A very honest effort for an indie film

Rating: 7/10 (11 January 2015)

My reason for watching this so quickly was it kept showing up on the best of 2014 Lists of various reviewers so I quickly became intrigued. Indie horror films can be huge hits or huge misses and I've seen plenty of both because I love the genre. People were saying this was the most terrifying film since the original Ringu film (one of the truly scary films ever made.) They aren't wrong. The Babadook's concept is nearly brilliant and some of the scenes are downright terrifying. They utilize their moderate budget to the best of their ability. You desperately want to see the mysterious Babadook but they brilliantly keep him mostly a mystery. Using the book and the cartoon on the TV definitely sends shivers up your spine. So all that works very well. Now one of their fatal fatal flaws is in casting. Nearly the entire film is a two person show so they need two very strong actors to carry this film. They completely missed the boat in casting the young child actor. But I'll get to that in a moment. The emotional intensity of this film is very high but they take it almost too far because it almost broaches on campy in certain scenes. The film is dark and dreary and harsh and that works so well so when you border on campy, it takes you away from it.
So I will start with the little boy that couldn't. Hopefully he never reads this because I would hate to upset him but he literally probably made a 9/10 film a solid 7 with just his performance. Newcomer Noah Wiseman is atrocious. He gets slightly better farther into the film but in the beginning he is insanely irritating, obnoxious and literally he comes across as handicapped in some way. If I were the mother of that child I would have gladly fed him to the Babadook. I don't understand why they made him so irritating. He's awful. I suppose if that's what they were going for than Wiseman nails it. But it ruins the movie period. Essie Davis who has a lot of experience is very, very good as the weary mother who is gradually possessed by the Babadook. Her breakdown is perfectly done and she is very good at looking terrified and broken. Some truly outrageous and terrifying things happen to her and she plays the scream queen role very well. I would love to see her return in a sequel if they ditch Wiseman. The relationship between them improves and he gets better and way less annoying in the end of the film but the damage is done.
The best thing about The Babadook is the writing and the setting. Jennifer Kent who writes and directs the film is mostly known for acting but she absolutely has some talent behind the camera. Instead of the film making you notice how little they change locations or how they hide things in the shadows, it feels like that is what you want out of this. Their home is very claustrophobic and the shots are tight on their face and it just makes you feel like you can't breath and it works very well for the movie. I think if you sit down, turn out all the lights and just let yourself be immersed in the film you can ignore Wiseman's performance enough to get truly creeped out and that is the goal of this type of movie especially for an indie film. 7/10