STACK NZ Magazine November Issue 57

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30 NOVEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi
visit REVIEWS DVD&BD
Australian writer-director Jennifer Kent’s debut
feature created some serious buzz when it screened
at Sundance, and you’ll understand why when you
watch this incredibly creepy, psychological horror
film. Single mother Amelia (a terrific Essie Davis) has
never gotten over the accident that killed her husband
the night her now seven-year-old son Samuel (Noah
Wiseman) was born. The boy already suffers from
behavioural problems, which grow increasingly worse
when he claims that a shadowy boogeyman, The
Babadook, has taken up residence in their home. Constructed as a
dark domestic drama with the supernatural lurking on the fringes,
The Babadook delivers a descent into madness in the tradition of
Polanski’s Repulsion. A disturbing and downbeat experience, and
highly recommended.
Don’t let him in
THE BABADOOK
Oculus might be about a haunted mirror, but it’s
not as hokey as it sounds. For starters, it boasts
a strong central performance from former Doctor
Who companion Karen Gillan, who is determined
to prove that the diabolical antique was responsible
for a family tragedy that saw her younger brother
(rising Australian star Brenton Thwaites, Maleficent)
accused of murder and institutionalised. Genre
fans will also appreciate the casting of Battlestar
Galactica veteran Katee Sackhoff, who delivers a
truly disturbing turn as the siblings’ possessed mother. Alternating
between the past and present and conjuring some surreal jolts of
the Nightmare on Elm Street variety, director Mike Flanagan serves
up a refreshing new slant on an old idea and emerges triumphant.
Recommended viewing.
Mirror, mirror on the wall...
OCULUS
Texan writer Joe R. Lansdale is surprisingly
unrepresented on screen – Bubba Ho-Tep is the only one
that springs to mind – but this darkly comic adaptation
of his novel of the same name by director Jim Mickle
( Stakeland, We Are What We Are) might change that.
Set in the mullet-quiffed ‘80s, it starts out like a familiar
revenge thriller: a quiet family man (Dexter’s Michael C.
Hall) kills a burglar who has broken into his home, only
to be later stalked by his victim’s father (Sam Shepard).
However, things take an unexpected turn when both
men realise they have been misled by the police, prompting them to
from an uneasy alliance. Mickle’s sinewy direction piles on the southern
gothic dread and he is rewarded with terrific performances, particularly
Don Johnson as a flamboyant private eye. Highly recommended.
Texas killing fields
COLD IN JULY
Susan Sarandon plays a small town policewoman
(with a drinking problem) who discovers a serial
killer has ventured into her jurisdiction, dispatching
his victims according to an ancient Christian
resurrection prayer. In the pantheon of biblically-
motivated madmen, he has a unique M.O. – one
that scores major points for creativity and which
confounds Sarandon, her partner (Gil Bellows) and
newly transferred rookie Topher Grace. This police
procedural weaves elements of Fargo and Se7en
together and boasts a terrific cast (with Ellen Burstyn and Donald
Sutherland in supporting roles), but the end result is strangely
inert for a serial killer thriller, although the final twist does help to
redeem its shortcomings.
A prayer for the dying
THE CALLING
Format: Release Date: 05/11/14 Format: Release Date: 26/11/14
Format: Release Date:19/11/14 Format: Release Date: 05/11/14
HORROR
THRILLER