You Can't Get Rid Of The Babadook... And You Shouldn't Want To

Rating: 8/10 (18 April 2015)

The Babadook garnered a very positive buzz right from the get go. In this modern age of jump scare filled, PG-13 "horror" aimed at teens and seemingly endless remakes, reboots, & re-imaginings of genre classics, is this little low budget film something many hardcore horror fans can truly appreciate and enjoy?
The Babadook tells the story of Amelia, a single mother struggling to get by with her young son. Her husband was killed on the way to the hospital the day her son, Samuel, was born and as his 7th birthday approaches she struggles with the loss. It doesn't help that her son has been behaving in a slightly alarming way, making weapons as a way to cope with imaginary monsters and freely telling people about his father's death. One night before bed they find a strange children's book entitled The Babadook. The story quickly turns very disturbing, leading Amelia to dispose of it. But Samuel soon begins to lash out even more, claiming to see the Babadook stalking them. As the sleepless nights begin to accumulate for both of them, Amelia begins to see strange things in the shadows. As the hallucinations gradually start to wear on her sanity, Samuel tries desperately to convince her that the Babadook is real and trying to get them.
I won't say any more about the plot because you really should see it for yourself. While this sounds like a fairy basic boogeyman type story, the level of tension built throughout is staggering. Psychological horror can be difficult to pull off properly and even if done well it can affect everyone differently. What this movie does so effectively is build the situation and gradually ratchet up the tension with little things here and there. As the movie wears on and Amelia becomes more sleep deprived, you are left to wonder if what she is seeing are hallucinations, dreams, or something truly real. But eventually you start to realize that it doesn't matter, as she is being destroyed by them.
If I have any reservation about the movie, it's Samuel. Through the first 30 minutes of the movie, he is insufferable, particularly right after they read the book. I understand that this was done both to show the grind on Amelia and also contrast to his much more rational behavior later in the film. The kid does a decent job in terms of acting but I can also understand the character being too much for some people to sit through. If you can make it through the character being so awful early on, it gets much better.
The character of Amelia is very well acted. The poor woman is in a bad way. Her husband died taking her to the hospital to have their son and now she is stuck trying to get by on her own. There are a few times in the movie where it's implied (or even outright said) that she would have preferred the opposite had happened. I thought this was a very humanizing thing to do with the character. She really takes a beating through the movie and you can just see her slowly being ground down.
The Babadook itself is never really clearly shown on screen and I LOVE that. There are plenty of small glimpses in the shadows but it never stands in plain sight for all to see. This is perfect as it allows your imagination to fill in the blanks. Sometimes the thing we can't see is the most terrifying.
This really is a great little horror movie. It aims to scare your mind rather than relying on jump scares with loud noises or buckets of blood. I'm not saying that everyone will love this movie but any good horror fan should definitely seek this one out. If nothing else, it is a refreshing break from most of the "horror" we get these days.