Baby Blues (2008)

I really don't get the hype.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I was told I had to watch this film. 'It's really scary, you gotta see it!' So I did. Well, I watched half of it. The rest I couldn't stomach. So I switched off. It's needlessly controversial and basically shows a young crazy mother murdering her kids. She kills her baby, then tracks the others down and brutally murders them. All but one I'm told.And that's it. No real plot. No character depth. Just an excuse to draw the crowds in with a child murder movie. Quite frankly I found it offensive and an insult to my intelligence.Lord knows what people are thinking on here who are claiming this is some sort of masterpiece. They either need to get a life, see better movies, or go see a shrink.There is nothing likable about this film, not in a spooky scary horror way. It's devoid of purpose other than to shock. If you like seeing young kids being killed, then watch it. I feel sorry for you, as you obviously need help.The upshot is she kills three of her kids but instead of being sent away, she is allowed home to live back with her husband and her remaining child. The movie is crazy but the ending is so absurd it's offensive too.I'm also prepared for a lot of 'this review was not useful' thumbs down. Apparently it's the freaks who 'enjoyed' this film that are responsible.Utter garbage. Just 1/10.

A young mother (an excellent and terrifying performance by Colleen Porch) suffering from post-partum depression goes dangerously crazy and turns on her own children. It's up to ten-year-old Jimmy (a sound and credible portrayal by Ridge Canipe) to protect both himself and his younger siblings from their mother's murderous wrath. Directors Amardeep Kaleka and Lars Jacobson (the latter also wrote the dark and uncompromising script) don't pull any punches in their telling of this genuinely scary and upsetting tale that was inspired by an actual incident; the extreme scenes of brutal violence against children (some of them are even killed!) are intensely painful, gut-wrenching, and hard to watch. Moreover, the meticulous and convincing evocation of pedestrian everyday reality adds an extra frightening plausibility to the already bleak and unnerving narrative. The best and most distressful horror films hit home (in this case literally) by showing how ordinary life can be ripped asunder by an equally mundane, yet deadly and unusual phenomenon. One becomes very afraid of what this unhinged and dangerous woman might do to both herself and her own children; her descent into psychotic insanity is the stuff of real nightmares. The film further benefits from sterling acting by an able no-name cast: Porch and Canipe are remarkable in the leads, with fine support from Joel Bryant as the trucker father, Kali Majors and Holden Thomas Maynard as Jimmy's younger siblings, and Gene Witham as amiable neighbor Lester. Matthew MacCarthy's cinematography gives the picture an appropriately rough and grainy look. Amardeep Kaleka's shuddery score also does the shivery trick. The conclusion is positively bone-chilling. Unpleasant for sure, but still quite powerful and effective just the same.

Lars E. Jacobson wrote this movie and the box claims it is based on a true story. Which true story its based on or inspired by is not relevant. What is relevant is that Lars E. Jacobson understands what makes a movie horrifying. The plot to this movie is pretty straightforward. A woman, known only as Mom, convincingly portrayed by Colleen Porch, gives birth to her baby boy and begins a descent into madness and psychosis created by the all too common condition, post-partum depression. She begins to see things in drawings made by the children. She believes her husband, an over-the-road trucker who is gone frequently, is cheating on her. And of course, she begins to kill her children, one by one. OK.. enough said about the plot because too much more would spoil this movie if you haven't seen it. And from what I can tell this film isn't trying to make any sort of social statement about post-partum depression. But, many of us know the story of Andrea Yates and mothers like her that simply snapped and killed all of their children in a post-partum depression induced psychosis. Thus this story is all too real and thus all too disturbing.My wife and I cringed and turned out heads throughout this movie. But not because it is terribly gory or bloody, we love gore and blood. We turned our heads, much as a young child covers his eyes when the monster comes up, to avoid the truly scary parts of this film -- the mother in her madness killing her children. My wife actually pulled our 3 year old son up on to her lap and held him as this woman brutally murdered these children. The film was simply brutal and horrifying. Rarely does a film kill young children, but this one does it, does it in a horrifying and realistic manner, and does it in front of other young children.The boy who plays the 10 year old son, Jimmy, who does everything he can to protect his siblings from the mother's rage is the actor Ridge Canipe. He is phenomenal. I can't imagine this film won't have a lasting effect on his psyche. The Mom is so believably portrayed by Colleen Porch that I'm quite sure when I see her in other movies I'll immediately have flashbacks to the terror of this film. The cinematography is phenomenal. The directors (Lars Jacobson and Amadreep Kaleka) create many very scary scenes and shots throughout the film. For example, there is one scene where Jimmy is hiding in the chicken coop and his mother, on her knees, looks into the chicken coop through the small entrance used by the chickens, and the look on her face and its framing in the doorway was most reminiscent of the classic Jack shot from Kubrick's THE SHINING.Although I strongly recommend everyone watch this movie, we will likely never watch this movie again. The movie was simply too psychologically disturbing for the loving parents of three children to endure once more. This horror is real. There is no slasher, there is no zombie, there is no vampire nor werewolf, that is as real as Mom is in BABY BLUES.As I don't really have a regular rating system that I use to give a film 5 out of 5 stars or whatever, I'll just say whatever rating system you want to use I give it all of them .. 5/5 stars, 10/10 skulls, 5/5 Holy Craps, whatever the case may be. The movie has it all, a great story, great acting, great cinematography, a perfect balance of blood and gore in its kill scenes, and great directing.

Lately, I have been disappointed by the overgenerous ratings on IMDb and so, it is with skepticism that I watched "Baby Blues". I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the experience despite some flaws in this modest production.I should also point out that I hate spoilers (and try to keep my reviews free of them) and try to avoid any blurbs before watching a movie. I expected a somewhat mild, made-for-TV drama/thriller and boy, was I wrong! Without spoiling anything, be aware that this movie can be deemed *extremely* disturbing to many viewers. The basic plot follows a modest rural family in the south, where young children have to cope with an absent father and an unstable mother being prone to some form of the "baby blues".The direction is quite raw but achieves the tension required to make it work. One must deplore the opening, which states the sensationalist "based on actual events" but is really just a cheap, marketing stunt. The film, is in fact, not based on actual events at all and there is even a disclaimer in the end titles clearing that up. However, the basic plot is more than enough to make a worthy thriller (and it bears to be repeated, some scenes are very disturbing and might qualify this as horror for many). The co-directors both developed the characters just enough for us to care, although it seems in the end, some of the actual development of the father figure played by Joel Bryant doesn't pay off.Without a doubt, I think the element of this production that will be most talked about (besides the disturbing events suffered by the children) will be the lead actress Colleen Porch, who plays the mother. I can't say I have ever noticed her (she did appear in a CSI episode I must have watched, but I have no memory of it whatsoever) but there is no way you can miss her interesting and very promising performance here. The directors must have realized this too, as it seems they highlight her performances at times. Porch's characterization as the mother is uneven and she does overact at times, yet more often than not, she pulls it off brilliantly. The result is at times very impressive and will remind some of Jack Nicholson's Torrance in "The Shining". Colleen's role requires nuances that she doesn't master yet but she definitely has screen presence and I would love to see her in other roles. Beautiful, intense eyes too! As for the kids, they do well. Ridge Canipe, the eldest, takes some time to get used to yet in the end, wins us over and as he grows comfortable in his role, so does the empathy we feel for his character.Is this a great movie? No. The direction is at times on the goofy side. Photography and lighting are on par with small productions. There are exceptions, like some great shots of the environment, or some solid angles during tensed scenes, only for the next one to be a head scratcher. Like the acting, it's very inconsistent, very hit-and-miss. But again, the talent is there and that makes it a good, solid entry.It's difficult to label the movie. There's enough genuine drama for this to be a drama. There are some thrills. And there are horrific scenes. The direction and script seems to borrow from several flicks, from classic to cult classic. There's definitely more style than substance, yet an honest attempt at substance is there.Somewhere between The Shining, High Tension, Single White Female and Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door, this movie is a mish-mash of genres and an independent production that shows its flaws, yet succeeds in engaging you and giving a decent thrill ride.And ironically enough, although the co-directors are nowhere near as accomplished or as ambitious as Michael Haneke, Baby Blues also achieves what "Funny Games" set out to do far more effectively, and without even trying. I give it a good 6 and hope to see more of Lars E. Jacobson, Amardeep Kaleka, Ridge Canipe, Joel Bryant and especially, the very intriguing Colleen Porch.