The Babadook

We are all familiar with the scenario: a young boy with an overactive imagination becomes terrified of the monster underneath his bed, and rushes to his mother for a therapeutic bedtime story. But what if this imaginary monster actually becomes real? This is the set up for a new Australian horror flick premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival entitled The Babadook. Our protagonist, Sam, is terrified of monsters. So terrified he is loosing sleep, causing trouble in class, and creating his own sinister weaponry out of household objects as a means of defense. It's enough to drive his widowed mother, Amelia, into a frantic state of paranoia. As tensions between the two escalate, a new presence called the Babadook makes it's way into the household which questions the sanity of everyone involved. The film cleverly embraces and deconstructs typical horror film conventions in order to create something new. Though it is hilariously playful and entertaining, it's also a terrifying psychological thrill in the same vein as films like Black Swan or Rosemary's Baby. Essie Davis is great as Amelia, but newcomer Noah Wiseman gives an incredibly memorable child acting performance. If you are a horror fan looking for something new, look no further than The Babadook. Just be prepared to have nightmares afterward, and remember to leave the kiddos at home for this one.

I really enjoyed this film, its dark and unnerving without resorting to loud bangs or "found footage" style filming to get its scares.

Low budget and well shot, the film leans on the power of suggestion and tone to create a film which has a sense of unease throughout, tonally like the Exorcist, where there is this underlying feeling of dread and helplessness

The scares are not spoon fed, so this won't be for everyone, if your brand of horror is purely just modern films like Insidious or the recent Annabelle - then this might not be for you.

One of my favourite films of the year.

Why are so many of the reviews here giving this a 9 or 10 taking the time to insult everyone who feels otherwise? I get it with movies based on superheroes or popular book series -- they have rabid fans who lash out. But why this? It's just a horror movie. And, honestly, an overrated one. I'm not saying its bad. It's actually a good watch. But the praise is pretty over the top. It's a well-crafted movie of its type but not an instant classic or any of that hyperbole. One thing I was very happy about was that it actually did follow through with the advertised premise. As I was watching it, about midway through I became concerned this was not going to be a movie about a supernatural creature but rather a message movie about mental illness and child abuse. Thankfully the movie dispels that in the last twenty or so minutes.

It's a pretty good (but not great) movie with a couple of nice scares and shocks. However, I didn't find it to be as groundbreaking or unique as many other reviewers. Sometimes I think horror fans are dying of thirst so every little drop of water is oversold as being on par with "fill in the blank with a classic horror film." It's not all that. It's just not. And the mom and kid got on my nerves big time before the first hour was up. This is a movie with a lot of scenes of people being assholes. A lot of yelling, etc. If you're like me that stuff drains you after awhile. I had a headache by the end. Speaking of the end, I'm unsure how I feel about it. Kudos for not tying it all up too neatly but I didn't quite get what the hell Babadook was and, more importantly, why is it eating worms? I kinda like the weirdness of that. Hope they don't ruin it by doing a sequel. Who are we kidding, of course they will.

There's a demon likes to get inside your mind, if he enters he can be a bit unkind, takes you down a winding path, a quite determined sociopath, doesn't care what trauma that he leaves behind. It's the kind of shade that's often caught alone, the recipient may feel they don't belong, an imposter in their world, wearing a mask fully unfurled, all life's treasures we take for granted, simply gone.

A stellar performance from Essie Davis in a film that will get you thinking about the effects life's challenges present and how you deal with them, albeit through the eyes of one possessed by demonic urges they can't control while becoming a silhouette of themselves.

This movie is a slightly pretentious, but powerful and original movie about guilt ridden mother and some metaphorical horrors, that ring only too true. Good cinematography, competent acting, original story, nice concept. A bit contrived and pretentious, but well worth a watch.