http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szaLnKNWC-U
Release date: November?
Director: Jennifer Kent
I have heard great things about this film. Early reviews have been favorable, with Rotten Tomatoes currently sitting at 100% (albeit with only 21 critic reviews). I had heard a lot about this movie and how creepy it was before I finally got around to watching the trailer. I had even read some articles talking about how the trailer was incredibly creepy. I had high hopes.
It looks good, but not nearly as creepy as I hoped it would be. From everything I had heard, I thought I would watch the trailer and immediately find a place to hide. Every odd noise in the house would be The Babadook coming to claim me as his next victim. But I would never see him. I’d spend the rest of my days in a state of panic, never getting more than 3 hours of sleep a night. I would eventually find myself in a padded room, muttering “Babadook” under my breath while my wife stood weeping outside the door. And that’s when The Babadook would strike. My final words would be, “I’m not crazy. I’m not crazEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” (I haven’t yet worked out how The Babadook would get to America from Australia. The cargo hold of a boat, probably.)
Even though I have watched the trailer and know what he looks like, I still think The Babadook looks like The Gentlemen from the best episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Hush”. (He also looks nothing like The Bobbum Man, and will not try to mess with your equipmunk. Probably. I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t make any promises.)
The trailer wasn’t quite as creepy as my mind had made it out to be. My sanity is still (somewhat) in tact, which means The Babadook hasn’t yet won.
As it stands, it still looks pretty good. My expectations have been dialed back a bit, but I’m still very much looking forward to this film coming out. Movies about boogeymen that may-or-may-not be anything other than the fears of a child can be pretty hit-or-miss (although I suppose this is true in every genre). I tend to like them more often than not, though, so put me squarely in the “excited” camp for this film. I firmly believe that the creepiest stuff was left out of the preview, so I’m hoping for plenty of scary surprises when the film actually comes out. (As I listed above, the closest thing I can find to a US release date is some time in November. I hope it’s sooner. I hope this and Dead Snow 2 both drop within the next week, in my mailbox if nowhere else.)
Fun fact about the director, Jennifer Kent: she had a role in Babe 2: Pig in the City. She is listed as “Lab Lady”. Scary!