The Babadook

The Babadook

Horr

The only thing horrifying was the poor acting performance and the weak plot.

source: The Babadook

Being an ardent horror-cult fan,I invite any new movie in the block with the most open-minded enthusiasm possible and the silly sounding name of the movie prepped me up for a deliciously twisted movie experience, fingers crossed. But those very fingers curled up into a fist a few minutes into the film rolling. While,according to my layman's eyes, subtle trinkets of moments were captured surprisingly, the story itself was a bore. Frankly, I like to be spooked in spooky movies and not a single time did I feel scared. Or trapped. Or helpless as the characters were suggesting. It felt contrived, as if the characters could just step out of the house into the sunshine and stop playing this silly game of getting scared. I must admit,the theatre- full of laughing audience did not help setting the mood. One horror movie I wish I hadn't wasted my money on.

Like the child -- and adults -- in the film, the audience is blind to the simple, shattering reality: Amelia created the Babadook. Amelia is -- and always was -- the Babadook. The film brilliantly depicts the dissociated perceptions of both child and mother as they attempt to survive their horrifying and tragic reality. Because, who can fathom a mother who is pathologically detached, hateful, malicious, and... violent towards her child? Not the child, not the mother, and not even the adults that surround them. The adults who watch this film. We are blinded by our deeply held belief that mothers are supposed to be nurturing, loving, and most of all... safe havens for their children. The reality is that Amelia is possessed -- by borderline personality disorder triggered by the traumatic loss of her husband. A perpetual victim, she feeds off of her self-pity and the pity of those around her, using it to justify her seething resentment of her child. Unable to take responsibility for her abusive behavior, she birthed the "Babadook". Underneath it all is a deeply troubled mother -- and a brave child living in constant fear of and for his mother, desperately struggling to protect himself, protect his (abusive) mother, and, ultimately, to survive. I am so grateful for this film, which so perfectly encapsulates the reality of hidden mental illness, giving life to the complex experiences of mother, child, and outside observers.

It's a rare thing when I give anything labeled horror more than a passing glance. The genre has become so completely oversaturated by teen slasher flicks, soulless gorefests and inferior remakes. Having said that I'd heard enough to convince me this may be one of the rare exceptions, unsurprisingly this is a low-key non-Hollywood affair. Of course there have been enough horrors over the years for a pretty well defined list of tropes to be a known part of the movie-going consciousness. While The Babadook does deviate from the standard affair we all know and are mostly bored of, it does bring in a few of the more classic tropes, the problem child, the distraught mother and thankfully the illusive villain. Throw in a fair dose of questionable insanity and you have a recipe for a decent classic style horror. In this respect it doesn't disappoint, of course it can't hold up to Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist or The Shining but it is certainly familiar of those and in no bad way. Paying tasteful homage to inspirations is acceptable if the movie can stand up on its own weight and in this it succeeds. The actual premise itself seems fairly original, although not groundbreaking, the shocks come from the actions of the characters rather than any clichéd jump-scare tactics. As others have mentioned, the underlying metaphor is not too subtle but surely that's part of what adds to the tension. There was some really good editing throughout, keeping the feel of a fast paced movie while not rushing the story. The kid actor in it does an excellent job of appearing genuinely disturbed but simultaneously good natured. The Babadook may not be a groundbreaker, I don't expect it to redefine the genre and I doubt it will appeal to the younger horror demographic, but if like me you yearn for the spirit of the classics to resurface once in a while, this is a pretty good attempt. And provided the promise of no sequels is kept, this is one that will hold up well for some time.

This movie's biggest strength, is also it's biggest weakness. It's a cleverly constructed horror story with multiple layers. The problem is that it never explains itself, nor does it even drop the faintest hint by the end. Thus, people who went into this thinking this is just a generic monster flick, will come out of it feeling pretty much the same. But that is not what this is. The movie is far more intelligent than a lot of people give it credit for. It's also a credit to the excellent direction, that this movie never delivers some sort of forced explanation of what it is really about. Without spoiling the movie, this film tricks you into thinking you are going to see a typical horror movie, but it ventures into far darker psychological territory. But like I said, most viewers will not get it. This is why this movie has received some terrible ratings from some viewers, but this is not an accurate representation of the actual quality of the movie. For the other half of the audience though, this is one heck of a ride. I suspect some viewers will get it halfway through, and some two-thirds into the movie. And everyone else won't get it at all. The acting is stunning, the cinematography and lighting are amazing, and I also really like the sound editing (except when they use a sound effect that's clearly from a very old and overused sound library). I found it especially compelling how the movie shifts focus several times during the story, regarding who the villain is. See it, and judge it for yourself. Do not let impulsive ratings fool you.

After viewing the trailer for this film I immediately wanted to see it, it promised to be a very good film and appeared to have a good storyline..... My how appearances are deceiving! I don't actually know how to begin this review as the film is so so very bad, I am unsure where to start. I have ticked the contains spoiler box to cover myself, although there isn't a great deal of story to the film so I'm sure I won't ruin it for anyone. Let me start off by saying the reviews on this site for this film are laughable! I have read a couple of reviews however, that have given the film a 1/10 or a 2/10 and I agree with them. Trust me though, if there was an option to rate zero stars or minus then I most certainly would have. OK, so we start out with a mother child relationship which actually intrigued me as I was thinking along the lines of The Ring, Dark Water which are quite good. The mother is a washed out, depressed woman who couldn't smile for all the tea in china. Her son on the other hand is actually very quirky and I found him to be extremely intelligent and by far the best actor. We then have the bedtime story and the anticipated Babadook book, a book with a sinister rhyme and a few blank pages. This takes up about the first quarter maybe more of the film, which is very slow (YAWN). Then we have the light bulbs flickering, a few knocks at the door and another version of a Babadook book (you'll see for yourselves what I mean). This is basically it, until the film turns even more pathetic and the woman gets overtaken by the "monster" which actually looks stupidly similar to a pencil drawing drawn by a very bad or very drunk artist. Trust me when I say that this is basically it! There is a part of this film that contains unnecessary animal cruelty and I did at this point skip the film for a couple of seconds, but I doubt that couple of seconds made the film any better to be honest another hour of this film couldn't have improved it... It's extremely boring and drawn out, it is filled full of suspense but that suspense leads absolutely nowhere! After I watched the film I did a Google search as I wanted to know what the purpose of the story actually was, while I didn't find my answer I did find a review which labelled the film as "intelligent". Let me just state with 100% certainty that, if this film for one second is intelligent then I am the Queen of England. Apart from the acting by the little boy which is great, the rest of it is terrible. The monster is an awful black smudge of pencil, which isn't seen for 99% of the film, and the story is hideously bad and extremely boring!! Trust me people if for one second you are considering watching this, decorate your house and watch the paint dry instead.... You'll enjoy it more! Don't pay cinema prices, don't waste good money buying it and if you are desperate to see it watch it on Sky Box office or Netflix, at least that way you're getting a choice of other films for your money and not just this pathetic excuse for a film. Would I watch this again? NO! Never ever ever as long as I live, even if I was the only person on the planet and this was all that was on Television! Do I recommend it? NO! I cannot tell you enough how bad it is, why on earth the reviews are stating "Best film ever" and "Awesome" is actually beyond me. All I can assume is that people have been watching this film while very drunk, as a Disney film would have been more scary!! I rated a 1/10 which I believe is still too good for this pile of crap, trust me people save your money and one hour and thirty minutes of your lives and avoid this film like the plague.