed with Don't Be Afraid of the Dark but I didn't entirely hate it. I was in love with Pan's Labyrinth though.

Here's the short film that Mama came from.

Vamps - Clueless meets Twilight

So Mark saw this movie, Vamps, and he imagined I would enjoy it, due to me being a fan of Amy Heckerling, Clueless, Buffy and the Twilight Film Franchise.

Amy Heckerling, director and writer of Clueless and director of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, writes and directs Vamps, a modern day vampire comedy.

Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) reunites with Amy Heckerling. Joining Silverstone is Krysten Ritter (The B---- in Apartment 23). The two play a pair of socialite vampires who feed off of the blood of rats. Among the impressive cast are Sigourney Weaver (as "a glamorous lady vamp"), Malcom McDowell, Richard Lewis, Kristen Johnston and Wallace Shawn as a wacky modern day Van Helsing.

Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter play two socialite vampires. Silverstone's Goody has been around since the 1800s and approaches modern day devices like how an old lady would. I found this aspect of her character very amusing and fun. Ritter's Stacy is a little more modern than Goody and falls in love with the latest descendant of the Van Helsing (Vampire Hunter) birth line.

With all of the pieces in place, I was surprised to find that the movie doesn't exactly come together. The cast is obviously having fun and is very capable with the material. Heckerling script is very witty and has a nice story here, but as presented onscreen, it's all over the place. There are so many little subplots here that it's hard to distinguish what we're exactly supposed to be following. The effect is very episodic but badly organized. Indiviudally, certain scenes are very funny and charming, but one subplot in particular, involving a cancer victim, never fully comes together and it's conclusion is disappointing at best. There is much to love in this film though. Silverstone in particular is very fun to watch as she plays her character as an old lady in a modern world. I think a focus on this aspect would've made the film.

Heckerling appears to want to channel the same energy that was invoked with Clueless, but bad special effects, a lack of focus on the story and weird editing choices make this film feel like the film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in New York; a lot of good ideas, but the wrong execution.