4K Ultra HD – UK Edition – Second Sight – 93 min – 28 June 2021
Video format
• Intermediate Master: 4K
• Standard HDR: HDR10
• Ratio: 2.39
Soundtrack
• English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles
• English
It is brought to the attention of our dear readers as well as the viewing equipment specified and used by each tester of the MaG team, the rendering may differ from one installation to another, whether or not it is calibrated, as well as personal preferences and expectations may influence the rating. Moreover, the images in the article are not representative of the edition tested.
WORK – ba Ba-ba! Dook! Dook! Dook!
Six years after her husband's death, Amelia had the greatest difficulty raising her six-year-old son, Samuel, who was particularly turbulent and subject to the worst nightmares. When the children's book Mister Babadook appears mysteriously in his library, Samuel is convinced that the Babadook in question is the same one who comes to haunt his dreams, threatening to kill him and his mother. When Amelia, in turn, thinks she sees the one whose son spoke to her with fear, she suddenly realizes that the creature could then be real...
Led by two exceptional actors and by a director who created a lasting malaise, Mister Babaook is a psychological horror film with a strong and moving dramatic narrative where horror has not only one face.
Intense and fascinating, it brings us to the heart of a realistic fear (where we are most vulnerable) to evoke with great precision the mourning and difficulty of being a mother, and brings out from the closet its terrifying croque-mitaine (like the memories of a tragedy) that one cannot hunt but that one can tame.
Much more than a horror film, this metaphorical work on depressive madness transcends the genre and imposes itself as one of the best horror films in recent years.
IMAGE – If you see it, it's already too late...
Visually stunning, this UHD HDR10 transfer from a 4K scan of the original negatives is nothing less than one of the best video presentations on the media!
Using a monochrome palette close to black and white that some color breakthroughs come « brightening », the wonderful greyish and bathed shade photography by Radosław Čadczuk is magnified by enhanced contrasts (cf. the superb gradation of blacks and whites), infinitely richer shades of grey and much more light sources « supernatural ».
Incredibly detailed, the image is paid in addition to an even more clinical bite than in 1080p that a consolidated compression comes perfect.
SON – A word is not enough, it will never leave...
Almost as striking as the image, this subtle and scary soundtrack delivers many shock passages!
The voices are precise, the dynamics are verva, the strange effects (or not) like the heavy atmospheres (always) are broadcast on all the speakers with more (house, park) or less (street, school) of bustle, the reserved score (or not) sneaks away from everywhere not without clarity and the bass, sometimes huge, are judiciously used.
CONCLUSION – Between the pages of the story, the haunted trauma!
One word, one look won't be enough. The Babaook will never leave. If you're a wise child and you know how to open your eyes, you'll make yourself a very special friend, a friend to both of us. Mr. Babaook, that's him, and his book, here he is... Knowing that he is even more cursed in Ultra HD Blu-ray!
Artistic note
9
Video quality
10
Audio quality
9
0
I loved this movie very much. He had skunk well with an icy performance by Essie Davis!
Discovered in 2014 at the 21st edition of Gérardmer's Festival International du Film Fantastique where he left, and it was really deserved, with the awards of the Jury, the Public, the Critics and the Young Jury. 😉
By the way, I'll only know how to advise you on his second film, namely The Nightingale >>> The Nightingale – MaG (movieandgame.fr).
Ah, great idea! Come on, I'll write it down!
[...] Needless to wait for a phone call to guess who is hiding (for the 5th time) behind Ghostface's mask, just throw the present 4K Ultra HD which, unlike the work he attends, is not in agony! So listen to the advice of the « final girl » and definitely prefer Mister Bababadook. [...]