The Babadook (2014)

6 December 2020

I remember having strong opinions about the Babadook when watching it. I especially despised the kid at the start of the film - if I saw the film in theaters I wouldn't considered leaving.

But I think when your emotions can swing in horror it makes for a better movie overall. Always being on edge just wears the audience down, so when the pendulum swings more you get a broader range of emotions and can feel those changes better. This is a film about grief, and the destructive manifestation of it. This film is aging well, mainly since it was told so simply, and without heavy technology or CGI. And that it can evoke similar strong emotions with a rewatch years later tells me this film is a classic.

For horror, this is hands down still one of the best films I have ever seen in the genre, and would be the first I'd recommend for a horror fan. 10/10

3 April 2015

Tonight I watched The Babadook (2014), classified as a psychological horror film, but may not work for everyone. It delivered to me less in the horror sense and more in that uneasiness sense - Eraserhead definitely came to mind while watching this film. Great imagery, but the empathy roller coaster it takes you on is really exhausting.
All that said, psychological horror is in my opinion usually the best kind of horror, and this is one of the best in years. 9/10