The Babadook

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 28 November 2014
     Netflix on 21 August 2016

Writer and Director:Jennifer Kent
Running Time: 93 Minutes

Staring:  Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman

Rating? Unrated

SPOILERS? NO

REVIEWS

IMDB: 6.8 of 10

MY RATING: 9

STORYLINE

Amelia, who lost her husband in a car crash on the way to give birth to Samuel, their only child, struggles to cope with her fate as a single mom. Samuel's constant fear of monsters and violent reaction to overcome the fear doesn't help her cause either, which makes her friends become distant. When things can not get any worse, they read a strange book in their house about the 'Babadook' monster that hides in the dark areas of their house. Even Amelia seems to feel the effect of Babadook and desperately tries in vain to destroy the book. The nightmarish experiences the two encounter form the rest of the story.

MY REVIEW

This is a very atypical horror movie and that is what I think sets it apart from others in the genre. When it first started, I was pretty sure it was going to be some sort of parable to not let children listen to scary stories before bed, boy, was I wrong. The scares are not spoon-fed to the watcher. You have to be attentive to musical and verbal cues that lead you through the power of suggestion into an uneasy feeling.

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• Acting: Amelia, played by Essie Davis, was fantastic. Subtle and brilliant. You may remember her from The Matrix, or as Lady Crane in Game of Thrones.
• Writing: This screenplay was written beautifully. Tense and suspenseful, yet still giving the watcher enough time to digest all that is happening.
• Direction: Australian director and writer Jennifer Kent did something amazing with a simple story that is matched by the cinematography of Radek Ladczuk. Parts of the movie were skis to a musical score to me. I loved the use of music to bring the weather deeper into the story. I can imagine laying in the dark listening to the score over and over.
• The scares were more cerebral. Definitely NOT a jump-scare type of movie. Which I liked very much!

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• The ending!! I think they really could have done JUST a little more with that. It seemed a little abrupt without a clear resolution to the story. Odd and unique, yes. Predictable, no.
• I JUST CANNOT STAND that kid! I'm not a kid-friendly person as it is, and generally, I can handle a kid or two in a movie, but this was just grated on my last nerve the whole time. I hope that was how the little guy was directed to act.
• This was definitely more dramatic and psychological that horror. That is not a downfall for this movie, but its misclassified. I thought there would be more horror. 

On a more personal note..... 

So, this morning, Dexter was sitting on the kitty condo kinda oddly. I had to stop and take a picture just to document! He's such a handsome little guy!! Then I looked over at Jinxie and he was sitting on the other kitty tree by the London photo and he was just too cute for words!  Of course, then I say baby Rocket.. I do love these littles!! I had a pretty fantastic hair day today so another selfie!! And ended the day with a cuddle on the couch from Rocket while we watched one of my favorite scares, Evil Dead, yes, the original!!