Really Awful Movies

Coming in on a tsunami of hype is the little-Australian horror film that could, The Babadook. The Exorcist director William Freidkin has declared it the most terrifying film he has ever seen. It was audience-voted Best Director (Jennifer Kent), Best Leading Actress (Essie Davis), Best Monster/Creatue and Scariest Film at this year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival (where we had the pleasure of catching it.) Rolling Stone has called it “one of the most terrifying psychological horror movies in ages.” Our verdict: while not the second coming of horror that some have made it out to be, The Babadook is good. Damn good.

Kids are odd. I was odd. Probably still am. But kids also have a connection to the fertile world of imagination and a wellspring of fears, insecurities and doubts that we as adults, under the twin guises of maturity and bravery, try our hardest to repress. Nonetheless, repression can only work for so long, and for some, repress shit too long and the cauldron boils over into, at best (if it could be even called that) anxiety and depression, and at worst, rage, hysteria and psychosis. It is these weighty themes that are explored in The Babadook.

Amelia is an adult. Samuel is her young son. They are alone in this world since Samuel’s father died violently on the way to the hospital when Amelia was in labour. The still-grieving Amelia is trying her best but parenting is hard and Samuel is certainly not making it easy what with his constant fits, outbursts and insistence that monsters are everywhere. He won’t shut up and has taken to arming himself with makeshift monster-fighting weapons. In short, he is driving poor Amelia f*cking nuts.

Soon Samuel is kicked out of school when one of those weapons is discovered. Come storytime, he pulls an odd red-covered book off the shelf entitled Mister Babadook (an anagram of “A Bad Book”). The book is ominous, violent and scary, filled with morbid illustrations and pop-ups. Soon, shit gets weird. Samuel insists The Babadook is everywhere. Mom tries to destroy the book, but loud knocks on the door cause Amelia to discover the book back and pieced together. Samuel starts to lash out violently and pushes his niece out of a treehouse. He has convulsions and mom starts hearing unbelievably disturbing sounds and experiencing visions of The Babadook made manifest. It isn’t long before Amelia’s relations with her son grow violent and animalistic and her grasp on sanity and reality becomes tenuous and frayed beyond breakage.

The Babadook is pure, psychological horror. The actual creature, realized through practical effects and puppetry and extremely effective sound and light design resembles a surreal, shadowy mix of Coffin Joe and Nosferatu. References and allusions – some overt, some subtle – abound from everything from The Phantom of the Opera to The Big Bad Wolf to Bava’s Black Sabbath to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to Polanski’s Repulsion. A heady mix indeed.

But is the film scary? The answer is yes. Not slasher scary, not gory scary, but psychologically scary for The Babadook forces the viewer to confront those unsecured nooks and crannies of our minds that we try to keep locked and hidden away. The places where we, to paraphrase Stephen King, keep the gators who require feeding under lock and key. But beyond giving the viewer a good jump scare or two, The Babadook does what so few horror movies of late do. It makes the viewer think.

**** (out of 5)

We at Really Awful Movies are not big fans of most of what passes for mainstream horror these days — the horror by committee, big-budget films that studios cynically churn out to cash in on the audience’s desire for something scary, original and fun. The problem is most of these films lack anything remotely scary, original or fun.

That’s why we turn to the indies. Those scrappy, low-budget films made by people who make films not to fulfill a quarterly dividend but rather because they are fans of the genre. A Grim Becoming by Adam R. Steigert is one such film. While not exactly scary per se, A Grim Becoming is funny and original, and it has those indelible qualities that so many of its larger budget brethren lack: heart and passion.

Set squarely in Buffalo, NY, which really is the sister city to our headquarters here in Toronto, Ontario (Go Bills!), A Grim Becoming tells the tale of reluctant reaper Raphael. Seems that Magoo the Reaper King has long grown tired and stressed by the demands of being the only soultaker, so to enjoy a little quality of life the old-guy did what any sensible superior would do: outsource and delegate.

Rafael is a hotshot executive on the cusp of either closing or losing a major deal and is none-too-happy to learn that his nephew was taken from the world too soon. He returns home to pay his respects, but swerves to avoid a homeless man and hits a tree. Soon, a familiar dark-hooded figure with a scythe appears on scene and the domicile-challenged gentleman dies where he stands. Next the hooded one collapses and dies himself.

Raphael enters the funeral home and spots his nephew’s grieving girlfriend Jamie (Devanny Pinn). He wants to offer his support and condolences, but voices in his head overwhelm him. Suddenly, he’s inside a dark, smoky room and makes the acquaintance of Magoo, a portly, cigar-smoking man in a suit with black nails that could use a manicure, eyes that wouldn’t mind a drop or two of Visine and skin that could use a couple of days out in the sun. Magoo introduces himself as the Reaper King and explains the rules of the soul taking business. Namely, if one witnesses a reaper in the act of taking a life, that person must then take the reaper’s place.

Poor Raphie doesn’t want to be a reaper and finds it most inconvenient when he inadvertently takes the life of his bratty niece, October. She returns as a zombie, even more incorrigible than before, and with rot and decay setting in fast, Raphael enlists Magoo’s help to find party-girl Life (a fun turn by Jessica Cameron) to bring the little brat back to the land of the living. Life also informs Raph that if he is to rid himself of the death curse, he must find someone else to give it to within 72 hours.

A Grim Becoming is lots of fun. The makeup and gore effects are cheap yet charmingly effective and the game cast all acquit themselves well. Devanny Pinn is quite good and Brandyn T. Williams as Raphael gives a hilarious performance. But all pale next to Michael Sciabarassi as Magoo who appears to be having the time of his life as he swallows chunks of scenery whole. Also of note is the illustrious Lynn Lowry of The Crazies, Score and Shivers who plays a rather ribald hotel guest.

A Grim Becoming isn’t perfect. At 115 minutes, the film is overlong and does seem to meander at times. But the exuberance of the cast and crew is quite evident and infectious. A Grim Becoming is an impressive indie effort that we would rather watch over your umpteenth Paranormal Activity sequel any day of the week, and that includes our day off on Sundays.

***1/2 (out of 5)