- The Babadook (Australia, 2014. Dir. Jennifer Kent). Widow Amelia is trying her best to raise her troubled son, Samuel, on her own --always a difficult task and doubly so as the child's birthday approaches. Amelia became a widow the same day she became a mother, as her husband was killed on a car crash as he was driving her to the hospital. Her unsympathetic sister is not much help, either. But when Samuel happens unto a remarkably eerie pop-up storybook that tell of a Mister Babadook (who once inside "will make you wish you were dead"), both mother and son find themselves increasingly plagued by a menacing presence. Yet this presence may not be what they or even what we think...
Terrific horror movie that skill fully blends psychological horror and monster films to produce an appropriately ambiguous film about the long-lasting effects of grief. More interested in the characters' psychology (check out the visual design on Amelia's house) than in traditional scares. The titular creature is a successfully sinister creation (in no small part because he's never fully seen on screen), and the acting is commendable. All in all, one of the most remarkable horror movies in recent memory.
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