Amanda's Picks

I wanted to go to the movies this weekend. Really, I did. But just like at T.J. Maxx and Target, the multiplex is all in for early Halloween. There’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but I nearly walked out of the first one. We have The Front Room, where apparently “All Hell Moves in.” Speak No Evil and Blink Twice. No and thank you. I read the plot summaries. Longlegs involves a serial killer, the occult and Nicholas Cage, and Afraid is about AI taking over a family’s life, and spoiler alert, not in a good way. I’m already scared about how much Alexa knows about my shopping habits and affection for knock-knock jokes. 

Moviegoers seem to want to pay money to see horror films at the movie theater. These are the “film fans” who are fine watching Oppenheimer on their phones but need to see innocent people brutally slashed on the big screen, while eating pricey popcorn with their pals. I prefer my scary movies on the small screen with remote in hand, which allowed me to see the original Scream in about 14 minutes. 

It’s not that I’m anti-horror. I remember seeing Carrie as a teenager in Downtown Boston, and bolting out of my seat at what is often referred to as one of cinema’s earliest and greatest “jump scares.” I watched Psycho while I was babysitting and probably checked on the kids 47 times. And, while I am of the unpopular opinion that The Shining and Silence of the Lambs are overrated, I feel the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and 1986’s The Fly are very much underrated. 

So, if I was going to rant about horror films and not visit the multiplex, I decided to test myself. I hit the Internet searching lists of “the best” horror movies. One film that kept coming up was The Babadook. This 2014 Australian film intrigued me because A) It is considered “Art Horror” like Pan’s Labyrinth and Black Swan, B) Reviews said there was very little blood, and C) It was on Netflix.

 

 

The Babadook

In The Babadook, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), is a big-eyed, frail six-year-old who is, shall we say “challenging.” He’s causing problems at school, building weapons at home and hurts a little girl at a party. Future serial killer you say? No, Mom is actually the problem here. Wracked with grief over her husband’s death, Amelia (Essie Davis) isn’t as committed to motherhood as she could be. Then, she becomes possessed by a demon from a children’s book. Is the Babadook a real evil spirit, a manifestation of her grief, or a figment of the boy’s imagination? The Babadook is not about the gory kill count. It’s about build-up. Things get scary at 39 minutes, frightening at 50 minutes and terrifying 20 minutes later, without a single on-screen death (human anyway) and practically no blood. 

Davis is electrifying as she goes from passive mom to angry mom, to murderous mom and ultimately super mom. It’s a fierce and demanding performance. Director Jennifer Kent has created a film about parenting, love and grief, that happens to be a horror movie. Even though Amelia says and does awful things under the influence of the Babadook, you never yell at the screen, “Die already,” like you would at the slasher in the Friday the 13th or Halloween movies. Instead, you say “You’re gonna be OK, Mom. You’ve gone through enough.” And ultimately, you are rewarded. The Babadook is worth seeing and you may not even have to fast forward.

 

 

Emmy Awards Recap 

Emmy Awards 2024 Part Two, this past Sunday, offered up plenty of repeat winners from the 2023 Emmys, which aired just this past January due to the writer and actor strike. The Bear won every acting award except for Ayo Adeberi who made the bad decision to switch from Supporting Actress to Actress which pit her against Jean Smart, who won for the third time for Hacks. And speaking of Hacks, the show pulled a surprise win over The Bear for Comedy Series, but maybe that’s because Hacks is actually funny. 

With Emmy champ Succession wrapped up, FX’s Shogun stepped in to scoop up wins for Drama, Actor and Actress. I haven’t seen Shogun yet, but Emma assures me it deserved those wins. In January, Beef won nearly all the Limited Series awards. On Sunday, that category’s big winner was Netflix’s Baby Reindeer, which I did see and enjoyed, due to the strong acting and compelling true story. And with wins for Host and Reality Competition, I’m tempted to give Peacock’s The Traitors a chance.