Artistically beautiful, but rather dull

Rating: 5/10 (26 March 2018)

The Babadook is an interesting horror film, with an extremely low budget, only so much could be accomplished. Taking their budget into consideration, it is incredible what Jennifer Kent was able to manage. The sets were dark and grim and played off of Amelia's grief and depression. The use of dark colors and low lighting played off of what was going on in her mind, with something always lurking in the shadows. The use of this monster as a visual representation of the grief and depression taking over her mind is a beautiful allegory. Although this movie is artistically gorgeous, as a horror film, it doesn't quite do it for me. The concept is scary, yes, however the movie as a whole felt slow and not very suspenseful. I wasn't drawn in and found both of the characters to be rather annoying, preventing me from growing to like and care about them. I feel as though this is more of a thriller than a horror film, even though as a thriller it's not very thrilling either. The reason this film gets a five out of ten is from the directing and gorgeous sets and how they played with the story, even if the story seemed a bit lacking. Overall the film was average and what makes it so worthwhile is the mise-en-scene and sets, this is not a film I need to see again.