Babadook - The Canal (2014) Discussion

[–] mungflesh 10 years ago

Except that Babadook is crap.

And when I have understanding of computers, I shall be the supreme being!

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Well this is crap, so that other movie must be crappier. I won't question your judgment and say it's probably the opposite of crap because crap is to be expected

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[–] epimytheas 10 years ago

Or maybe you are just another crappy bitter troll.

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[–] mungflesh 9 years ago

huh?

And when I have understanding of computers, I shall be the supreme being!

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[–] wickedobvious 8 years ago

You're right. Babadook is even crappier. At least I made it to the end of this one. Only got through about half of Babadook, but it felt like I was watching it for at least 5000 hours.

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[–] Mavors 9 years ago

Both movies are good.

But I've seen both and the Canal has nothing to do with Badabook.

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[–] BeOneOfUs 9 years ago

Have you seen the films? I watched them both the other night and the only real similarities are the fact that they are ghost related. Other than that, very different.

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[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] arizonabay6-671-900060 9 years ago

It was Australian, not American, also was that a happy ending? She is still feeding her grief.

I agree though, the two films echo each other to a degree. Would make a good double feature.

"To err is human...so...errrr..." - Gary King

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[–] MadRotaryOne_DDCgod 9 years ago

Uh, IDK what movie you watched, but there isn't any ghosts in Babadook.

Not really a spoiler if you have already seen it...

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[–] BeOneOfUs 9 years ago

I said "ghost related" don't be so literal lol. Plus, it is open to interpretation, what The Babadook is.
It is either completely in her head, but that doesn't entirely work since the kid see's it too. Or it is a real, supernatural entity that manifested from the grief of the mother's dead husband. The directer said herself, it can work both ways

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[–] enhancedvibes 7 years ago

It's interesting that the director would say that when The Babadook is probably the best treatise on dealing with mental illness to come along in a long time. There are articles all over the interwebz discussing the mental illness aspect throughout the movie. What a shame that the director herself believes the ending is open to interpretation by the viewer.

ETA - what the kid sees is his mother! Not the creature itself.

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[–] EmmanKiddo 9 years ago

In my opinion The Babadook is 10 times superior to this and a lot less predictable, plus it had great characters and atmosphere, not mentioning it sounds effects. This was really boring, plus the characters didnt really moved me and I predicted this movie since the beginning.

PS Both movies are very different.

The Babadook 8.5/10
The Canal 3/10

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[–] SheLeppie 9 years ago

Have to agree on the superiority of the Babadook. The acting from the mother and especially the child was amazing, where here it was just ok. Also the Babadook kept me riveted, where in this one I kept getting bored and looking at stuff online. I loved the very palpable feeling of isolation and terror in the Babadook - she tried desperately to get help, but failed and was left to her mental illness alone.

In this, the main dude was offered help from all sides and refused. He also could have left the malignant house at any time, rather than knowingly put his son in danger.

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[–] An_Hedonic 9 years ago

I thought exactly the opposite about the 2 kiddie actors, finding the 6/7 year old in The Babadook less convincing than the 4/5 year old in The Canal. Of course Samuel (in Babadook... duh) is high-strung and a bit queer while Billy is just a "normal" child so the former's role demanded more but several times, such as when he has the fit in the car, it seemed more like a little brat faking it than an actual "fit." Billy's delivery wasn't exactly a young Olivier but he seemed more like a real little kid, eating his dinner picking at bits, talking about dinosaurs, asking Dad to lift him to put the star on the Xmas tree.

I may be prejudiced by child actors here in the USA, where 9 of 10 are horrible (last decent one I remember was Ron Howard...). By that measure both kids were fantastic.

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[–] needsmoreclipping-867-330557 9 years ago

Agree 100%. The Babadook is a great film, while The Canal is terrible. Night and day difference in quality in nearly every aspect.

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[–] Crown_vic_7 9 years ago

I agree as well. Babadook is the superior film compared to The canal.

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[–] irotinmyskin-1 9 years ago

i dont think so, the only thing is that the babadook had a more indie/artsy look throughout the movie, giving it a different feel to what we are accostumed to. having said that i think the babadook has a lot more errors and poor production choices.. from stock sound design, bad takes, continuity errors, etc... to me this movie is a lot more focused, mature and has a slower build up.... i loved it.

As I reigned blows down upon him I realized there had to be another way...

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[–] Bagelbutcher 9 years ago

'The Babadook' had great characters? Sure, the MAIN character was great,
but who didn't want to bash her son's head in with a big, juicy cinder block?
Not to mention her sister and her friends at the party, but mainly that little
sh...

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[–] MadRotaryOne_DDCgod 9 years ago

I haven't finished the Canal yet, but I have to say that, even though
I didn't really care for Babadook(the freaking kid ruined it, annoying
as all hell), It definitely seems better so far.

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[–] BeOneOfUs 9 years ago

Don't get me wrong, The Babadook is a much better film.
But I still really enjoyed The Canal. It wasn't too original but there was a few scenes I found really creepy, which is not something I say often.
But that's just me.

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[–] Tarantir 9 years ago

so I must not watch it

Babadook is dumb, lame and I'm not a troll or anything... the only "good thing" was the mom acting on the 2º part of the film, near the end itself...

The plot was cheese e the end was *beep* stupid (not saying it was a happy ending, or a sad ending or anything... it was just stupid and non sense)
Babadook - at best 3/10.... not worth...

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[–] diego_hentschke 9 years ago

I think Babadook is crap too. Totaly overrated

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[–] reiki_david 9 years ago

I enjoyed both of these movies for different reasons.

I found the Babaook difficult to watch as it was so emotionally overwhelming. The sheer power of the struggle she faced against it/herself was so well portrayed. The ending was great as well, probably the best ending the story could have had. It wasn't ambiguous, negative or sequel-hungry. It was a proper ending, something you don't see often in films today.

I found The Canal to be visually disturbing at points, with a wonderful use of sound and lighting, but this movie was never on the same level. Still a good film with great ending, but this just isn't in the same class IMHO.

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[–] deannadd1985 9 years ago

I think I enjoyed The Babadook movie the best too! Better story! It also played on my childhood fears... lol