Horror Movie Review: Mary Had A Little Lamb (2023)

The success of 2022’s Winne the Pooh: Blood and Honey was always going to spark a ton of imitators and slowly, but surely, it’s beginning to happen. That film has seen a slew of creators wondering what innocent child-friendly thing can they take and transform into a horror movie. Fairytales, legends, and now, even nursery rhymes.

Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow.
Everywhere the child went,
The little lamb was sure to go.

Chances are, that little section of the song will be immediately familiar to most and it is the basis for this horror movie. Written by Harry Boxley and directed by Jason Arber, Mary Had a Little Lamb stars May Kelly, Danielle Scott, and Christine Ann Nyland.

Carla is a radio host with a fairly-successful show surrounding true crime and cold cases but the lack of fresh material is going to result in it being taken off the air. Desperate to keep the show going, she decides to investigate a spate of disappearances and heads off to a remote house with her crew.

Unfortunately for her and her crew, the story of Mary and her little lamb is more than just another tall tale. Mary does exist, but the real threat comes from the hulking beast of a man that she calls ‘Lamb.’

It’s a perfectly fine concept that plays out like most would expect it to. A group of victims to be beaten, tortured, and murdered by a beast. This one just so happens to be wearing a sheep’s mask. That, the names, and the fact that the titular Mary sings the nursery rhyme (a lot) is all that really links this to the thing that inspired it. That’s fine though, any more attempts to find a way to shoe-horn in elements would have just come across silly, and this is not a silly film.

Violent, bloody, and gory… Mary Had a Little Lamb is a graphic movie with some solid effects to really make the blood and guts shine. The actors all play their roles, and die, with gusto, and the villains of the movie are hamming it up expertly. There’s the occasional iffy piece of dialogue or drawn-out ‘talky’ section, but these are few and far between, happily.

What it lacks in originality, it makes up for with sheer passion and dedication to making the experience as visceral as possible. Even with the limitations a lack of budget gives. Director Jason Arber really makes the viewer feel like they’re part of the action and horror. That’s impressive and a lot of people will get a kick out of the graphic violence the movie offers.

What a time did they have, indeed.

Mary Had A Little Lamb will release on Digital and DVD October 3rd.