The Babadook is the Australian horror film will soon arrive in UK cinemas atop a wave of acclaim received during its festival run, specifically at Sundance earlier this year. We’ve looked at the previously released few trailers and clips, and we’ve even reviewed the film ourselves, but before general audiences get to see it on these shores, the makers of the film want to share a couple of new elements. The first is a new poster for the film (seen above, which makes the review quotes as oppressively foreboding as the presence of the title creature) and the second is a clip, which can be seen below.
This is kind of a bizarre clip to release, for a couple of reasons. Whilst it offers a glimpse into the early stages of tension and anxiety experienced by Amelia as she attempts to find help from someone close to her, only to be rejected, it’s the kind of thing that when viewed out of the context of the film, it makes little impact on its own. And whilst it’s a nice little piece of single-take work (Essie Davis certainly does her job well enough), it’s hardly the most complex or revelatory, so again doesn’t merit much in the way of plaudits either.
Honestly, I don’t really know what to do with this clip. Does it sell the film in an interesting or unique way that would me want to see it? Not particularly, no. If anything it just diminishes the anticipation I have to see the film by shining a light on a brief moment that could exist in any other horror flick. I can only hope that either this scene has a greater impact in context or that releasing it is a deliberate ploy to undersell the film in order to heighten the response when audiences see it… but that’s still a bizarre thing to do.
The Babadook is released in UK cinemas on 24th October.
This is kind of a bizarre clip to release, for a couple of reasons. Whilst it offers a glimpse into the early stages of tension and anxiety experienced by Amelia as she attempts to find help from someone close to her, only to be rejected, it’s the kind of thing that when viewed out of the context of the film, it makes little impact on its own. And whilst it’s a nice little piece of single-take work (Essie Davis certainly does her job well enough), it’s hardly the most complex or revelatory, so again doesn’t merit much in the way of plaudits either.
Honestly, I don’t really know what to do with this clip. Does it sell the film in an interesting or unique way that would me want to see it? Not particularly, no. If anything it just diminishes the anticipation I have to see the film by shining a light on a brief moment that could exist in any other horror flick. I can only hope that either this scene has a greater impact in context or that releasing it is a deliberate ploy to undersell the film in order to heighten the response when audiences see it… but that’s still a bizarre thing to do.
The Babadook is released in UK cinemas on 24th October.