The Babadook

D-FENS

Although I enjoyed the stop motion animation,

I think they should have incorporated the face of a real man for the Babadook. I had visions of someone like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for a while, but he just wasn’t frightening enough.
Freakiest part was the Mother’s face in the window on the news clip

charlie_says

Onto the watchlist!

Looks interesting. Cheers.

sydthebeat

I think it left enough questions at the end so as to still leave the viewer wondering what's real and what's psychological.
I don't agree that showing the kid and her fighting the entity actually meant they fought the entity. .... there were plenty of 'dream scenes' to leave us wondering how much was actually happening in her head.

Definitely and 8 / 10 movie for me, original and disturbing. A great change from the cheap shock scares of the recent horror genre.

GreNoLi

Was the brief romantic interest the guy from Snowtown?

Lost a fair bit of weight so he has.

Roar

Saw this, loved this. The kid was superb, but the mother's performance was incredible. Even the missus who hates horror films thought this was great. Well worth checking out.

we'llallhavetea

GreNoLi wrote: »

Was the brief romantic interest the guy from Snowtown?

Lost a fair bit of weight so he has.

yeah, i recognised him but for the life of me couldnt remember the name of that movie.

Warper

GreNoLi wrote: »

Was the brief romantic interest the guy from Snowtown?

Lost a fair bit of weight so he has.

Oh ya he is a creepy looking dude.

Saw it yesterday and it is one of the best horrors i have seen the past couple of years which doesnt say much considering the quality of the genre. But this is a decent psychological horror with a great relationship between mother and son. You can draw on a number of things in this, obv a lot of monsters from the past etc. Well worth checking out.

Roar

The John Lewis Christmas ad re-cut with the audio from the Babadook trailer. Magnificent!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJfuGsbK0Io

Goldstein

Saw this before Halloween and still haven't forgiven them for

Bugsy. A55holes!!! That was totally gratuitous and didn't need to be there.

That aside I thought it was a superb film and far from feeling cheated this will stay with you long after the generic jap/hollywood remake-horror it was sold as would have. The skill with which the relentless and monotonous buildup cranked up the tension and suspense was admirable. No rule of "the jump scare happens on the third time" here. The sound design was fantasticly jarring and unsettling too - the blaring sound levels in the screen helped. I've never wanted to punch a kid and a woman in the face this much at various different points so job done there! Reminded me of Take Shelter for some unknown reason which I also loved. THis will be running around your head for days and weeks afterwards but not for the reasons you'd expect having watched the trailer.

Necronomicon

Goldstein wrote: »

Saw this before Halloween and still haven't forgiven them for

Bugsy. A55holes!!! That was totally gratuitous and didn't need to be there.

It has really become a tired horror movie trope.

At this stage whenever I see a dog in a horror film I'm on automatic countdown until pooch gets it, and it actually takes me out of the film on most occasions. It just feels like a cheap emotional ploy that very rarely has any meaningful contribution to the plot (like, say, the death of the dogs in The Thing had).

That said, I really liked this film. I loved the turning-the-screw nature of it that had a much more unsettling effect than cheap jump tactics.

Liam McPoyle

Watched it tonight.

Enjoyed it I must say, not scary per se, somewhat unsettling, outstanding performances from the two leads.

Australia has taken over a bit after the renaissance in Europe for a couple of years as a new hub for original, quality horror movies.

OldeCinemaSoz

The problem is that the babadook dosen't know what it wants to be. It's concept is like that rubbish HOUSE OF THE DEVIL,
all fascinating build up and then turn back payback and the like. No point in that. NO point TURNING TAIL at THE END.

The Strawman Argument

As someone who really loves pop-up books, all I can say after seeing this is "I WANT THAT BOOK!"

Goldstein

The Strawman Argument wrote: »

As someone who really loves pop-up books, all I can say after seeing this is "I WANT THAT BOOK!"

http://thebabadook.com/

If that thing came out of Christmas wrapping paper I would crap myself.

davidrowe

I liked the ending myself. I won't spoil of course, so I'll just say that I thought the ending was really quite unexpected, and fitted in with the overall theme of the film quite well.

Necronomicon

davidrowe wrote: »

I liked the ending myself. I won't spoil of course, so I'll just say that I thought the ending was really quite unexpected, and fitted in with the overall theme of the film quite well.

I'm in two minds about it.

I like the idea that the Babadook is still a presence in her life because she will never be fully rid of the trauma of her husband's death. I just wish they dealt with the metaphor a little differently - having her feed the creature was just a bit jarring for me.

Manchegan

RT @WilliamFriedkin
I've never seen a more terrifying film than THE BABADOOK. It will scare the hell out of you as it did me.
2014-12-01 02:14

dark crystal

I have just watched this film and I am still shaken by it. The feeling of dread that creeps up on you as the film goes on doesn't let up at all. Essie Davies is outstanding in the lead role.

It reminded me of Polanski's Repulsion quite a lot. An emotionally damaged woman losing her mind, seeing visions, having disturbing night terrors and the whole claustrophobic element of self imposed confinement.

Reading the news over the last few days, it brings home just how films like this are not just dark fairytales dreamed up from a writer's imagination. Mothers jumping from bridges with their newborns is horrific, but it happens. Mental illness can be scarier than any boogeyman hiding under your bed or in your wardrobe. Dark stuff indeed.

Give me an intelligent psychological horror over your tired jump scare, found footage type cliches any day.

Tipsy McSwagger

I was disappointed by it to be honest. It's still a hundred times better than garbage like The Conjuring but I was expecting a lot more. At least it was original and didn't rely on the tired old quiet quiet bang formula. The Borderlands is the best horror of 2014 for me.

Goldstein

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hYK1e5jLJU

SimonTemplar

Business Cat wrote: »

Australia has taken over a bit after the renaissance in Europe for a couple of years as a new hub for original, quality horror movies.

I'm fairly immune to horror but all Australian horror makes we weary after Wolf Creek - that movie has completely ruined the accent for me. It's like The Hills Has Eyes meets Alf Stewart!

Warper

Easily the best horror of the year and by miles

leggo

Necronomicon wrote: »

I'm in two minds about it.

I like the idea that the Babadook is still a presence in her life because she will never be fully rid of the trauma of her husband's death. I just wish they dealt with the metaphor a little differently - having her feed the creature was just a bit jarring for me.

I took that to mean

that she was nurturing and caring for her grief where she had just let it run wild in the past.

The final act would be a bit silly if you took it literally, but I don't think it's meant to be.

happysunnydays

I haven't seen this film but...

Mark Kermode says this is his favourite film of 2014 and he is always spot on.

WHIP IT!

Very good acting from two leads...
Interesting first hour, well-paced with nicely built tension...
Awful, non-frightening monster who

makes crank calls apparently (or does he?? yawn)

Terrible, terrible ending...
One of those films that some people will claim to "get" to sound like intellectual movie buffs...
Fact is, they just lost their way and, as others have said, didn't know whether they had a 'Boo!' movie or something that told a story about a vulnerable member of society and her many demons.. in the end, they had neither...

Conriocht

"Fact is"??

leggo

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Very good acting from two leads...
Interesting first hour, well-paced with nicely built tension...
Awful, non-frightening monster who

makes crank calls apparently (or does he?? yawn)

Terrible, terrible ending...
One of those films that some people will claim to "get" to sound like intellectual movie buffs...
Fact is, they just lost their way and, as others have said, didn't know whether they had a 'Boo!' movie or something that told a story about a vulnerable member of society and her many demons.. in the end, they had neither...

It's not a claim of 'getting it' or not. The ending answered all questions, from what I could see. What questions or flaws did you have about it? Like you're entitled to dislike it, I just don't see where exactly they lost their way and have known a couple of people who've changed their minds when it was explained to them.*

*Though this tends to never happen on the Internet as people often get stubborn and don't like to backtrack once they write their opinions in public. You never know, maybe I or someone could help you appreciate it, I'll live in hope!

pixelburp

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Very good acting from two leads...
Interesting first hour, well-paced with nicely built tension...
Awful, non-frightening monster who

makes crank calls apparently (or does he?? yawn)

Terrible, terrible ending...
One of those films that some people will claim to "get" to sound like intellectual movie buffs... [...]

Is it not enough to say 'I didn't like this film' without dumping all over those who did, or interpreted the (honestly, fairly overt if not sometimes unsubtle) themes that were behind the film? PLay the ball, not the man.

johnny_ultimate

WHIP IT! wrote: »

One of those films that some people will claim to "get" to sound like intellectual movie buffs...

This type of comment is a discussion killer. Please try to discuss the film and not the people who did or did not like it, thanks.

rustyzip

Thinking of getting irish Netflix. Is this movie on it?

Dozen Wicked Words

rustyzip wrote: »

Thinking of getting irish Netflix. Is this movie on it?

No, it's not on Irish Netflix at the minute. It is on US Netflix (but that wasn't what you asked).

Dirty Dingus McGee

Great film.It terrified the sh1te out of me.

Darkglasses

Watched it last night, was expecting a horror film (which it really isn't), but enjoyed it all the same. Very grim rather than scary. Would put you off children.

run_Forrest_run

Darkglasses wrote: »

Watched it last night, was expecting a horror film (which it really isn't), but enjoyed it all the same. Very grim rather than scary. Would put you off children.

I also loved it but why would it put you off children?

To me the child was an innocent victim of the mother's dark depression. The child just wanted to protect his mother and could see she was suffering.

Darkglasses

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

I also loved it but why would it put you off children?

To me the child was an innocent victim of the mother's dark depression. The child just wanted to protect his mother and could see she was suffering.

Sorry, what I meant was the thoughts of having children.

The Golden Miller

Load of rubbish

with a coward of a demon/spirit/bad guy hiding down in the basement at the end and too scared to come out.

Load of rubbish

e_e

The Golden Miller wrote: »

Load of rubbish

with a coward of a demon/spirit/bad guy hiding down in the basement at the end and too scared to come out.

Load of rubbish

It's not to be taken literally.

sydthebeat

The Golden Miller wrote: »

Load of rubbish

with a coward of a demon/spirit/bad guy hiding down in the basement at the end and too scared to come out.

Load of rubbish

think you kinda missed the point.......