toonyjakes
The Babadook is essentially one of those "artsy" horror films, to the point where you'd almost call it a Dramatic Thriller. This movie does not use obnoxious music or jump scares to get you, it's more methodical and about 70% of it is Drama. The rest is pretty scary.Plot- It's about a grieving widow taking care of her dysfunctional son, who begins to talk about this imaginary friend called The Babadook. The boy later tell his mom that he found him in a book of the same name, which the mother doesn't recall ever owning. About halfway through, the tension built really starts to settle in, and there are very memorable scary moments. The ending was intense, but the resolution will leave you asking "How is that even realistic?" or "Why did that solve the problem?" Writing- This movie is written very well in a sense that you feel the way the main character does. There aren't too many calm scenes that you'll walk away with, but all of it is realistic aside maybe some people constantly bringing up the dead husband to the widow. Acting/Characters- The acting was great, the movie is in an anxious kind of realm so it can be hard to really make every actor stand out. The Babadook itself was scary as hell although you just barely see it's silhouette.Quality- The film is shot perfectly I'd say, one of the cinematography jobs in a recent Horror film. The way they maintain the same consistency of shot length is so smart in terms of actually scaring you, since you never know when something is building up to that moment. The mood is well executed through visuals, some scattered music, and convincing actors. Overall I downgraded this from 10 because the ending is a big "shrug" moment, and it's almost too boring- almost. But the scary parts, as well as the build up to those parts make the film worth watching. A good movie to watch if you want a tame Horror film.
chense-08388
It's hard to believe there is so many overly positive ratings about this film. It starts off ok and builds the scene, I get that. But then the last 45 minutes of the babadook is terrible with a weak ending. Save yourself some time and watch something else
ivorybow
I so wanted to like it! Since is wasn't rated I made the bad mistake of thinking it would be okay for young teens. WRONG! First off, the mother is a confusing trainwreck who is in year 7 of widowhood but seriously unable to move on, Hence her child is warped. She hasn't got the sense or will to get her child help, nor do any other of the adults in his life, so you watch the madness grow. What the monster is, and where it came from and why, you never really know...some sort of madness coming from mom? But the deal breaker is this. I watched it with my 14 year old granddaughter and her 12 year old boy cousin. Imagine my horror when we see mom in bed writhing around with what at first seems to be a nightmare but then you realize she is masturbating!!! And her son walks in on her! By the time I got to the remote to turn it off, it was too late and I had 2 very embarrassed kids and one grandma feeling totally awkward. No one said a word, just red faces. There was no reason, absolutely no reason for that scene to be there. It had zero to do with the plot and served no purpose. I am seeing this a lot...movies made knowing kids will be in the audience and then snippets of outrageously inappropriate scenes with no warning. What is going on Hollywood? Do you have some creepy agenda with visually assaulting our kids? Do not show this movie to children.
claytonmingalls
The main claim about this movie for a lot of people is that it is "not the usual horror movie" and "doesn't rely on jump scares or cheap tricks." Now for the most part, I guess it doesn't fully, but it still holds its fair share of jump scares. When the film tries to rely on just sheer tension and fear, it fails most of the time. Seriously, I think what kills it for me the most is any time a child is on screen. The child actors are GOD AWFUL. Especially the son. He is the worst. I hate and you will too. Guaranteed. There is certainly some interesting ideas and really cool story elements, but the Babadook overall is predictable, stupid, and not very well thought out.
AD
