The Babadook

Rating: 1/10 (7 April 2017)

Horror movies are tough. Genre enthusiasts seem to constantly be reminiscing about the old days while new fans are enthralled with what they see, occasionally ignorant to what came before. The Babadook, the 2014 film by Jennifer Kent was heralded by many as the best horror film of 2014. As a horror enthusiast, I was excited to see the "new take on horror" that people were calling The Babadook. After my first viewing of The Babadook, I was simply disappointed, the more I thought about the film, however, the more I began to actively dislike it. The film stars Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman as a mother and son team who rely on each other as the only family they have left when suddenly their lives are interrupted by an evil spirit who seeks to possess those it comes into contact with. "This premise of two people solely reliant upon each other who then have to deal with a possession sounds a bit like Rosemary's Baby," I thought to myself, making me even more eager to begin the film. I was wrong--so very wrong, and although I hesitate to say anyone else was wrong who called this a "new" horror film, I definitely don't see the hype surrounding it. I found The Babadook to not only be a poor excuse for a horror movie--it really never picks a genre, and that's fine but a film calling itself a horror movie should be, but a poor film altogether. Just add this one to the list of films I don't understand their widespread appeal.
Amelia (Essie Davis) is drudging through life as a single mother to her only son after losing her husband in a car accident on the day her son was born on the way to the hospital. Emotional exhaustion and depression has seemed to take over Amelia's life. Despite her dismal existence, she seems content to live in her somber solitude refusing to make plans or leave the house much. Amelia's son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman) is a large part of why they never leave the house; he has managed to ostracize all those around him, including his aunt and cousin with his behavior. Samuel makes weapons and takes them out of the house, he yells and screams, and is odd and unpleasant to be around. Despite his many behavior problems at school, Amelia always takes his side against authorities because Samuel knows exactly when to act affectionate towards his mother, manipulating her at every turn. Once Samuel is kicked out of another school, again, Amelia is at the end of her rope and decides to keep him home for awhile while trying to find another school for him to attend. One night before bed, Amelia reads Samuel a book she has never seen before about a monster. Unsettled after reading such a book, Amelia begins to find traces of the supernatural monster in her home. Initially refusing to believe in a spirit possessing her home, Amelia eventually realizes The Babadook has entered she and her son's lives and is refusing to leave.
"A psychological horror about a single mother who becomes possessed by a monster that wills her to kill her 6-year old son." That's how The Babadook was described on its own Kickstarter page, that's not what was delivered to the audience, however. I fail to see the psychological horror element of the film, and that is my favorite horror sub-genre. What was psychological was the fact that more than a horror film, The Babadook is a case study on how debilitating PTSD can be. Another struggle I have is that the Babadook is only in half the film. I prefer a director shows rather than tells, so it's not a problem on its own that we rarely see the monster in this film, as long as we are given the atmosphere of the monster. The problem is, instead of a monster's presence being established all we really get is a series of uncomfortable situations that could easily have been the doing of Amelia's out of control child. The Babadook more clearly exists as a family drama showing the deeply engrained problems between a mother and her son. The relationship between Amelia and Samuel is toxic, abusive, and enabling. The two share almost no mutual respect for each other, as they are each entrenched in their own life position to actively participate in the lives of each other. Amelia is run down, as single mothers often are, but to never accept or seek help for her son's defiance is digging her own overwhelmed grave. Despite being heralded as a unique take on horror, there seems to exist little evidence of such. The look of The Babadook appears to be the love child of Nosferatu and Freddy Krueger, so nothing new there. In fact, seeing the Babadook proves to be thoroughly underwhelming. Some horror standbys are utilized such as the fully-clothed bath, the flickering electricity, and the dog being able to "sense" the demonic presence in the air. The nursery rhyme score has also run its rounds in the horror genre. The atmosphere said to be created throughout the film appears to borrow from German expressionism, but the bleak colors aren't enough to caputre that style, nor do they add to the atmosphere of the film, they simply make the picture dull. With no character enjoying an arc to their story, without any standout performances, and devoid of any real scares from a largely absent "monster", I certainly hope this isn't what horror as a genre has devolved into.