The Babadook-2014
Director Jennifer Kent
Starring Essie Davis, Noah WisemanÂ
Scott’s Review #247
Reviewed June 14, 2015
Grade: B
The Babadook (2014) is an Australian (English language) psychological horror film that tells the story of a mysterious, haunted book, that torments its owner or owners.
Touted as one of the scariest films of 2014 I kindly beg to differ, though admittedly the film does contain some genuine frights and jumps.
What has happened to the horror genre where frightening films have not been made since the 1970s?
Exceptions like The Conjuring (2008) must be mentioned.
The Babadook attempts to be scary without CGI or any extravagant effects but has a classic feel.
Amelia, the mother in the story, has tragically lost her husband, Oskar, in a terrible car crash on the way to the hospital to give birth to her son Samuel. Now six years old, Samuel begins to exhibit signs of psychological problems as he becomes terrified of an imaginary monster.
After a child’s book, Mr. Babadook mysteriously appears in their home and Amelia reads it to Samuel, even stranger events occur throughout their house.
The film has remnants of The Sixth Sense (1999)- a loner, bullied kid is haunted and a disbelieving single Mom touting along as a ghost story or who is alive or dead questions are explored.
The father, Oskar, is instrumental in the storytelling. Because of this, the viewer is often confused throughout, but that is not necessarily a knock on The Babadook.
It is not exactly clear to me if Amelia is the central character or if that honor belongs to Samuel- the interesting part of the film is the relationship between mother and son.
The Babadook is a scary story. Can a book come to life and haunt? So says the film and that is worth thinking about.
In horror, there can be some ridiculous premise that is so unrealistic it cannot even be fathomed.
Where the film suffers in my view is that it is not that scary. Having something jump out at you or some other surprise is nice, but where is the terror? The exact motivations of the book also remain unclear.
I admire The Babadook for attempting to bring back old-school horror to modern audiences and telling a solid, haunting story.
However, the film did not quite measure up to the hype surrounding it.
The great film reviews are a bit much as I do not believe The Babadook (2014) is quite on the level of one of the scariest films ever made.