Get outta here ghost!... Job done...

Rating: 7/10 (7 August 2017)

I couldn't wait to see this film! Everyone was telling me it was a unique horror film that was full of clever jump scares and had a great concept and original lore to back it up. And, in many ways this was true. The Babadook does contain plenty of those themes, but... like many contemporary horror films it was undone by two recurring themes that hinder it's potential.
The first isn't so important if you can back it up okay in the story. It's this idea that the ghost is too powerful to be messed with, you can't beat it, it will always flank you no matter what you do. This can be annoying sometimes, the more powerful the entity the less believable it becomes and the less serious you take it. This can be solved however, IF you have a decent explanation on how to overcome such evil in the plot... enter problematic theme number 2 (SPOILERS).
Mr Babadook, what's his undoing? Answer 'telling it to go away'... yeah that's literally what happens. The mother suddenly realises that she loves her son so much that she can tell it where to go... really? Given that decent lore backed up the story, should there not be some more for how to combat it? Maybe portrayed in well thought out cinematographic practice?... No? Too bad.
This is a good film , don't get me wrong. It's just hampered by its' predictable unimaginative ending. Aside from that you have a well directed horror film that is bound to give you the shivers to some degree. And well, at least you know that if you ever get haunted all you have to do is tell your ghost to pack his bags and all your problems will be sorted with little effort...