Babadook a total creepfest

Things that go bump in the night. They freak me out every time. If I hear anything then I’m totally convinced that there’s a ghost in the house.

I would not do well in Amelia’s house. Amelia (Essie Davis) and her six-year-old son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) have a wee problem. He has nightmares about a monster that is coming to kill them. Why don’t people listen to their children in horror movies?

Things were already bad to begin with. Amelia’s husband died horribly a few years previously and now she is at a loss on how to curb her son’s behaviour. He often acts out with anger and violence. He makes weapons like a dart gun to protect himself. Taking them to school is not a good idea.

All the while, Amelia finds herself emotionally distant from the boy.

And that’s when the book arrives into their lives. It’s a children’s book called The Babadook, about a creature that should not appear in a children’s book. It’s disturbing to say the least and only makes things worse. Samuel becomes even more unpredictable, convinced that the Babadook is the stuff of his nightmares. His hallucinations get out of control and he becomes even more violent.

Things don’t go well, in other words.

When it comes to horror movies, atmosphere is integral to the proceedings and The Babadook has atmosphere all over the place. It’s a total creepfest, for sure, and definitely beats the heck out of all of these formulaic demon possession or haunted house stories that we’ve been subjected to lately.

This movie couldn’t survive just on atmosphere alone. It’s really the acting here that makes things work. Davis and Wiseman are utterly convincing in this really tough story about a troubled mother and son relationship, made even more complicated by the presence of an otherworldly evil. Wiseman is a kid but he can act with more conviction than most big name performers.

And much credit should also be given to writer/director Jennifer Kent who based this feature film off her short film called Monster. That was pretty atmospheric and taut as well. I’d like to see her take over Hollywood and inject some originality back into the genre that has become so stale.