The list of films that are both terrifying and tell a great story at the same time is admittedly pretty short. And if you’ve been paying attention to anything other than what Hollywood’s been churning out in recent years, you’d know that The Babadook definitely qualifies. Directed by Jennifer Kent, The Babadook made quite the noise at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and it wasn’t long before it was announced that genre fave Shout Factory had secured the home video rights in North America. But enough about the sizzle, you say. What about the steak?
Amelia Vannick (Essie Davis) is an orderly and single mother, raising her 6-year-old son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), by herself after the death of her husband. Like many kids his age, Samuel is afraid of monsters hiding in his room. So much so, that his behaviour has resulted in Amelia taking Samuel out of school. One night, Samuel asks Amelia to read him a story before bed. Samuel chooses a strange pop-up book he finds on his shelf called Mister Babadook. The book tells the story of a supernatural creature that once someone is made aware of its existence, endlessly torments the person. Amelia is understandably disturbed by the book, while Samuel claims that The Babadook is stalking them in their house. Soon Amelia begins to hear strange noises and finds strange occurrences happening throughout the house. As Samuel’s behaviour becomes more erratic, and the strange happenings increase, Amelia begins to wonder if The Babadook is real.
Understandably, the above synopsis seems silly, but that initial impression goes out the window in a hurry thanks to the actors. Essie Davis is amazing in this film as Amelia. Not only do you empathize with her as a mother to a troubled child, but also as someone who is still haunted by the traumatic experience of losing her husband. Amelia obviously isn’t stupid, and immediately dismisses Samuel’s claims of The Babadook with rationality and understandable frustration in the fact that her son frankly gets on her nerves. Speaking of which, Noah is bang-on in this role. Normally, I detest child actors and the directors using them simply for vehicles to advance the plot. Not here, as Kent manages to get a believable performance out of Noah, both as a child being scared of what goes bump in the night, but also as a child who fears for his mom. The supporting actors also chime in, bringing concern for Amelia’s wellbeing, as well as highlighting the underlying trauma with which Amelia just hasn’t been able to make peace.
And then there’s the story. In case you missed it, the film revolves around unresolved grief and loss. Some of us deal with it better than others. And in Amelia’s case, she has resolved to just ignore and bury the grief of losing her husband. Compounding things is the fact that her husband died on the same day that Samuel was born, making Samuel’s upcoming birthday in the film difficult, to say the least. Without giving much away, it’s safe to say that The Babadook itself isn’t just your typical boogeyman. It represents something deeper. Nonetheless, he’s still a creepy as hell character. Kent goes with the less-is-more approach that almost all great horror films use to some degree, and it most definitely works here. The guttural call of The Babadook is one of those moments that has you wishing you could hide under the covers just like Amelia. Bottom line: You will be scared.
Any drawbacks? At first glance, the character of Samuel can and will get on your nerves with his constant annoying screaming and calls for attention. You know, like a kid who hasn’t been properly disciplined. This is genius on Kent’s part, as you end up being put in Amelia’s shoes with having to deal with this constant source of aggravation on a daily basis. It’s a very smart move. I’m not going to lie: I wanted to throw this kid doused in gasoline into moving traffic and flick a match at him. But again, that’s the whole idea. By the end of the film, you end up sympathizing for Samuel over having to be an accessory to Amelia’s unresolved grief. The ending itself is also symbolic, but at the same time one of those “Huh?” moments. It works, but it does open up a whole other set of problems once the story has been told. But again, it’s very much a symbol for what happens after the grieving process that shouldn’t be ignored.
I had mentioned on Twitter that The Babadook is probably one of the best horror films to have come along in the past five years. And I’m not kidding. Kent has crafted a smart, scary and deceptively deep film. Davis is amazing in her performance along with Wiseman, as is everyone else. The character of The Babadook is sinister and terrifying, despite being so simplistic in appearance. Fans of horror should definitely make this a must-watch if they haven’t already seen it. And if you have, see it again. Just burn your pop-up books, beforehand.
Video/Audio:
Sporting a 2.39:1 1080p AVC-encoded transfer, The Babadook looks excellent. Details such as skin and fabric come through nicely, while colours are consistent with their muted look, particularly in the house. The darker scenes are also quite good, and although there are a few spots where the details are lost in the black, you’re still able to make out a lot of what’s there.
Films like this are why the audio needs to be good. And thankfully, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 delivers. The track easily envelopes the viewer with appropriate creaks, thumps and groans of the house, making for an especially creepy and frightening experience. Dialogue is also clear and free of any distortion, while the score by Jed Kurzel is also nicely represented and balanced with the ambient effects. There’s also a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, but stick with the 5.1 mix for the best experience.
Extras:
Being that this is the Special Edition, we get a few more goodies than the regular version.
First is Jennifer Kent’s short film “Monster”, which served as the basis for The Babadook. Presented in windowboxed format with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound, the short is essentially a condensed version of the film, albeit without colour or the emotion content of the latter. The short is interesting just to see where The Babadook came from.
Following that are three deleted scenes. Though all were cut for time, I wouldn’t have minded if the scene involving Amelia attempting to connect more with Samuel while he was playing around on the keyboard was left in the film.
“Behind-the-Scenes” is B-roll footage of the birthday party scene, and a scene in the living room.
The biggest extra is an hour of Cast and Crew Interviews, featuring actors Essie Davis, Daniel Henshall, Barbara West, Hayley McElhinney, director Jennifer Kent, costume designer Heather Wallace, producer Kristina Ceyton, and producer Kristian Moliere. The footage is presented unedited, and as such, a couple of the participants end up retelling what the film is about, albeit in their own slight interpretation. Everyone has good things to say about Davis and Wiseman, as well as talking about Kent and her experience as an actor-turned-director. While there’s a few interesting pieces of information, the featurette could have been tightened up (those repeat answers), but it’s still a great piece.
The following four extras are the exclusives. First up is “Creating the Book with Illustrator Alex Juhasz”, which has Juhasz first talking about how Kent first found him through his previous work. Juhasz then goes over the hero book used in the film (with its blue tape on the front), and a couple of the pop-ups movements. It’s a brief but neat little piece.
“A Tour of the House Set” is a walkthrough of the film’s primary location, which was actually built in a studio warehouse. Intersperced with the walkthrough are stills showing how the rooms were used. Again, brief but interesting.
“The Stunts: Jumping the Stairs” is B-roll footage showing the crew trying to work with the wire setups for Amelia’s jump up the stairs.
“Special Effects: The Stabbing Scene” has the crew briefly trying to use a leg of lamb for the scene where Amelia is stabbed.
Lastly, two of the film’s trailers are included.
As a bonus, the Special Edition also includes a sweet slipcover that mimics the look of the book in the film, and also has a pop-up feature when you open it up.
Overall, while the interviews are pretty interesting, I have to say that I’m disappointed in the extras. Granted, many of these extras are all ported over from the UK and Australian Blu-Ray discs, so those of you outside of the US aren’t missing out on much (save for the interviews). But given the brevity of the exclusives, it would’ve been nice to have had a commentary or more detail in some of the extras (such as the special effects). This unfortunately makes the Special Edition not that much more special than the regular edition. Sure, the slipcover is nice, but come on, IFC/Shout Factory.
Nevertheless, this is still a nice (if somewhat lacking) package for an excellent movie.
