Interesting premise but poor execution

Rating: 5/10 (26 July 2016)

On paper, The Babadook had a lot of potential and seemed to promise something refreshing to a genre that desperately needs it. Unfortunately, it suffers from all the usual tropes of horror films, without bringing anything new to the table. I found both lead actors to be particularly annoying : the always whining and screaming boy and the clinically depressed hushing mother. I couldn't care less about their fate ! As far as the monster is concerned, the director didn't bother to explain its origin, meaning or how to defeat it. As always in this case, some may like the fact that it leaves things purposefully open to interpretation, and others, like me, would have preferred if some hints were dropped here and there ! Either way, the ending is really unsatisfying and dull.
I'm sure the film is meant as a metaphor for the mother's grief, but it could have been better if they had more carefully and subtly built the tension, and if the cinematography and score were more sinister. It had potential but I found the pacing to be a bit off and the scary bits were quite cheap. In fact, I'm not even sure you can call The Babadook a horror film. It felt more like a psychological thriller and should have been advertised as such. 5 out of 10.