Amelia is raising her six year old son Samuel
alone (the
father was killed in an accident on the way to her giving birth to their son).
Sam believes a monster called the Babadook is trying to hurt him and his mom
that he goes about building weapons and setting traps. She doesn’t believe
him, but a sinister
children’s book called The Babadook Man starts showing (even after she throws
it away) and she wonders if they are being stocked by someone more earthly than
a monster.
THE BABADOOK is a strong Aussie horror
movie which plays as
an effective psychological thriller along with a portrait of a fragile mother
and child relationship as she refuses to come to terms with the death of the
father (and fully love the child).
Jennifer Kent has directed and written one of the most effective horror
movies I have ever seen with a great performance by Essie Davis as the mother
Amelia. The production design of the house is perfect and the Babadook book is
one children’s book you wouldn’t want to be reading to your children.
THE BABADOOK is one of the must watch horror
movies to rent or buy on DVD or
blu-ray. You can’t miss seeing one of
the best horror movies of the 21st century and Jennifer Kent is a
talent to watch with whatever movie she directs next.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
CREATING THE BOOK WITH ILLUSTRATOR ALEX
JUHASZ- Alex explains and shows how he created the Babadook book
A TOUR OF THE HOUSE SET with the Production Designer
as he
mentions how the set was built on a limited budget
THE STUNTS: JUMPING THE STAIRS
SPECIAL EFFECTS: THE STABBING SCENE
BEHIND THE SCENES- three minutes of B Roll footage
CAST AND CREW INTERVIEWS
(62 minutes) with actors Essie Davis (Amelia), Daniel Henshall (Robbie),
Barbara West (Mrs. Roach), Hayley McElhinney (Claire), writer/ director
Jennifer Kent, costume designer Heather Wallace, and producers Kristina Ceyton
and Kristian Moliere- Interesting info includes Jennifer Kent’s transition from
actor to director, the failed early version of the Babadook book, and Kristina
Ceyton mentioning THE BABADOOK was almost filmed in black and white. The
interviews could have been edited down
since some of the questions are repeated from interview to interview.
Theatrical trailer
FINAL ANALYSIS:
THE
BABADOOK is one of the best recent horror movies as it questions where the
monster is real or it is just in the heads of the mother and child. I
wonder what type of film director
Jennifer Kent will do next.
This review is ©4-19-2015
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
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