Babadook - Horror film

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VeraCharles3
#1Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/2/14 at 7:55am

Just saw this new horror film here in the UK. It opens in US late November.

Good to see an old fashioned, scary film.

No found footage, no torture porn, just lots of scary moments.

Trailer below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVxOrUjX-bc

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SNAFU
#2Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/2/14 at 1:40pm

I have been looking forward to this. I hope it is as good as the trailer suggests. From what I can ween from the trailer, is it real or Mom's craziness?


Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!

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HorseTears
#2Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/2/14 at 4:59pm

OH GOD. This looks great. How on earth did this not come out on Halloween here as well? Someone bump this thread to remind us when it's out in the US, please.

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ClydeBarrow
#3Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/2/14 at 5:20pm

Gonna watch this when I get home. Hope it's as scary as it looks. Been dying to see if for awhile. Will report back.


"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah

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VeraCharles3
#4Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/3/14 at 5:07am

SNAFU – I don’t want to give anything away about the film.

I don’t think this will spoil anything but what I will say is the trailer makes the movie out to be something it’s not. This is a mother and son who are both bereaved and their relationship is strained. Both have issues and at times it was quite moving.

It reminds me of The Innocents in a way (which, spookily enough is in another thread).

Although the trailer is a bit of a cheat, the movie is a proper psychological horror rather than a frightfest

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broadway86
#5Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/3/14 at 9:10am

Watched this over the weekend. In my opinion, the best horror films are the ones that combine psychological nuance, unsettling atmosphere, and a slow, steady pace. The original "The Haunting" did this. "Rosemary's Baby" did this. "Session 9" did this. And I think "The Babadook" does all of these things, as well.

And if Kathy Bates can (deservedly) win an Oscar for a horror film, so then Essie Davis should at least be nominated. She is excellent.

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SNAFU
#6Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/3/14 at 10:59am

This is exciting to hear! The last Horror film I actually liked a lot was The Others.


Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!

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darquegk
#7Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/8/14 at 12:26pm

Spoilers below, so look out








XSPOILERSXSPOILERSXSPOILERS

The "was it or wasn't it" horror tale is one of the most respected genres, and "The Babadook" gives us three possibilities, instead of the usual two. You can go with the purely supernatural interpretation, that Mister Babadook is some supernatural creature preying on the fear and weaknesses of this family. You can take the purely psychological path, say that there is no Babadook and that it is just a visualization of a metaphor, a shared delusion brought on by grief, depression and rage.

The third option is that Mister Babadook is a classic poltergeist, manifested into literal existence by the negative psychic energy between mother and child, given form by the magician videos, silent movies and various bric-a-brac strewn around the house. He draws his power from them, which is why by the end they are able to imprison but not destroy it.

XSPOILERSXSPOILERSXSPOILERSX









There. Spoilers hidden. Ba ba ba dook dook dook.

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CATSNYrevival
#8Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/10/14 at 7:17pm

None of the above explains the vibrator scene.

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HorseTears
#9Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/22/14 at 8:37am

Is it confirmed that The Babadook is opening wide in the US or is a limited "select cities" thing? Can't seem to find any solid information, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong spot.

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SNAFU
#10Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/22/14 at 7:14pm

It is opening in NYC in one theatre.


Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!

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HorseTears
#11Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/22/14 at 7:45pm

God they make it hard to get info. Their official site and social media pages still don't have listings. Looks like it's playing Cinefamily in LA from 11/26-12/2. I can't tell if their lack of information is a deliberate attempt to build "organic" buzz or if IFC Films - who appears to be the US distributor - has no marketing budget.
The Babadook at Cinefamily

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SNAFU
#12Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/22/14 at 8:12pm

I think it is both. You don't have a marketing budget,you do a limited release, the word of mouth goes out (Paranormal, Blair Witch Project) and you do a fukk release/ Your marketig has already been done.


Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!

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HorseTears
#13Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 11/23/14 at 8:52am

I did a fukk release in the backroom at Splash once.


(Oh, I'm not questioning the limited release strategy - just, you know - tell us where that limited release is happening, for After8's sake!)

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HorseTears
#14Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 12/10/14 at 5:46am

Saw The Babadook last night and I'm left utterly puzzled by the near universal critical acclaim this film has received. Warning: the rest of my post might be spoiler'ish.





There is much to like. Director Jennifer Kent and her editor often do a superb job of building tension to an almost unbearable level - even more impressive when you consider their tiny budget; Essie Davis gives a compelling and, at times, dryly comic performance as the mother and while young Noah Wiseman may not be a great child actor he's quite effective as wide eyed troubled child.

The first half of the film seems to be developing into a very compelling (and at times darkly funny) psychological thriller, but once the "horror" section begins, things just go off the rails. Yes, there are some genuinely scary moments in there, but once you get past the first one or two, things become incredibly monotonous and what should be scary becomes unintentionally comical with one horror set piece after another. The packed house I was in went from screaming in terror to laughing at that ridiculousness of what we were witnessing. And it wasn't the kind of laughter one hears when a scene is just too intense for an audience. We just didn't buy it anymore. Kent keeps getting praised for leaving the cause and exact nature of the Babadook open for interpretation - delusion of a mentally ill and bereaved widow, a shared delusion of both the mother and the kid, an actual demon that possesses the mother, simply a a metaphor for the mother's crippling grief, all of the above? As an audience member, I don't necessarily need to know which - if any - of these explanations is the real one, but I do need to feel like the director knows. I assume she DID make that choice, but it didn't feel like she did. Leaving the door open to one or two possible theories is interesting, but leaving all of the work up to the audience just feels lazy. The last half of the film flails about aimlessly and loses its momentum and leads to an even more ridiculous conclusion. Apparently, The Babadook is based upon an earlier short film Kent made. I'm not at all surprised by that. There wasn't enough here for a feature length film. Still, she's definitely got talent and I'm interested to see what she does next. Have to imagine she's fielding a lot of offers right now.

Updated On: 12/10/14 at 05:46 AM

baal
#15Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 12/10/14 at 12:26pm

I agree, HorseTears. I thought there were some great moments in the film, and there was obviously a creative mind and vision behind the film, but it wasn't executed well. I spent a lot of the film either bored or feeling extremely sad for the little boy character. I hadn't read about it being based on a short film, but it definitely makes sense. I bet anything the short film is much more effective.

And, William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist, is one of the people calling it the "most terrifying film" in years, which still baffles me. I saw the film before most of this hype started, so I know my disappointment wasn't due to overly high expectations. I feel there have been many films within the past few years that were way more effective than Babadook.

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HorseTears
#16Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 12/10/14 at 2:44pm

Yes, Polanski's Repulsion, for one.

baal
#17Babadook - Horror film
Posted: 12/10/14 at 5:17pm

I was talking about movies from the past few years even. Sinister was pretty great, with really great horror score. And there were some things in Insidious that I thought were pretty brilliant as well. While both of those movies fared reasonably well with critics, neither of them received the crazy acclaim Babadook has, despite being far more effective in terms of horror.



Updated On: 12/10/14 at 05:17 PM