By George & Josh Bate
In the 27 years since The Blair Witch Project was released, few horror subgenres have become more over-saturated and, unfortunately, overpopulated with below par installments as found footage. For every Lake Mungo, there’s a Paranormal Activity 4, making the subgenre hit-or-miss (at best). However, bringing a welcomed breath of fresh air to found footage this year is Dooba Dooba, an unsettling and hilariously bizarre new horror movie shot exclusively using in-home security cameras.
Dooba Dooba follows Amna (Amna Vegha), an aspiring musician who agrees to take on a babysitting gig for some extra cash. For the night, Amna is tasked with taking care of Monroe (Betsy Sligh), a 16-year-old girl crippled by severe anxiety after her brother’s murder. Apparently to alleviate Monroe’s anxiety surrounding possible intruders, her parents (Erin O’Meara and Winston Haynes) have installed security cameras all around their home and need to say the words ‘dooba dooba’ whenever they move about. What already begins as a strange experience for Amna becomes increasingly unbearable and, eventually, terrifying as Monroe’s behavior grows erratic.
In limited theaters and on digital platforms in the U.S. on January 23, Dooba Dooba wastes not a moment of its slim 75 minute runtime. The film begins with babysitter Amna’s introduction to Monroe’s parents, who almost immediately raise a number of alarm bells (at least for the audience). They disclose that they have wired up security cameras all around the house. They explain that someone came into their home and killed their son. And the father has a complete meltdown when he mispronounces Amna’s name. For most people, this would be enough to sprint to the exit, but, thankfully for the sake of our entertainment, not for Amna.
Dooba Dooba’s point of novelty comes from its filmmaking, rather than narrative. The low-quality home security cameras, which draw on the kind of analog horror videos popularized on YouTube, imbue writer/director Ehrland Hollingsworth’s film with a uniquely disconcerting atmosphere. Suspension of disbelief comes easy as this atmosphere, cultivated by the unique usage of found footage, tricks the viewer into thinking they are actually watching real events unfold. The fact that the movie is populated by actors with limited film credits makes Dooba Dooba feel all the more authentic and, in turn, all the more unsettling.
Unsettling isn’t the only word to describe Dooba Dooba, however, as Hollingsworth’s film leans into humor with the sheer strangeness of its characters. The bulk of the story follows Amna as she babysits Monroe, who makes it abundantly clear within her first minute on-screen that something is off about her. For Amna, Monroe’s strangeness is off-putting and means she has to be careful about every little thing she says and does. But, for the audience, Monroe’s strangeness fosters a slew of bizarre behaviors and decent laughs. Deftly blending horror and humor can prove tricky for many filmmakers, but Hollingsworth ensures, with calculated injections of strange laughs, that the levity never undercuts the tension.
Adding to the peculiarity of Dooba Dooba is archive footage and amateur PowerPoint presentation materials interspersed throughout. Hollingsworth regularly cuts to black-and-white footage, some of which depicts ethically dubious medical procedures, and slides from a presentation about presidents of the United States (and several notorious serial killers) that appear like they are made by a child. The film doesn’t try to overtly connect this footage to its core narrative of, other than the father using the word ‘retributions’ when he meant ‘reparations’ and the fact that all the members of her family are named after U.S. presidents. Viewers with a penchant for extrapolation and over-interpretation may read into all of this as some commentary on generational racism and racial exploitation (the whole film follows a brown woman subject to the weirdness and cruelties of white people), but Hollingsworth doesn’t quite do enough to solidify this messaging. What results is an innovative film that becomes more experimental, and even abstract, due to unexpected shifts to bizarre archive footage that interrupt an already bizarre narrative.
All of the palpable dread and kookiness that slowly build throughout the film culminates in a bleak and disappointing third act. After intriguing for much of its runtime with questions surrounding the true nature and motives of this family, Dooba Dobba derails by failing to sufficiently explain the backstory and overarching plan of our antagonists and clear up several inconsistencies. Any frustration fostered by these shortcomings is amplified by several horrific late turns in the story that render the film as a whole a rather grim watch. Those who gravitate toward more troubling horror movies may come away satisfied (we’re questioning whether ‘satisfied’ could even remotely be used to describe this ending), but, for us, the preceding film fails to justify just how disturbing of a note it is willing to conclude on.
VERDICT: 6.5/10
Unsettling and bizarrely hilarious in equal measure, Dooba Dooba brings a welcomed breath of fresh air into the oversaturated found footage subgenre of horror. Shot entirely on in-home security cameras that evoke the feel of the brand of analog horror popular on YouTube, writer/director Ehrland Hollingsworth’s film utilizes the poor quality of its footage and lack of recognizability of its stars to swiftly suspend disbelief and foster an immersive and disconcerting viewing experience. This disconcertment is accompanied by unexpected humor born purely out of how bizarre some of the characters are. Thankfully, Hollingsworth deftly blends horror and humor and ensures that the strange levity never undercuts the tension. Less successful is the film’s attempts to intersperse archive footage and amateur PowerPoint presentation materials into its runtime, which, while admirably experimental and contributory to the film’s sense of dread, falls short in its attempts at social commentary. All of the palpable dread and kookiness that slowly builds throughout the film culminates in a bleak and disappointing third act that leaves key narrative elements underexplained. Dooba Dooba may be characterized as Skinamarink meets The House of Devil, although it is best described as an entirely unique horror film that overcomes its faults with the novelty of its filmmaking and strangeness of its characters.
