Another horror-film disappointment.

Rating: 2/10 (19 December 2014)

The Babadook is the story of a strange supernatural creature that arrives after being read about in a book, which itself just "appears" on a child's shelf. It then begins to torment a troubled woman, haunted by the death of her husband, and her likewise- troubled son with a history of behavioral problems. Pretty standard.
The first hour of the movie is spent wanting to slap the spoiled children before things take a dark turn, as the woman begins a rapid decent into insanity spurned on by her son's insistence that the Babadook is real-- and it wants to hurt them.
Well-acted and atmospheric, yet too boring to be considered a good film-- the creepiest parts of the movie were the horrific illustrations in the pop-up book that seemed to serve as the vessel for the Babadook's arrival.
While not terribly bad, I was still left wondering if anyone is still frightened by films of this ilk, and why I still feel compelled to watch them.