When Octavia Spencer, one of only 11 actresses in the history to win the Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, BAFTA Awards, and the Academy Awards, decides to do the most unlikely move and act in a formula horror flick, that means there must be more to the movie then beats the eye.

Of course, there is the one little thing that the director of The Help, Tate Taylor, who helped her win an Oscar, also directed this flick.

Ma can be seen as a teen-flick variation of many horror greats, put one Glen Close in “Fatal Attraction,” add a Sissy Spacek in “Carrie” with some Cathy Bates in “Misery” stir well with some other revenge-of-the-nerd stalker thrillers and viola… you get a Ma.

What makes Spencer so much creepier in Ma is that at so many stages in the movie she comes across as reliable and humane that you have to ask yourself: really? Her friendly on the outside yet insane on the inside chill you to your bone. Her crazy mode swings just emphasize what an amazing chameleon of an actress she is. This is an Octavia Spencer vehicle from the beginning to the end, the rest of the cast are there just to support her narrative.

Octavia Spencer is the only reason to go see this flick and it’s a damn good reason. Undoubtedly a Thumbs Up from me.