The Babadook Blu-ray
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A single mother, plagued by the violent death of her husband, battles with her son’s fear of a monster lurking in the house, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her. The Babadook Blu-ray
Amelia (AFI Award winner Essie Davis, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, The Slap) is a single mother plagued by the violent death of her husband. When a disturbing storybook called Mister Babadook turns up at her house, she is forced to battle with her son’s deep-seated fear of a monster. Soon she discovers a sinister presence all around her. A chilling tale of unseen and otherworldly horror in the haunting tradition of The Orphanage, Jennifer Kent’s visceral journey into the heart of fear itself is as terrifying as it is believable. The Babadook Blu-ray
Bonus Content:
- Interviews with the Cast and Crew
- Behind-the-Scenes
- Theatrical Trailers
Review
One of the scariest horror movies in years –Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times Sunday
Deeply disturbing and highly recommended –Stephen King
A nerve-frying psychological thriller. Brace yourself. –Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Additional information
| Aspect Ratio : | 2.35:1 |
|---|---|
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : | No |
| MPAA rating : | NR (Not Rated) |
| Product Dimensions : | 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 0.01 ounces |
| Item model number : | 15933 |
| Director : | Jennifer Kent |
| Media Format : | NTSC, Blu-ray, Subtitled, Widescreen |
| Run time : | 1 hour and 33 minutes |
| Release date : | September 1, 2020 |
| Actors : | Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinney, Daniel Henshall |
| Subtitles: : | English, Spanish |
| Producers : | Kristina Ceyton, Kristian Moliere |
| Language : | English (Dolby Digital 5.1) |
| Studio : | SHOUT! FACTORY |
| ASIN : | B00SVDJ0JU |
| Writers : | Jennifer Kent |
| Country of Origin : | USA |
| Number of discs : | 1 |
| Best Sellers Rank: | #1,075 in Horror (Movies & TV) |
| Customer Reviews: | (4,063) |
9 reviews for The Babadook Blu-ray
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Danny –
Thrills and chills with a deeper meaning
A few friends of mine were talking about this film and recommended it to me. I pre-ordered the movie and was eager to see it because they were acting like it was the greatest thing ever. I don’t think it was the scariest horror film ever made but it did have eerie moments that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. The film does start a little slow and as I was watching it I was thinking about how miserable these characters are. I stuck with it and things begin to make more sense. The film has a long developing exposition that sets up the emotional grind that the two main characters are going through. Many who watch this movie comment on how annoying the kid is. I think the clever thing about this movie is that you begin to “feel” what the mother goes through and instead of becoming a passive viewer of events unfolding…you essentially become more involved. The director could of demonstrated annoyances that the mother (Essie Davis) goes through but instead decides to throw the misery in the audience’s faces repeatedly. You can’t help but to feel the desperation of the mother and couldn’t help but to think what I would do in a situation like this. Once the creature arrives, you wonder if all of this is sheer insanity but because both characters experience the Babadook, it develops into more of a mystery. The ending was puzzling at first but if you take a moment, it all becomes very clear. It is indeed a movie that contains a message but for those just seeking a thrill ride, it might be a little slow in development for you but you’ll get there. I thought the acting was very well done. Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman certainly know how to evoke reactions from the audience. I hear people saying, “I can’t stand that woman” and “That kid was so annoying…I just couldn’t stand it”. Well, reactions like are the greatest compliments for actors.To me personally, the film leaves me with the thought that stress, conflict, and other weights of the world can manifest into things quite terrible. These issues can stack up inside of us can certainly do great damage and need to be dealt with. Although we deal with this stuff with the help of family and friends, these negative experiences will always be a part of us in some way. We all handle our problems in differently and this film seems to explore this with audiences. I enjoyed the film and it gave us some interesting lunch break conversations at work.The Blu Ray special edition comes in a red sleeve that can open up to reveal what looks to be a page out of the Babadook book. The film looks great but I do agree with others that you will be adjusting the volume on this a lot. It can get really soft sometimes and then super loud. There are also some great extras like deleted scenes, cast and crew interviews, and Jennifer Kent’s short film entitled “Monster”. This short film obviously became the inspiration for the movie and it’s interesting to watch. I especially enjoyed the interview with the artist who created the book for the movie as well. I enjoyed the film for it’s developing thrills and the pondering message it leaves us with. I recommend this one highly.
10 people found this helpful
snoogins4life –
My #1 Film of 2014
Grief is such a powerful thing, it can be crippling, maddening and terrifying all in one. I have first had experience after loosing my father at a young age, I still fight with the sadness and have to work to keep the grief in check. THE BABADOOK plays with that concept, to such astonishing results.Amelia is a still grieving wife, a woman lost in the sadness of the violent lose of her husband; and left to care for the child that she feels took him from her in some way. Sam was born the same day as her husbands death, and even though not spoken; she feels he is somewhat to blame; and over the 7 years since that horrible day a rift has grown between mother and child. Amelia lives in a state of both denial but deep grief, and Sam is desperate for love and attention, and has his own underlining fears. Fear of an unseen monster and fear of the lose of his mother. That is where we pick up the story, both are struggling through life together. Amelia in a daze, and Sam in a constant state of fight or flight; a fear that causes him to lash out and go above and beyond with protecting himself and his mother. Then one night, when it’s time for bed, Sam picks out a book for mom to read and “Mister Babadook” opens up a spiraling nightmare that circles the two closing in on them and trying to drive them both mad.Many people seem to not get the film, I’ve read so many reviews where people don’t find the film scary, and fuss about lack of scares. But, this isn’t that type of film on the whole. While there are some truly disturbing moments that deal with the dark presence that is The Babadook; the underlining fear of the film is lose of ones self from fear, grief and ultimately madness. The ending is the perfect place to observe this, instead of taking the easy “we defeated the monster” approach, creator and director Jennifer Kent uses the entire film and the ending as a metaphor. The Babadook, is literally the embodiment of Amelia’s grief, fear and despair. A living thing created by her inability to deal with her pain, and in accepting the pain and acknowledging it she, she beats it; BUT you can’t rid yourself of grief, pain and despair; you can merely alleviate it and learn to live with it. Hence the films ending.The acting in the film is stellar; with Essie Davis giving a tour de force performance as Amelia; and young Noah Wiseman is crazy good as her young son Samuel. They so wonderfully portray a dysfunctional family, and pull off the love/hate relationship that comes from their grief and fear. The creation of The Babadook itself is stellar, with the use of Nosferatu and the father’s clothes making a truly creepy entity. The bedroom sequence midway through the film is a thing of nightmares. The film is beautiful to watch, the colors are dark and crisp and the film seems to grow grayer and more dim as the threat of The Babadook grows. The film as a whole is by far one of the best horror films I’ve seen in years, and the intelligence of it helps strengthen that aspect. This is definitely a thinking man’s film.The bluray comes with a plethora of special features; something that fans of SCREAM FACTORY have become use to. With a few mini features, several deleted scenes and almost an hour and a half of cast and crew interviews to watch, the supplemental package is amazing. The bluray also comes with a fantastic collectible slip cover modeled after the creepy “Mister Babadook” pop up book from the film; and the inward art work is reversible with both a black slip and a white cover on the reverse side. It’s definitely another stellar release from SCREAM FACTORY.I say if you love a good psychological thriller that focuses more on real life horror than on supernatural horror, you will love this film. It does have its share of truly frightening “horror” moments, but if your expecting SAW, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET or PARANORMAL ACTIVITY then your watching the wrong film. Highly recommended.
8 people found this helpful
Brandon Z –
An excellent psychological horror movie
This was a really interesting movie, and is an incredibly impressive debut film from the director. I loved how the whole movie, even the end where they show you one thing, could all be taken multiple different ways. It’s been done before, but Babadook is possibly the most successful at keeping you guessing the entire way through. The actors, especially the mother and son which are really on the screen for the entire movie are great. The kid is incredibly annoying and weird, but that’s exactly what the movie called for. It’s impressive for the actor and the director to make the viewers almost want the kid to be punished, he could possibly even be called a villain for a decent part of this movie. The mother is also excellent, she does really well portraying someone descending into madness, or possession. I’ll try to avoid any spoilers, but once the film is over, I couldn’t help but spend time thinking about everything that happened, and what it actually meant.The movie was just so well done, and it expects so much from the viewer, it isn’t dumbed down at all, it knows/expects that the people who watch the Babadook will be intelligent. Lately, almost every horror film has some sort of exposition dump, where the people google search, go to the library, or ask an expert about what’s happening. However, there is nothing like that in this film. On one side it makes it so that the viewer and the characters in the story have no idea what the source is of the Babadook entity that’s haunting them, but on the other it opens up so many possibilities for the viewer to fill in the blanks on their own. Personally, btw this is a slight spoiler, from a random comment made during the film that said the mother used to be a writer of articles and children books before the death of her husband and birth of her son (on the same night), I think that the mother might have been the one that wrote the Babadook, and her son just found it in a box of her old stuff in the basement. If this is true it puts a much different spin on the movie, which is really backed up multiple times in the film, while simultaneously showing something completely different and supernatural. What’s great is that even beyond the two main ways to view the ending, you could also take it to have a deeper meaning beyond what’s showed or implied. Where essentially the movie was all about a mother coming to terms with her grief over the loss of her husband, and while it’s something that never fully disappears, you can lock it up in the basement and learn to live a mostly normal life.There aren’t any jump scares in this movie or a lot of gore, it’s just a really creepy and hauntingly enthralling movie, something very different from the average horror movie. I’d highly recommend the Babadook, especially for fans of psychological horror.
7 people found this helpful
M. W. Perry –
Fair Movie Coasting on a Great Premise
“The Babadook” is a decent movie with a creepy premise that it never quite lives up to. Essie Davis stars as Amelia, a single mother whose husband was killed the day her only son, Samuel, was born. Samuel, in turn (played by Daniel Henshall), is a lonely child, fascinated with stage magic, who as a result never gets to celebrate his birthday on the actual date. Early on, the two share a bedtime story from a pop-up book about a shadowy, malignant figure called “Mister Babadook”. The pages are only half-filled, but we quickly discover that it’s a work in progress, as subsequent encounters with the book show a dark progression of events as the Babadook draws closer.The pop-up book is a clever gimmick, and Davis’s performance, though verging on hysteria at times, really sells the premise. Once you see what’s going on behind the scenes, though (and it isn’t too hard to figure that out), the film stops working as a horror movie.*** SPOILERS BELOW ***The creature is obviously an embodiment of her own unresolved grief, and the book shows her undergoing a progressive violent breakdown, ending in the death of her son. I could tell when I saw the page about her killing the dog what would happen: it has to die so that we, the audience, see a tangible threat, but that scene immediately told me that Samuel was no longer truly in danger.The movie really coasts into its ending, which, while fitting, still seemed a little forced. The point of manifesting her emotions externally is so that we can see her (literally) struggle with them, but the movie kind of lets that pass in the third act. In the end, her decision to accept her husband’s death and move on reigns in the Babadook, but if the creature itself is a physical representation of her misery, we see no similar manifestation of acceptance and recovery; we simply have to take it on good faith.Still, the premise is creepy enough and Davis’s performance is solid throughout, so even if the story limps into home plate at the end, that’s still a score. But don’t watch it expecting to find a superlative horror experience. It’s a good movie, but not a great one.
23 people found this helpful
Christopher Greffin –
Among the Best of Modern Horror Films
The Babadook, masterfully directed by Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent, is one of the best horror movies of recent years—maybe even of recent decades. In her stunning directorial debut, Kent shows not merely promise as a filmmaker, but a rare talent that seldom shows through this strongly so early in a career. Creepy, emotionally poignant, tension filled, and mostly free of tired horror clichés, it is something special.The film stars Essie Davis in a terrific, emotional turn as Amelia, a widowed mother still years later in a funk of despair over the loss of her husband on the day her son was born. Her son played by Noah Wiseman, a six-year-old named Samuel, is a very difficult child. He talks of dark subjects, makes weapons, and is prone to violent outbursts; he gets suspended from school and causes his devoted, though very emotionally distant, mother barriers with her sister and a potential love interest, and society generally speaking. As they become more isolated, things get stranger and more distressing in their home, especially when what appears to be a kid’s pop-up book appears without explanation, entitled Mr. Babadook, and when read is found to be nothing innocent at all (those dark, shifting pages are a terrific artistic creation used within this film, and it’s impossible to imagine this story told without it). It builds on a spine-chilling atmosphere with events and details, one upon another, very effectively, and hits the viewer with along the way moments of startling fright that add to but never overshadow the main situation. Motivations for certain acts aren’t always clear, but that only adds, not detracts, from the overall effect.This is in the running for my favorite horror film since the turn of the century: a genuinely scary film with great pacing, two strong lead performances, and enough originality to keep it compelling throughout. Beyond all it is Kent, who wrote the film as well as directed it, who deserves the largest credit for the exceptional product.About the same time as this film came out another horror film was released, also by a woman directing her first feature film, and that I think also ranks among the best modern examples of the genre: Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. What Kent and Amirpour prove (in addition to women who have made such films as Raw and The Invitation) is that if more female talent was given a chance to make the films they are capable of, or the kinds they desire, in whatever genre they choose, that many more would shine, and studios are doing a disservice by not considering filmmakers of that gender more often. I can probably count on one hand the number of horror movies since 2000 made by men that I could put alongside either of these two.The Babadook Blu-ray has a few nice special features, including an hour-long segment of interviews with the filmmakers including Kent and star Davis that’s quite interesting, though unfortunately no film commentary. On the film itself the video quality is very good, and the sound, heavy on the surround, is really excellent. Play it in the dark with good sound system—it’ll be a fantastic, chilling horror experience.
One person found this helpful
Mr. J. S. Young –
Thought-provoking horror gem
As a longstanding lover of horror, I was hopeful that we were due a resurgence of great horror movies. James Wan looked like he was going to lead the charge, but he hasn’t really delivered on his early promise. We’ll have to keep waiting until we get another Exorcist or Omen – but little films like this one will keep us going until that happens.The Babadook is a low budget Australian horror movie which is very restrained in its ambitions. While this was probably for budgetary reasons, its the viewer that benefits from this very focused film. Other reviews have gone into details on the unconventional story-line so I won’t repeat what others have already done – but suffice it to say that the film very cleverly uses horror tropes and excellent set design and art direction to tell a small story about grief and the challenges of single parenthood. I don’t want to spoil the film, but it’s fair to say that the film is not a literal one. If you’re expecting jump scares or blood and gore, then this isn’t for you, but for everyone else looking for a creepy, effective film that has something serious to say then look no further.It’s also very well constructed; the film-makers leave clues throughout the movie as to what’s really going on – and perhaps some of these were laid on too thick – but this is a film that will make you think what it’s really about and continue to think about it long after it has ended. There were some strong influences at work here -I could certainly detect elements of the Exorcist and even Eraserhead, so the crew behind the Babadook know their stuff.Is it perfect? No – while it’s creepy in places, I wasn’t really ever scared by it but we all have our different triggers and tolerance levels. I also felt that it did perhaps need a another dimension (another character, another location) to spice it up; the excellently consistent sets and tone of the film sometimes were a little too much, and some changes of pace and scenery would have helped. The monster effects weren’t the best, and I for one would have preferred a complete absence of CGI, replacing the effects with a well made-up actor. But other than these pretty minor points, this is a great little gem, strongly recommended for those wanting a smart, thoughtful and creepy horror.
Marie S H C –
A Horrifying Tale for Parents
An incredible, truly terrifying, unique film.
Mike Richards –
Great scary movie
Disk & case were in good condition. I found this movie to be very frightening and disturbing. It was a lot of fun to watch! Recommended.
Mark Kittell –
The Babadook is a film that understands what true horror is
While horror and the supernatural is perhaps my favorite fictional literary genre, I can’t say that horror and the supernatural are my favorite film genres. Perhaps it is because in literature cheap shocks, like a sudden noise or the appearance of a monster, cannot “jump” out of a page, so writers have to take greater care in creating an imaginative atmosphere of dread and fear. One of the great horror stories, Oliver Onions’ “The Beckoning Fair One,” may bore those who like their shocks “cheap,” but for those with the patience, its slow, inexorable grind to a conclusion that challenges readers to make their own determination of what is or isn’t “reality” is well worth the journey. The Babadook is one of those rare films that understands that true horror straddles the line between madness and reality, upending assumptions and keeping its cards close to the vest until the atmosphere of terror is sufficiently developed to show it to maximum effect. Currently the Babadook has received a 98 percent “fresh” rating out of 219 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, testifying to its excellence. Yet “only” 72 percent of viewers “liked” it. I do not understand the discrepancy, save perhaps for the fact that many people go to horror movies these days with a certain “expectation,” and a lazy one at that. Perhaps you have to have an appreciation of both literature and classic film to “like” films like this.The Babadook opens with an apparent nightmare that the mother, Amelia (Essie Davis), has concerning a car accident in which her husband was killed. Her six-year-old son Sam (Noah Wiseman) also has nightmares about a monster called the “Babadook,” which Amelia repeatedly attempts to convince him does not exist. Sam persists in his belief that Babadook is real, but because his terror seems the product of some psychological abnormality, his increasingly bizarre behavior eventually drives his mother to the brink, especially when he constructs weapons to “combat” the supposedly nonexistent apparition.The appearance of a picture book called “Mister Babadook” that contains frightening pop-up imagery seems to be the source of Sam’s belief in the monster, and Amelia attempts to get rid of it, hoping that everything will return to “normal,” which with the help of tranquilizers she convinces a reluctant doctor to prescribe to her son seems to bring some calm to the house. But not for long; the book reappears, this time with new pages which warn that the Babadook will never go away, and will only get stronger the more you disbelieve in him. Not only that, he will inhabit your body and cause you to do unspeakable things. Amelia burns the book, now “hoping” that it is just some sinister prowler lurking about. She goes to the police, but since she cannot provide any credible information they only look upon her story as the product of some disturbed woman. Meanwhile, Sam insists that the monster is real and will “never” go away.Up to this point the viewer is led along believing that Sam may be the “monster” driving his mother crazy, but at the midpoint there begins a clear and dramatic shift in that dynamic after Amelia catches a brief glimpse of what appears to be the monster from the book through the window of the neighbor’s house. Sam now appears to be the “sane” one, because he had always believed in the existence of the Babadook and was prepared to do battle with it and eventually conduct the “rite” of exorcism himself; his hiding of a tranquilizer that his mother forced on him is done because he knows he must be awake when it is time to help his mother. Sam knows that it was his mother’s refusal to accept the existence of the monster and protect him from it that has allowed it “in” and become stronger, and it is now threatening both of their lives. Unlike other films of this sort, there is no “outside” savior; mother and son are fighting alone, because everyone else (save perhaps the old woman who lives next door), assumes that they have a “problem” of their own creation.While this film has received near universal acclaim and deservedly so, reviews rationalizing why this is so have been all over the map, especially those taking a gender politics view of the proceedings, mainly choosing to base their opinion from the first half of the film when the mother seems to be the “victim” of a crazed male child. But for other reviewers there are a wide range of question marks leading to different conclusions. For example, is the Babadook real or some nightmarish invention born of a refusal to come to terms with the death of the father, while he was driving Amelia to the hospital on the very day Sam was born? The appearances of the monster are always brief and shrouded in darkness, so the question of reality is always present. Where did the book come from? Amelia had once been a writer; could she have composed it herself, from some dark place in her imagination that blamed her son for the death of her husband? Was Amelia “possessed” by the monster, or was she acting out on repressed feelings of anger toward her son? A few reviewers found the tacked-on ending problematic, suggesting that the Babadook was “real,” but more a simple creature which had taken “human” form (or at least the garments of one) to appear more frightening; if the film had ended with an “open-ended” possibility of the reality of the monster, it might have been a more effective finish. But that is only the minutest of quibbles. This is one of the best horror movies I have ever seen, because it knows what true fright is, the kind that you lay in bed covering your eyes with a blanket hoping that whatever it is in that dark corner isn’t “real” and goes away. First-time writer/director Jennifer Kent can’t be credited highly enough for conceiving this film, but reviewers fail to mention the contribution of Polish cinematographer Radoslaw Ludczuk, who is so unknown in the U.S. that The Babadook is his only credit on IMDB. As the “behind the scenes” extra on the video release shows, it is clear that his special expertise was invaluable to the “look” and “feel” of this film.
9 people found this helpful