It has begun!
That's right, the return of Horrors of October, where I watch and review a horror-themed movie/other form of media each and every day up until All Hallows' Eve. I always have a lot on tap but for this year my personal goal isn't to follow normal procedure and run a series but to watch at least five films from my list of horror movies I still haven't seen. And wouldn't you know it, we kick off the festivities with one of them, #4 to be exact!
The Babadook (2014)
A widowed mother is slowly falling apart due to seven years of grief from the car accident that killed her husband and the untethered, unstable son that was born from it. The surprise appearance of a picture book detailing a hooded and hatted boogeyman further causes the dysfunction. THE BABADOOK twisted me up like a pretzel and held me firmly in place, grasping with all of the tension and frights it generates, before finally allowing me to breathe once the ending credits hit. It's an amazingly directed debut film from Jennifer Kent, who expertly knows how to make you be scared beyond belief with brilliant visual design, uncomfortable editing, and an excellent selection of soundscapes that always toy with your nerves. Going into detail about the story will lose some of its charge so I highly recommend that you go into blindly. All I can and will say is that the film loves to showcase the horrors that plague our natural being more so than an demented man in the shadows. It does get at little long in the tooth during the finale, handing out several possible story conclusions one after the other like it was handled by Peter Jackson, but it can be forgiven how terrifying they all are. I honestly can't end this review until I give some well deserved love to Essie Davis, whose performance as the beleaguered mother is simply astonishing. Pick a day this month, load up Netflix and curl yourself into a bind with this terrorizing feature.
FINAL REVIEW: 5 / 5
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