The Babadook

Taking place over the Bank Holiday weekend, 21st - 25th August 2014
jonbly
Braaaains!
Braaaains!
Posts: 647
Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:16 pm
Location: Bristol

The Babadook

Post by jonbly »

9/10 - really creepy once it got going. The house was a bit too mindlessly monochromatic inside. Some of the text in the book - particularly the secong time round - was flashed by way too quickly... for my seat near the front, anyway. But most everything else was bang on.
benj
Running Zombie
Running Zombie
Posts: 118
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:26 pm

Re: The Babadook

Post by benj »

Yes, really creepy premise with lots of potential to shit you up but never really delivered on that I felt. Even the lead actress was saying it might not scare as we expect, which is never a good thing. I got the feeling the director/ writer was going for a more cerebral and maternal story about mental illness told through a horror set-up than simply trying to shock us. I blame the trailer- classic case of misselling the product as something else entirely.
Lost Highway
Twitching Corpse
Twitching Corpse
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2013 1:05 pm

Re: The Babadook

Post by Lost Highway »

I thought this was a little disappointing after all the great write-ups this has been getting and admittedly I can't quite put my finger of why I didn't love this when a lot about the film was very good. I suppose the fact that I too didn't find this scary at all didn't help and it does get a little repetitive as it went on. The performances by the two leads were excellent, the boy in particular was fantastic, the subject matter of a single mother cracking under the pressure of raising a difficult child is intriguing and some of the physical effects were lovely, but like almost every film I saw on Saturday the premise would have fitted a short film better and was stretched beyond breaking point. Not bad, but not as good as I was hoping.

The film wasn't enhanced by the couple who arrived late, sat down next to me and rustled around in huge crisp packets throughout most of a film with lots of very quiet scenes. :(
User avatar
morralex
Running Zombie
Running Zombie
Posts: 224
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:48 am
Contact:

Re: The Babadook

Post by morralex »

Lived up to the hype. Amazing film!
User avatar
The Soapmaker
Undead Horde
Undead Horde
Posts: 453
Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:50 am
Location: London

Re: The Babadook

Post by The Soapmaker »

The Babadook itself was an interesting creation (I loved the book and the silent-movie clips on theTV) but it was basically just a MacGuffin.

Of course the story was really about the mother and son, disturbed in their different ways; I found the kid's performance occasionally quite good but mostly irritating. As for the mother, fine acting performance but I struggled to find any sympathy for the character, she was just a hugely annoying loon as far as I'm concerned.

So overall, somewhat disappointing.
DavieT
Undead Horde
Undead Horde
Posts: 260
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:32 pm

Re: The Babadook

Post by DavieT »

Yesssss ... very monochrome .... not very scary and the kid I'm afraid just irritated the hell out of me. Dissappointing as I was looking forward to this.
black_rainstorm
Twitching Corpse
Twitching Corpse
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:19 pm
Location: Woking, Surrey

Re: The Babadook

Post by black_rainstorm »

Yeah it was a letdown, I expected a lot more from this. I wanted bigger moments and a better ending, but I get where it was going.
jerichodark
Twitching Corpse
Twitching Corpse
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2009 7:33 pm

Re: The Babadook

Post by jerichodark »

Loved this film, my favourite of the festival.
ChrisReynolds
Undead Horde
Undead Horde
Posts: 281
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:01 pm

Re: The Babadook

Post by ChrisReynolds »

This arrived at Frightfest as the most hyped-up film and in the event it was good, but a bit of a disappointment. First of all the acting is superb: the whole film rests on the shoulders of Essie Davis and seven-year-old Noah Wiseman, they're both never less than riveting and Wiseman gives a completely convincing performance. Maybe too convincing, because he's so bratty that for a while I was really hoping that the monster would eat him. The script is also good and the Jennifer Kent's direction overall is very well handled; this is an extremely confident piece of work.
It's not without a lot of flaws though: it never becomes truly terrifying and it feels like there was a huge amount of potential scariness that was never really exploited. The monster made too obvious a metaphor towards the end and the look of the film is a bit dull: it's all low saturation and high contrast with little variation throughout.
Also, why did nobody take away and destroy the kid's catapult and crossbow? And did he build them himself? That's some pretty impressive work for a seven-year-old.
6/10
Alex J
Braaaains!
Braaaains!
Posts: 702
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:30 pm
Location: The Back Of The Beyond

Re: The Babadook

Post by Alex J »

Ultimately didn't quite live up to the hype, but an effective chiller nevertheless, making my hairs on the back of my neck stand up a few times. However, I did lose sympathy for both of the main characters, but maybe I'm just not a very forgiving person?! 8 / 10
No tears, please. It's a waste of good suffering.
soberdave72@hotmail.com
Walking Dead
Walking Dead
Posts: 84
Joined: Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:33 pm

Re: The Babadook

Post by soberdave72@hotmail.com »

Big Disappointment. It was strongly acted, but the trailer made it look like it was going to be a Paperhouse/Pan's Labyrinth style horror about Childhood fears/Fairytales. Instead it was a rather heavy meditation on Bereavement/Grief. Very well acted, but not my cup of tea.
DJBenz
-----
-----
Posts: 714
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:12 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: The Babadook

Post by DJBenz »

No one can deny it was a very well made movie, but it seems it either taps into your childhood fears and you absolutely love it and find it terrifying or it doesn't and you find it a bit of a disappointment. Sadly I'm in the latter category, so much pre-hype and a trailer that made it look like it was going to be a real creepy one left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction. A fantastic achievement given the budget, but ultimately a let down in the scare stakes. 6/10
HairyMart
Fresh Meat
Fresh Meat
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:33 pm
Location: Sheffield

Re: The Babadook

Post by HairyMart »

I was a bit disappointed by this, but had seen the orginal short it was based on and like last years' Mama it was based on what I thought was impressively put gether short film. Jennifer Kent made the film Monster back in 2005, and that is a simpler direct creepy monster in house affair, while this twists into more psychological drama, which was a worthy concept to go with when expanding the story, but it still kept the better moments from the original short, so the overall effect was somewhat diminished.

However I am going to be trying to persuade a few non-horror types I know to go and see this, to get there thoughts on if it is more to do with the mother battling her own mental traumas.
User avatar
TheDukeAbides
Braaaains!
Braaaains!
Posts: 553
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:08 pm
Location: North West of England
Contact:

Re: The Babadook

Post by TheDukeAbides »

Disappointed.

Very well acted by the two leads - though there were many points where I just wanted to punch the kid.

The book was the most effective tool in the whole film but in the end it kind of reminded me of the trajectory of the film The Eye
Spoiler:
in so much that once you realise the entity isn't evil, or in this case is just a facet of the mothers psychosis
then the chilling atmosphere is lost.

Plus as much as I like swearing, I feel it detracts from any mood built who when a character is making hysterical, empty threats to an unseen and unfathomable adversary.

Good bits of humour - but the trailer was more effective than the sum of the movie.
User avatar
sherbetbizarre
Frightfest Hardcore
Frightfest Hardcore
Posts: 1459
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:41 am
Contact:

Re: The Babadook

Post by sherbetbizarre »

If you have a spare $80, you can own a copy of the book -

http://thebabadook.com/
Post Reply