DOOBA DOOBA (2024)

Available On Demand on Fandango at Home (formerly Vudu) from
Dark Sky Films!
Directed/Written by Ehrland Hollingsworth.
Check out the
trailer here!!

Not necessarily a found footage film, DOOBA DOOBA is more of an analog horror spliced together from different media and taken from different footage filmed from security cameras set up around a house that serves to be this film’s setting. While there are many ways to explain analog horror, my understanding is that there is more of a focus on setting a dread-filled and atmospheric mood than anything else. Once called arthouse films, now they’ve earned the new moniker of analog horror as the grainy VHS style to the film stock makes it feel as if it was some video whittled together sloppily, but with intent to unease. Elements of narrative and story are not so important, and sometimes not present at all. So, there are often long shots of static imagery, and liminal spaces with odd and empty angles. Where found footage conveys a sense of anxiety with its shaky camera that serves as the viewer’s eyeball, analog horror is more of a static fly on the wall view, never really moving and letting a horrifying image or development really sink in. I was one of those who really wasn’t bowled over by SKINAMARINK or WE ARE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR, two more-known films that have been nestled snugly into the analog horror subgenre, as I feel they were much ado about nothing, leaving me with the feeling of time wasted. There is a patchwork sense at play in analog horror, as if the maker of the film really wasn’t familiar with modern forms of editing. All of that can be applied to DOOBA DOOBA, a new film I would categorize as analog horror, but the gigantic difference between DOOBA DOOBA and films like SKINAMARKINK and its ilk is that there is an actual story being told, along with the moody atmosphere and dreadful ambiance.

You’ve heard the story of DOOBA DOOBA before. A young woman (in this case Amna, played by Amna Vegha) is hired to look after a young girl Monroe (Betsy Sligh) by an employer that she has never worked with before. Monroe’s parents, Taylor and Wilson (Erin O’Meara and Winston Haynes) tell Amna that Monroe is a special child who experienced a trauma at a young age when her brother was killed by a home invader in the middle of the night. This, of course, really affected Monroe to the point where any sounds made throughout the house startles her and causes her to have panic attacks. In order to ease the stress, any time someone walks around the house, they have to say “Dooba dooba” to which Monroe responds “Dooba dooba.” But the parents ensure Amna that Monroe will not be a problem. Anyway, the entire house is hooked up to an extensive security system, so every room in the house is being recorded as a safety precaution. With a promise to be home by morning, the parents leave and Amna begins her night with Monroe. Let’s just say, that night doesn’t go as smoothly as planned.

Now analog fo analog’s sake with barely a narrative, like the afoemntioned SKINAMARINK, drowns me with pretention. It was a chore getting through that one, but the difference between that film and DOOBA DOOBA is that despite the fact that this is a 1000 piece puzzle of a film in terms of medium and format, there is a cohesive story going on. It makes DOOBA DOOBA all the more watchable because, though the babysitter story is old school, the format presents it in a fresh way. You really feel like a voyeur watching this film, as Monroe’s parents have rigged every room with hidden cameras. Seeing Anna go through moral dilemmas and uncomfortable moments feels invasive because the situation has become so intense that she has forgotten the cameras were on. This gives the viewer a feeling of unease as the strange things intensify.

It also helps that the acting is really strong. Amna Vegha and Betsy Sligh are fresh faces-completely confident in their roles and really selling the drama unfolding. Monroe is a handful and seeing her shift from vulnerable little girl to monster is unsettling. And as this shift occurs, Amna is so likable that it’s hard not to root for her to get out of this nightmare. The smaller roles of the parents are great as they subtly hint at the oddity of this particular babysitting job, offering clues that something is off, but still keeping a pleasant demeanor. Some of the film’s most disquieting scenes come from the parents’ conversations with Amna.

Once the other shoe drops in DOOBA DOOBA the film becomes an unsettling nightmare, mixing old PSA clips and student educational films with flashes of torture and barbarism. The finale of DOOBA DOOBA is destined to break you as much as it did me. The analog format plus an actual narrative makes all the difference in the world in making this film chilling to the bone. Take a chance on this unique and brutal film. DOOBA DOOBA is bound to leave a mark on your psyche. Don’t let the analog label scare you away, just let DOOBA DOOBA scare you.