This movie popped up on my Netflix last year and I thought it was some silly kids movie, then I realized it was in the horror section. That was what intrigued me with this film. So of course, curiosity got me again, but this time I was pleased. At first it was hard to get past the title, like I said, it was silly sounding, my wife and I made jokes about the movie, until we watched the Babadook.
The Babadook is one film for any horror film collection for sure. I have it in my collection, but go to Netflix now and check it out. But
The Babadook is an Australian psychological horror film, written and directed by Jennifer Kent, in which a woman and her son are tormented by an evil entity the comes from, what seems to be a children’s book. The movie is extremely slow to start, it is mostly character development. You really do get a good idea of who these characters are and everything does get set up nicely. The woman is single, her husband died driving her to the hospital and the kid is a little strange.
The tone of the film is set immediately. Throughout the film tension builds after one night before bed, the mother reads the kid a book, Babadook. It is creepy and the book really has an effect on the kid. The book also starts to play with the mothers mind. Eventually the mother sees visions of the Babadook and we here what may be the Babadook saying, Ba…Ba…Dook. It is one of the creepiest moments in the film. I gotta tell you, writing this out is giving me the chills. Yeesh.
I do not want to spoil the film, but the visuals are great, especially when it comes to the Babadook itself. When it appears or something may happen, you see the black mass and the long fingers that make it feel like the Babadook is running his fingers up your spine. Sometimes you may see a coat and hat on a coat rack, the visuals for the Babaook is cool. Not to mention seeing how everything effects the characters. One of the coolest thing is the book. It shows a lot of the book when the mother is reading it and it totally sets up the events of the film, foreshadowing. When she tries to destroy the book, it is an intense moment.
Again, I do not want to spoil any more than I may have, so this is going to end. The movie is a slow burn, but it gets you with its creepy atmosphere and everything that has do to with the Babadook. I looked it up, because it seems like something that may be real, maybe a real children’s horror story. Nope, not that I can tell, the writer/director Jennifer Kent, did an amazing job on putting this one together, I see it jumping on the Horror Syndicate’s Top 100 Horror Films for 2016. It did appear on Rayzor’s Rage of Rayzor Top 100 Horror Films in 2015 last year and it was number 69.
In closing, this movie is great and I enjoy it! On a personal note, this film gave me the goose bumps, big time. For some reason this morning when I work to go to work, it was still dark outside, for some reason Babadook popped into my head and I instantly got chills. Chills I had not felt since the day after seeing the Exorcist for the first time.
The Babadook has a 6.8 rating on IMDB.com, I rate it at 8.2, I loved it!
If you’re trolling around on Netflix and cannot find something to watch, how about a scare? The Babadook is on Netflix.
