“You
can't get rid of the Babadook”
When I was little I went to a wedding that took place in
this old house up. Apparently the house was haunted and there was binder of
photographs that showed the ghosts that lived in the house. For years and years
after that I was terrified of the dark I was always thinking that the ghosts
from the photographs were all around me. If there was a really dark spot in the
room I would freak the fuck out! It took me a really long time to get over the
dark. I had a nightlight in my room until like eighth grade and then I got rid
of it because the light bothered the hell outta me. I think it is so
interesting the psychological fear we all have of the dark. Things are the same
as they were in the daytime but because we cannot see what see in the daytime
we are horrified. The idea of not seeing our surroundings is terrifying.
I like when movies either horror or psychological or a
mash up of both take a person and have their fears played upon and magnified.
To help you understand what I am trying to say look up the plot of The Haunting of Hill House. The
Babadook has a story that plays on the fears and anxiety of a mother and
son.
Amelia is a widowed mother. Her husband was killed in a
car accident while bringing her to the hospital to have their son Sam. Amelia
still has nightmares about the night her husband died. Sam is now six years
old. He is not very well liked at school because he has behavioral issues. Sam
rarely sleeps because he has nightmares himself and he wakes up Amelia to look
for the monster that was bothering him.
One night Sam pulls out a book called Mister Babadook.
Amelia has no idea where the book came from. The book starts off alright and
then it becomes scary and evil. On one page it is written that once someone is
made aware of the Babadook the monster torments them for all time. Not long
after Amelia is tormented by sounds and sights in the night. Soon she becomes
possessed by the Babadook. She does not sleep for nights on end and does things
that book showed her would happen.
Sam tells Amelia that “You can’t rid of the Babadook.” Fortunately
Amelia is able to take charge of the Babadook by telling the monster that she
is not leaving her house. By saying this she banishes the Babadook to a dark
place in the basement of the house.
So as much as I thought the psychological aspect of
Amelia being mentally and emotionally unstable and then constantly thinking of
the Babadook and having the monster take hold of her was really interesting the
movie was kind of boring. It felt kind of slow. I definitely went into this
movie thinking it was a horror story so I was waiting to be scared. I am not a
horror movie fan and I do not really like being scared but I was waiting for
the damn monster to creep me the fuck out for the rest of the night and I was
not scared! I wanted to be scared shitless when I going to bed tonight and
being scared to look into one corner of my room! The only thing that kind of
freaked me out was how large the furniture was. It reminded me of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari where all
the sets were large Expressionist works of art. The furniture and everything in
The Babadook looked like the large
oversize like the furniture in the book. Pretty much, the movie let me down in
the being scared department. I was not too impressed with The Babadook and honestly I cannot even tell you why. Despite my
boredom do not let that deter you from seeing it because it is different and it
is visually really cool.
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