As scary as Scary Movie.

Rating: 5/10 (21 November 2014)

Australian films are a rare find. Even rarer are Australian horror films. And even rarer are Aussie films that are exceptional. Of the Aussie films that I have seen that would rank on my list, the only one I can think of is Wolf Creek. So when I watched Babadook, I was expecting something good, or at least, would give some form of chill experience.
Babadook starts off with Amelia (Essie Davis) reading a bedtime story to her son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman). However, this is no ordinary bedtime story, but a creepy version of "What's Under The Bed".
This film is disturbing on many levels.
First, Amelia reading a scary bedtime story to her child was the first thing I picked up on. I can only surmise that she really likes to scare the crap out of her son to the point where he is seeing real monsters, or she just didn't give a rats ass about him. Amelia is the type of woman who will not win the "mother of the year award", in fact, her parenting skills are very lacking in every department.
Second thing I noticed was that she lived in a large 2 story Victorian-era home. Now, either she was renting the home, or she was paying a mortgage. Regardless of which, it is doubtful that she could afford renting/paying off such a home, considering the realistic home prices in Australia, and being a worker in an aged care facility, it is highly doubtful her salary would cover the basic mortgage costs.
Third thing: The Babadook. The Babadook makes appearances here and there, and even calls her once or twice. One scene in particular is when Amelia answers the phone and we get to hear this creature say in a "creepy" tone "Ba Ba Dook"
Fourth thing: (Spoilers): At the end, when this demon/ghost/creature/whatever couldn't have her son, it flees into her basement to live out the rest of it's existence, with Amelia feeding it a strict diet of worms Yeah Okay..
This film may be scary for some, and others will say that is was brilliant, but to be honest, this film failed to raise any scare factor for me to the point where if this "monster" was real, it wouldn't scare me outta a daydream.
The SPX were passable, but the Babadook gave me the impression that it was a mix of some of the characters that Johnny Depp has played over the years (Edward Scissorhands/Willy Wonka).
I did find that the acting was mediocre, with the exception of Noah Wiseman, who was very exceptional in his debut role. I will say here that Noah has a brilliant future ahead of him if he follows his acting career.
The writing and directing by Jennifer Kent was good, but sadly the film did not live up to the hype and expectations.
My Rating: 5 out of 10 (5 being for Noah)