A truly disturbing work of art and one of the best horror films in quite some time.

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2014)

THE BABADOOK (2014) ***1/2 Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West. Unsettling and spooky horror film from newbie Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent that touchstones on Grimm' fairy tales and Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. To wit: Davis (in a remarkable performance) stars as a woman in a downward spiral still grieving the death of her husband in a car accident en route to deliver their son (Wiseman, a real find) who is growing to be a troubled young boy with a vivid imagination as the two find themselves under a curse from a mysterious book featuring the titular monster hellbent on possessing them both. Skillfully shot by Radek Ladczuk with a palette of black, greys and desaturated blue/greens giving the film a funereal, gaunt look with unsettling framing of 'something' just lurking within and a nerve jangling sound design by Frank Lipson. Moments of dread seep in with dank élan. A truly disturbing work of art and one of the best horror films in quite some time.