Watch the short film that inspired Guillermo del Toros Mama

In February 2013, Mama – the latest horror film produced by movie-making machine Guillermo del Toro, starring Jessica Chastain – will debut in UK cinemas.

Now the creepy short film that inspired the feature has been released online, replete with an introduction by del Toro himself.

Sharing the feature’s title, Mama is a three-minute short in which two girls are haunted by the eponymous figure – a spindly nightmare with a serious case of rigor mortis.

“The short was one of the scariest little scenes I’ve ever seen,” del Toro says. “It was also incredibly well made, very claustrophobic, really, really scary.”

Check it out for yourself below…

Still with us? Filmed in what looks like a single take, this short definitely has its scares in the right places.

The feature version stars Jessica Chastain as the foster mother of two young girls who were found living in the woods after their parents’ deaths.

If director Andres Muschietti can match the spine-tingling chills of his short in his cinematic version, we’re in for a really scary time.

Mama opens in cinemas on 22 February 2013.