The Babadook

Hey Everyone!
So, this movie is by far the scariest that I've watched in a while and I thought a lot about some of the phrases I read in our readings and how they related to The Babadook. This movie, in particular, made my skin crawl. I think a big part of how this movie affected me has to do with the fact that everything going on in Amelia and Samuel's lives' aside from the Babadook's presence is already going pretty terribly. Amelia is Samuel's mother and she has lost her husband and Samuel's father in a car accident that occurred while her late husband was driving her to give birth to their son. She is constantly dealing with a deep resentment towards her son because of this which seems to bleed heavily into her life. One scene that comes to mind is one where Samuel is showing her a magic trick and he hugs her tight, she holds him for a second until he hugs her tight, when he does this she pulls away quick and rather abrasively tells him not to do that. This is coupled with the fact Samuel appears to be a bit of a problem child because he's constantly obsessed with monsters causing him to have trouble sleeping, it's hard for him to cooperate with other children, and he is overtly honest when speaking. I watched a youtube video that helped give me a theory as to what the Babadook represents and its theory was that it represents Amelia's grief of her husband passing. I really like this theory because I felt like this film was really psychologically involved and everything appeared to have a deeper meaning, not just jump scares. While reading Barbara Creed's "Horror and The Monstrous Feminine" I reflected most with her third theory of how the abject works within horror films. She states, "The mother-child relation as one marked by conflict: The child struggles to break free but the mother is reluctant to release it." This can be seen by how she does reject Samuel in some ways but in others, she lacks the ability to maintain him because she has no discipline for him. This semi-codependent relationship that they share makes them that much more dangerous to each other as the Babadook enters their lives.

Here's the link to the youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7XzkX4e-HY

A little bit about myself

Hi everyone!
I am Hyland and this is my horror film blog. I am a junior at Lawrence University and I am a Film/ English double major. I am from Chicago, but I am currently staying on Campus for the Spring term. I am excited to analyze and discuss these horror films here. My interest in early cinema and film stems from my childhood. My family was always one to go to the movies and watch all the new films. I was raised on this concept, therefore nothing was off-limits. I was allowed to watch any movie my family deemed respectable regardless of its rating. I love watching movies and discovering new ways to conceptualize them. When I came to college I realized that I had a true passion for film and I ran with it. I decided that if there was ever a time to embark on a study I might enjoy and use in the future for my career choice, now was the time. This class, in particular, excites me because I love horror films. When I was younger they used to scare but I still insisted on watching them. Horror films were the one area where my family would draw the line, so naturally, any chance I got I would be watching them. I've come to find now that horror films don't necessarily scare, so much as they intrigue me. Also, some of them are really funny. Anyways, until next time happy movie watching!