Not bad

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2017)

Surely, Samuel is a child with special needs. But the school does not understand inclusive education. So he has to find another school.
Surely Babadook has no understanding of inclusion either. It bullies the poor child and his poor single mum, who is already disadvantaged and experiencing middle-age crisis, by haunting them and making their miserable life even more unbearable. Come on! Babadook, can't you find somebody else to haunt? :)
For me, the first half of the movie is great. The problem lies in the second half. I would have liked to see a dark ending. It would have been wonderful to have Babadook-possessed mum kill Samuel and then herself, and let the demon's book pass on to another family. The dark prophecy in the book of Babadook would be fulfilled. Instead, the mother and son defeated the monster, and a happy ending is what we get. This happy ending is just not as interesting.
Perhaps, the filmmaker wanted to make a politically correct horror movie, to draw attention to the socially disadvantaged families? But as a horror movie, it needs to be dark and depressing. It should have taken a darker route.
Not as good as I thought it would be. But not bad, either. The acting, the atmosphere... everything was well done. I only expected to see a dark horror movie like Sinister.
So far, Sinister remains the best horror movie in English. That movie has a dark creepy ending.