A mother (Essie Davis (The
Matrix sequels)) reads her six year old son a bedtime story called Mister Babadook, which seems like a weirdo book right from the outset but the title
is so cute sounding that I’m sure she thought there would eventually be rainbows
and a message about sharing or some shit.
The kid gets rightly freaked out because all the Babadook wants to do is
scare the piss out of you. Then they
both start to see pieces of the creature around and hear him move about. That’s as far as I’m willing to take the plot
description. It’s a difficult movie to
describe actually so I’ll leave it right there.
This badass horror movie is one meticulously crafted piece
of cinema. They really put a lot of thought
into every aspect of production and it shows.
First time director Jennifer Kent did an excellent job. Her attention to detail doesn’t come off
stiff though. She gives off a Hitchcockian
or John Carpenter-y (a la Halloween) vibe
in that you feel like you’re in good hands that know just how to manipulate
your feelings and senses.
Visually this is a cold ass picture. Most of the time is spent in the mother and
son’s house. It’s painted in a dull
gray-ish blue-ish color, the floors are hardwood and all of the furniture and
linens match the paintjob. A lot of the
time it’s almost like they shot it in black and white but I’ll get into that a
little more later. There’s almost no
modern technology in the house either. A
tube TV is pretty much as advanced as they get (although she does mention
watching DVD’s so I guess they have a player).
It gets to be a bit claustrophobic stuck in that gloomy house for so
long but, of course, that’s what they were going for.
The performances are fucking outstanding. Essie Davis is incredibly sad, frustrated,
angry, maniacal and peaceful all throughout.
She can turn on a dime too being placid one moment and then deranged the
next. She deserves some sort of award,
like one of those Oscar doodads or something.
The kid who plays the son does a great job too because he somehow goes
from being an unlikeable little shit at first to warming your heart by the end. He does scared real well too bringing it over
the top a bunch of the time. Or maybe it’s
appropriate considering what’s going on.
One of the most refreshing things about this horror movie is
the restrained use of effects and the complete absence of jump scares. I saw an interview with Kent and she said she
absolutely did not want to do jump scares because you feel ripped off. She even mentions that most American horror
films (this is an Australian production) don’t give their audience enough
credit. Amen sister. You’ve gotta be smarter than bullshit jump
scares and piling on the excessive gore.
Kent uses imagery (and some auditory cues) to convey a shitload of
creepiness. It’s mostly very simple
effects but man do they work.
So to pull all of this together you get a modern day 20’s
horror picture. The lack of technology,
the near black and white color palette, the design of the Babadook, the mostly
in-camera effects work, the deficiency of blood and etc. It totally works. Interestingly this idea started out as a
short film called Monster which has
an even greater 20’s feel. Kent kinda
hits you over the head with it though in that one so it was a good idea to
scale it back for the feature.
And I find this film to be genuinely creepy. There are only a couple of others that sorta
get to me a little: The Shining, Dracula
(1992) and to a lesser extent The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho (and
yes I’m aware that I’m putting this movie in such esteemed company). There’s just something about that Babadook
fella that has me second guessing dark hallways and children’s books ‘n shit.
Sure, there are a couple of improvements that could’ve been
made. The voice of the Babadook isn’t
scary and feels forced. It shouldn’t
have spoken at all in my opinion. Also,
the jittery movements that it sometimes exhibits doesn’t come off great. Maybe not have the son be a pseudo kid
inventor either. And there’s that one brief
part where it turns into Home Alone. But these are minor issues of personal
preference and are in no way glaring problems with the overall piece.
Guys, I cannot recommend this enough. Ever since I saw it a couple of days ago I can’t
stop thinking about it. Afterwards I saw
the trailer and was blown away again. I
must’ve watched it like six or seven times.
This is one for the ages. An
instant classic? I think it just might
be.
Spoilers for this
last part
Ok, fine you want to know what this thing is really all
about? It’s a metaphor for grief and
depression. The Babadook is like a
disease that takes the mother over but also harms the child because any disease
affects more than just one person.
Depression in particular is demanding on a relationship. It’s not like the flu where you have it for a
little while and then it goes away. The
mother never really got over the death of her husband and blames her son to an
extent because they were on their way to the hospital to have him when they got
into an accident. What we see in the
movie is the mother hitting rock bottom barely being able to hold on to her
sanity. But eventually she finds a way to
deal with her pain and anger and all is mostly well. The Babadook still lives at the end of the
picture because depression and bereavement is an ongoing battle that never truly
ends. You learn to live with it.
This is one beautiful film that only gets better the more
you examine it. It’s extremely effective
all around. If you haven’t seen it then
you shouldn’t have read these spoilers.
What the fuck is your problem man?
See it already.
It's a shit movie from start to finish. One of the most overrated movies of all time, and it's just shit.
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