The Babadook
A single mother, plagued by the violent death of her husband, battles with her son's fear of a monster lurking in the house, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.
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- Cast:
- Essie Davis , Noah Wiseman , Hayley McElhinney , Daniel Henshall , Barbara West , Ben Winspear , Craig Behenna
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Reviews
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Simply dreadful.Obviously a very limited budget, so well done on that score, but so disappointing.The story is poor. You don't have to have all the effects if the story's good, and you can create terror just as much from something unseen as you can from the visual, but this is way off the mark. It goes from one stupid scenario to the next, with a dour palette inside a house that is seemingly from the mid-eighties. If this is set in that timeline, it's not made clear, although in the ensemble's clothing and the protagonist's car it would seem that way. Nobody has a mobile phone, but the telephones seem modern.The cast is far too limited when the main characters are this weak, and I didn't find myself rooting for either the flaky mother or the annoying child. Aside from those points, this is meant to be a horror film, and there wasn't a second of it that was enough to make the hairs on my arms stand up. The clichés are all there: dull, creepy house, unstable parent, the knowing child, a concerned neighbor, incredulous police and of course a cellar. The 'Babadook' (what a ridiculous name!) is less scary than some of the costumed revellers I see walking the streets with buckets of sweets in hand at Halloween. Not that you really see it.The ending is so awful. And not in a good way.If you're easily scared, or a child under the age of 12, you may love this. If I'd seen this at the cinema, I'd have asked for a refund.
It's really good to see a female director make a really good horror movie and a good movie in general. Great job!
Major kudos to Aussie director Jennifer Kent, who managed to distill down all the pain and loneliness of being a working-class single mother, into one of the most frightening ghost stories I've seen. The Babadook represents everything good horror can and should be, with plenty of heart, humor and social commentary for good measure. Here's to female directors willing to explore issues all too often ignored in film.
Horrible movie! This shouldn't even be listed as a horror film!