The Babadook 2014

The Babadook is a 2014 Austrialian film directed by Jennifer Kent and stars Essie Davis and Daniel Henshall.

To say that a film is creepy really says a lot. With this film, creepy just isnt the right word for it. Amazing. Intriguing. Shiver-inducing. Just a few words to describe this film. I would say a cross between The Shining and We Need to talk about Kevin. This film is desperately sad. A woman who is haunted,first by her husbands death,then by the Babadook all while looking after her young son. This is a creepy, no jump scare, fantastic psychological horror. A rare gem that plays on all those fairytale fears that you may have had as a kid.

Original and truly terrifying, "The Babadook" proves what a horror-fiction movie could do with involving more on psychological emotion from it's protagonist character rather than shocking audience with ghost appearances. It has totally different ways to scare compared with James Wan's "The Conjuring" or "Insidious". The movie focused on Babadook, a scary creature from a children's tale but even The Babadook appearance itself wasn't much exploited and seems too mysterious. The débutant director, Jennifer Kent has successfully and smartly convinced also planted images of Babadook character at audience's mind without much showing what it really looks like and keep them guessing at the ending part. Babadook only appears couple times at shadow, sounds or some hallucinations.

Essie Davis, perhaps best known for her television work in The Slap and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, plays Amelia, the fraught mother of six-year-old Samuel, a child who is driving her to the point of despair with his demanding behaviour. Amelia's husband Oskar (Benjamin Winspear) was killed driving her to the hospital on the night Samuel was born and it this tragic turn of events that has defined the mother-son relationship ever since. You see, despite her best efforts to outwardly hide such feelings and be the mother she is expected to be - publicly defending Sam's petulance at every turn - Amelia really doesn't her like her son all that much and it is this tension that serves as the catalyst for what follows. Juggling the demands of Samuel with her work in an aged care facility, Amelia's state of mind starts to deteriorate to the point where she finds it difficult to separate her reality from the hallucinations that haunt her. When a mysterious children's book titled Mister Babadook seemingly unleashes a sinister presence in the house, things become decidedly disturbing. Using the picture book as the source of the terror enables the use of simplistic, yet effective, design in the creation of an almost cartoonish presence that still manages to exude the requisite level of menace. Just a note on the performance of Daniel Henshall. His portrayal of Samuel is just short of amazing. I have rarely hated a child in a movie. His constant yelling, whining and demanding of his mother brought out the need for something to happen to that child. Just shows that a young child can bring that out in viewers. If he continues to act, then I see a great future and one to look for in many more movies

What definitely makes this film that scary is a standout performance from Essie Davis. Her acting as Amelia greatly portrays a destroyed and depressed mother who have unwell circumstances to raise her only son. At first half of the film, audiences were dragged to feel the stressful condition and sympathy to Amelia but she with her gesture and changed behavior would surely scare them when it reaches last 20 minutes. "The Babadook" is a respectful and undeniably creepy old-school horror movie that is rarely to find these days. With also supported by strong performances from Essie Davis, spooky suggestive premise and surrounded by annoying score, makes Babadook easier to sneak in your midnight sleep and haunt you as worst nightmare. BABADOOK-DOOK-DOOK!

This is one of those film where I insist that you watch. If you can find it now, or wait till it is released on dvd/bluray, this is a film that can not be missed.

9/10

7.1/10 IMDB