The Babadook vs. As Above, So Below

Well, the new year is almost upon us and over the past two nights I got to watch two horror movies that i've been waiting all year to watch: The Babadook and As Above, So Below.

gif credit

THE BABADOOK

The story of a single mother, Amelia, raising her young son, Samuel, after the death of her husband. Her son has some developmental problems and is acting out at school, he stays up all night worrying about monsters, and Amelia is starting to feel the effects. One night they discover a children's book about the Babadook, a monster who shows up after three knocks on the door and never leaves. Samuel becomes obsessed and frightened with the Babadook and his behavior gets even worse, but now Amelia is seeing strange things around the house and hearing knocks at the door. Is it the lack of sleep and stress, or could it really be...the baba dook dook dook....

Written and directed by the wonderful and obviously talented, Jennifer Kent. I absolutely loved this film. The cinematography alone is enough to earn it all the raving reviews it's receiving. But the story itself is just as great. The Babadook overall is a story of grief and loss, and the internal struggle to move on in our lives from the terrible circumstances that hold us back. Whether the Babadook is real or not, I think you can decide that for yourself, the movie doesn't hold your hand but more or less shoves you off of the ledge into the crazy events.

One thing I really appreciated about this film was the lack of the big show. You never really see the Babadook, he's always in the shadows, or through the TV, and even better....in a few scenes you see everything from his POV. I was extremely impressed. It made it that much more terrifying.

But as scares go? I wasn't. It's not a traditional jump scare type movie. There's a few moments that prey on your imagination, but mostly it was an enjoyable but sad ride through the lives of Amelia and Samuel, with a Rosemary's Baby type breakdown at the end.

The acting was phenomenal as well. Noah Wiseman played little Samuel and I was incredibly impressed. Not once did I find myself rolling my eyes or getting irritated with the child's acting, it was 100% believable.

I would give The Babadook 9/10, and will most likely watch it again in the future. 

gif credit 

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul.

Scarlett, an alchemy scholar and teacher, is in pursuit of finishing her, now deceased, father's search for the philosopher's stone. Along with a documentary film maker, Benji, and her close friend filled with sexual tension, George, the team discovers the location of the stone below Paris in the catacombs. Using an off the track tourist guide and his group they head down into the tunnels into what can only be described as a tomb raider story mixed with The Descent.

I am so in love with this fucking film. This is all I've ever wanted. A wonderful mix of Egyption history, folk lore, urban legends, Templar Knights, witchcraft, cults....I mean, goddamn. I reached out to Oprah after about 50 minutes in and said how much I was enjoying it but that there hadn't been a single scare so far. And then the last 30 minutes happened. And I almost shit myself.

This movie is hard to talk about without spoiling anything because it just simply builds and builds until you almost can't take it anymore and then explodes with some of the most terrifying moments I've seen this year. And being set in the catacombs they do an amazing job of giving you claustrophobia and really sending you into a deep spiral along with the characters. It's so rich and complex and Scarlett is an amazing female lead who has such depth that you can almost sink your teeth into it. She's the horror genre's answer to Lara Croft.

The film was written by the Dowdle brothers and directed by John Dowdle. These are the guys who wrote and directed The Poughkeepsie Tapes, Quarantine, and directed Devil (which I think about every time I get in an elevator to this day). So you know you're in good hands. The brothers are also super interesting and recently did a Bizarre States podcast talking about John's obsession and travels to Egypt. (check out Bizarre States @ nerdist.com)

I give this movie an easy 10/10. I already want to watch it again and will aggressively recommend it to everyone.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays ya'll! Keep it as spooky as possible. I'm off to Calgary in the new year to spend some time with my family so not sure when my next update will roll around. Keep following me on twitter: @remusluupin for horror news, movie reviews, breakdowns, and photos of my dog......