Horror Film Review (Homework)

Olivia Dineley - The Babadook Review


The Babadook is a horror/thriller film, based off of a short film called Monster (which was released in 2005, and written by Jennifer Kent, the director of this film) and was released in 2014. It follows the story of Amelia and her son, who after his fathers death, begins to see a monster: The Babadook. In this clip, Amelia starts hearing noises, which at first appear to be her dog. However, even despite her dog being in the room, the noises continue. She looks towards the door, and sees that it is slowly opening. There appears to be nothing, so she tries to sleep. She then hears noises again, so opens her eyes to see a black creature on her ceiling. Out of fear, she hides under the covers, as do the audience, and you hear the noises of the Babadook. The noises may connote to a screaming, or something struggling. She then takes a look, and sees the horrifying creature. 

The film has many of the stereotypical conventions in it. The film is set in a familiar terrain (a house). The feeling of helplessness, which creates empathy from the audience's point of view. The known/unknown contrast (where she finds out the 'source' of the noises, until they carry on). The creature is conventional in a horror story line. Using these conventions help the film fit in with their genre.

The clip uses low key lighting, which plays on people's fear of the dark. It also creates tension. There is diegetic noise such as doors creaking, heavy breathing and scratching, which is a convention in horror films. However, when the creature is making the noises whilst she is under the covers, it is non-diegetic, so it can be played louder. The creature is made with stop-motion, which means it can look like something that a human could never look like. The camera is very still, which can make the viewer want to stay still and been drawn into the film. It uses close-ups to show the emotion and fear on her face, as well as making the audience feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable when under the covers. There is a birds-eye view when looking down on her and her son, so we can see her facial expressions. This shot also follows the rule of thirds. Roughly half of the shots are from Amelia's point of view, so the audience can essentially have her eyes and see exactly what she sees.

Personally, when watching this clip, I could feel some tension, but not enough to scare me. I think if there were some non-diegetic dissonant music in the background, it would have more effect. However, the low key lighting works well, as it sets down a fearful mood, ready for the narrative to take effect. The creature is kind of off-putting, as the pale-skin connotes to a vampire, the dead or a ghost; in my case, it reminds me of a god/creature of death from the anime series Deathnote.