THE BABADOOK
Dir - Jennifer Kent
Overall: MEH
There is a very long, strong tradition of horror films that do not know how to end themselves. The Babadook, (the full-length debut from Australian writer/director Jennifer Kent), fits securely into such a mold. Kent establishes some early creepiness, with the title character being teased while making some skin-crawling noises. The theme of motherhood stress manifesting itself supernaturally is unmistakable, but the presentation is marred by one distracting annoyance after the other. Speaking of cinematic traditions, doe-eyed Samuel, (Noah Wiseman), follows yet another well established trope of unbearably bratty kids in movies and such a characterization is absolutely ruining here. He and Essie Davis' dysfunctional dynamic goes beyond being relatable, beyond being comical, and is simply balls-out aggravating to endure. Following a stock horror movie structure and wrapping everything up with a ridiculous, Home Alone-style set piece, the film becomes equal parts completely unsatisfying, completely maddening, and completely insulting in the process.
HOUSEBOUND
Dir - Gerard Johnstone
Overall: MEH
As the debut from New Zealand-based writer/director Gerard Johnstone, Housebound is an occasionally funny yet often obnoxiously nasty horror comedy. The opening scene is certainly amusing enough, at least in a "crack a smile while watching it" kind of way. More intentionally ridiculous things consistently happen and the film never goes over the top, though it teeters very close to the edge at times with some far-fetched plot elements that would have otherwise ruined a purely serious affair. Issues arise with the main protagonist Kylie, (Morgana O'Reily), who is incredibly unlikeable. Though this is part of the point to be fair, it pushes things too far since in order for her arc to work, it requires more sympathy from the audience than is possible to gain under the circumstances. There are also so many twists and reveals thrown at us from an early stage that it becomes a numbing exercise in red herrings. Teasing to pull the rug out so many times for most of the duration, the end reveal almost unavoidably comes off rather dull. Flaws and all, Housebound was certainly well made in parts as the laughs were often subtle, they hit their mark, and the action scenes were very well staged.
Dir - multiple
Overall: MEH
Both The ABCs of Death and its inevitable follow-up ABCs of Death 2 drop the ball for identical and predictable reasons. Whereas the first one had some terrible segments but also some excellent ones, this one has nothing terrible or excellent. Instead, it is about as so-so as an anthology horror film can get. Featuring another batch of twenty-six short movies each based on a different letter of the alphabet and each from a different director or filmmaking team, a plus side is that the shorts in this go around are on a whole far less disgusting than the previous collection. The C, E, F, and P segments are quite awful though, H and N are just boring, L is just weird, and D is also weird though quite enjoyable coming from the surreal, stop motion animator Robert Morgan. I, J, K, and O were pretty clever and/or creepy, J probably ranking as the best one. Again though, nothing here jumped out and significantly, but nothing is all that remarkable either. As the end credit's proclaim, yet another ABCs may be on the way, so here is hoping a worthy improvement is finally made within the now established formula.
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