The Cradle (2007)

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

***SPOILERS*** Horror story in the real sense of the word in that it's very real among many child bearing women who are too afraid of having children especially their very first. The movie has to do with this young couple Frank and Julie, Lukas Hass & Emily Hampshire, who move out to the country to raise their newborn son Sam, Elisa Madeline Marks.We see right away that Julie is suffering from a severe case of postpartum depression in that she can't as much touch much less take care of her baby Sam. It's up to Frank to do all the parenting for the couples child that in effect is slowly taking a toll on his psychical and mantel health. It's one evening when Frank's finds Julie gone with Sam in his crib not breathing that he completely flips out and in desperation, by pounding on Sam's chest, bring the what looked like dead infant back to life. Later finding Julie aimlessly wandering around in the woods Frank soon realizes that she's completely unable to take care of Sam and tries to get his next door neighbor Helen (Amada Smith), the only person within miles from where he and Julie live, to babysit for their infant boy.As it turns out Helen is even more unstable then Julie is in her having seen her baby sister,who was thought to have been born stillborn, buried alive by her father, Trevor Bain when she was a little girl. It's then that Frank, an the audience, begin to notice that something is seriously wrong not only with Julie and Helen but himself as well. Frank seems to be going in and out of consciousness and reality in regards to both his son Sam and wife Julie.Things happen that just can't be explained, with Julie and Sam, and in become apparent, at least to Frank, that some supernatural force is in control of events. Helen isn't any help either in her rambling about her having the touch of death at anything that he lays her hands on and is afraid if she even touch's Sam, by being his babysitter, he'll end up dead as well.***SPOILER ALERT*** The movie then goes fast backwards to the point where Frank found Sam not breathing and Julie gone and then things suddenly start to crystallize. Like in the film "The Sixth Sense" we and Frank start to see the obvious clues that were overlooked and the shocking conclusion of those suppressed events are far more horrific then those conjured up by a now mentally unbalanced Frank!"The Cradle" is the kind of film you have to watch at last twice to really understand what its both subconsciously and skillfully trying to tell you. Made on a shoestring budget the movie doesn't have the special effects needed to jump start and keep shocking its audience in order to keep the viewer interested, and awake, in watching it. But if you take the time to really watch and understand what its massage or story is really all about you'll be greatly,if not shockingly, rewarded in your efforts.

I felt this movie was very well done. I did not know it was suppose to be a horror because I watched it through the Rogers and did not have the DVD cover. To me it portrays a woman with postpartum depression. She was given advise by her doctor to move away and start over which she did not really agree with, however went along with the idea hoping that things would change in time. Soon after moving she is still very depressed and can not handle the baby.Her husband gets side tracked by the storm after trying to befriend the neighbour leaving his wife alone with the baby. I feel she lost it and killed the baby. We have a clue of this in the video camera when she is shaking the baby's cradle as the ghost.The husband becomes delusional after arriving home and finding the baby dead and his wife missing. She appears again in his mind in the nursery after he hears the baby start to cry and this is where he continues his psychotic behavior. I feel there is a ghostly element to the story, the ghost of his wife appears on the video and the baby cries in the forest. The rest of the time she appears as a figment of his imagination. He knows in his subconscious that they are both dead and his dreams confirm this. Also when he pulls the sliver from her arm, and seeing her head smashed was a reminder that she was really dead, but refused to acknowledge reality at that time. The ghost in the nursery was another reminder, it was his dead wife pointing to the baby telling him that she wanted him to free the child, and let it go. It was not until his neighbour still suffering from the guilt of her childhood, told him the child was dead. This put him back into his real reality and he started to review what really happened. The ending to me clearly shows in the video that the child and mother were reunited as they appear as ghosts together, and the mother finally accepting her child in the afterlife.To anyone who has ever witnessed postpartum depression this movie is a real take on reality. Also the grief of the husband put into a psychotic state from grief was also portrayed realistically I feel.I felt this movie was well done. It was not a horror to me, but a situation that can happen in real life. I found it compelling and sad.

This is the worst movie ever to be put to film. Long, boring, the only thing terrifying about this movie was the two hours of my life I wasted watching it. The acting is sub par and annoying. The length of this movie coupled with the boring pace will have you on edge, but not in a good way, no, in a way that makes you wish you never heard of this film. I am the kind of person that loves all horror films, from the grade A top shelf, to the Z grade schlock. This movie is not a horror film, it is a psycho drama that starts bad and ends even worse. This movie has no redeeming qualities. If you value the horror film genre or movies in general stay away from this load of horse manure. I was a firm believer that all movies, even bad movies, have redeeming and enjoyable qualities....until I saw this movie.

With this movie I was expecting one of those (most) badly made horror movies, where u just scream but there's else to it! However this movie really surprised me in a good way, the actor aren't very well known guess that added to not doing so well at the box office,but it's a very good movie. It is carefully done in a way u never expect what the outcome is! To me it resembles "The Others" that movie with Nicole Kidman...yes a tweak here and there would have made it really great, but in spite of that I would say it was pretty darn good, and Im not at all a fan of horror movies, I was just watching it with a friend out t of boredom...