AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror

It's a longer article that I highly recommend if you're a horror fan or if you enjoyed The Babadook and It Follows.

On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror

Quote :: There’s an old saying that one is an example, two is a coincidence, and three is a trend. That’s especially true when it comes to horror, where either because of synchronicity or cold commercial calculation, trends bubble up seemingly overnight, and then dominate the genre for years. One slasher film is an anomaly. Two? Well, sometimes minds—great or otherwise—think alike. But if there’s three? Brace for the glut.

It’s hard to say whether we’re on the verge of a new wave in horror right now, but on the one-two-three trend-scale, it at least qualifies as a coincidence that the two best-reviewed thrillers of the past two years—The Babadook and It Follows—are both relentlessly creepy films about a supernatural evil that can’t be stopped. Are we one movie away from the tipping-point? And if so, what does this say about our collective apocalyptic anxiety in the mid-2010s?

Let’s make one thing clear up top: Ascribing any larger meaning to a particular pop culture uprising can be a fool’s game, because it presumes artistic intent within an enterprise that’s fundamentally profit-driven. If all of a sudden there are a bunch of movies and books and TV shows about zombies, that doesn’t necessarily mean that our artists have developed some deep-seated psychological or sociological need to tell stories about the undead. Individual zombie films and shows may be trying to explore serious ideas, but the trend proliferates because producers smell money. One big success begets another—and continues to do so until consumers revolt.

I would certainly welcome more horror movies like It Follows and The Babadook.

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AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror 6o22bn

Wallace108: Jon, how the hell do you expect any of us to ever follow your posts? You always set the bar awfully high. AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror 1664291743

AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror 1664291743

"Ray Rice is special. He is a guy for all situations, as I have said before, even in an elevator." -Mike Tomlin

Posts : 4193 Join date : 2011-04-06 Location : richmond va

The Babadook was alright but I really liked It Follows. That was the first good "horror" movie I have seen in years.

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AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror Vasign10

"Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead." - Butch

vasteeler wrote:: The Babadook was alright but I really liked It Follows. That was the first good "horror" movie I have seen in years.

Was it the dog death? I knew it was coming when she read the book that second time.

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Wallace108: Jon, how the hell do you expect any of us to ever follow your posts? You always set the bar awfully high. AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror 1664291743

"Ray Rice is special. He is a guy for all situations, as I have said before, even in an elevator." -Mike Tomlin

Speaking of the Babadook

AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror YKmBuYF

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Wallace108: Jon, how the hell do you expect any of us to ever follow your posts? You always set the bar awfully high. AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror 1664291743

"Ray Rice is special. He is a guy for all situations, as I have said before, even in an elevator." -Mike Tomlin

Posts : 4193 Join date : 2011-04-06 Location : richmond va

JonM229 wrote:

vasteeler wrote:: The Babadook was alright but I really liked It Follows. That was the first good "horror" movie I have seen in years.

Was it the dog death? I knew it was coming when she read the book that second time.

haha. no actually as soon as my wife and I saw the dog we looked at each other and said at the same time....that dogs dead.

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AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror Vasign10

"Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead." - Butch

Agreed. Two of the best horror movies in quite some time. Keep 'em comin'!

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AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror Ee7ffacdb22647915dff1a9d3eef0fd8

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JonM229 wrote:: Was it the dog death? I knew it was coming when she read the book that second time.

for me this took what could have been an enjoyable horror movie I could watch again and again, and just made it a good movie I'll probably never watch again.

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harrison'samonster wrote:

JonM229 wrote:: Was it the dog death? I knew it was coming when she read the book that second time.

for me this took what could have been an enjoyable horror movie I could watch again and again, and just made it a good movie I'll probably never watch again.

I thought it was done well enough to pack a punch without being too upsetting. On the other end, I found the dog death in I Am Legend to be a cheap emotional ploy. Will Smith needs to stop starring in movies that shit all over literary masterpieces (specifically I Am Legend and I, Robot)

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Wallace108: Jon, how the hell do you expect any of us to ever follow your posts? You always set the bar awfully high. AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror 1664291743

"Ray Rice is special. He is a guy for all situations, as I have said before, even in an elevator." -Mike Tomlin

JonM229 wrote:: I thought it was done well enough to pack a punch without being too upsetting. On the other end, I found the dog death in I Am Legend to be a cheap emotional ploy. Will Smith needs to stop starring in movies that shit all over literary masterpieces (specifically I Am Legend and I, Robot)

I didn't even see I Am Legend, but then when I heard about the dog decided I never would. yeah it would be really nice to see similarly made horror movies follow in the next few years, unfortunately we usually get cheap and rotten imitations. Just leave the little dogs alone!

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Posts : 3609 Join date : 2015-04-09 Location : Pittsburgh

I saw The Babadook. Both me and the wife thought it was good. There was some powerful symbolism going on there (in our opinion) regarding mental illness.

jak341 wrote:: I saw The Babadook. Both me and the wife thought it was good. There was some powerful symbolism going on there (in our opinion) regarding mental illness.

what do you mean? it's a monster movie about a woman and her boy and the pet monster they take care of AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror 1378315869

AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror 1378315869

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harrison'samonster wrote:

jak341 wrote:: I saw The Babadook. Both me and the wife thought it was good. There was some powerful symbolism going on there (in our opinion) regarding mental illness.

what do you mean? it's a monster movie about a woman and her boy and the pet monster they take care of AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror 1378315869

Part of (what I thought) made The Babadook so good was how it was much deeper than a standard horror movie.

Spoiler:

I also really liked the art style. Notice how the interior of the house (the walls, the furniture, etc.) was black.

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Wallace108: Jon, how the hell do you expect any of us to ever follow your posts? You always set the bar awfully high. AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror 1664291743

"Ray Rice is special. He is a guy for all situations, as I have said before, even in an elevator." -Mike Tomlin

NOOOOOOO

he's their pet monster

AV Club: On The Babadook, It Follows, And The New Age of Unbeatable Horror Tumblr_inline_ml2z63oTyZ1qz4rgp

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I do agree though, the true meaning of the movie plus the style set it up a notch or two compared to the likes of lesser horror movies

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