We Create Our Own Monsters

Rating: Null/10 (22 January 2015)

The film develops slowly, while quietly pursuing a rising action. Kent delivers a film that resists the run-of-the-mill horror pace by moving her plot to a staggering rhythm. Despite this, it holds the audience on its grip. It builds on its characters instead of banking on cheap horror thrills and CGI-crap. Its monster, on the other hand, doesn't need a justifiable cause to defend its terrifying presence. It doesn't come with a backstory. The central characters' history is already enough to juice the plot. Unlike Sadako and Kobayashi (or Lotus Feet for that matter), whose backstories stretch to almost epic proportions, the Babadook is just how it is: it's just there, and the characters will just have live with it or fight it. And although it doesn't show itself much, its horror still lingers like an ellipsis.
THE BABADOOK presents a nightmare both real and unreal. Its creature doesn't just jumps on beds and opens doors, it also symbolizes the dark alleys of consciousness. It has a character who is doomed with a remembrance of a tragic memory, and letting go of such past could also be a terrifying process in itself. In one way or another, we create our own monsters. Through careful direction, it is a movie that delicately shows a truth about who we are and how we embrace our pains. And that despite the victories, there still would be lingering, disturbing denouements.
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