Friday, December 19, 2014

Film Review: The Babadook

Year: 2014
Director: Jennifer Kent

Writer: Jennifer Kent

Cinematographer: Radek Ladczuk

Cast: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall

Country of Origin: Australia

Rating: N/A

Time: 93 min.

If you didn't hear already, Jennifer Kent's The Babadook is being helmed as one of the best horror films of this year, if not the decade! It was inspired by her short film called Monster which I posted up earlier today. Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman bring this simple story to unparalleled and frightening heights as a mother who is haunted by the death of her husband, all while dealing with her son being taunted by this "Babadook" bogeyman figure lurking around in the house. It's a deeply haunting, atmospheric, and jarring story that taps into your deep and darkest fears of motherhood and loss.

Be forewarned when I tell you that I have not slept properly in about two weeks because of Kent's masterful filmmaking. She takes this seemingly simple story but goes dives full throttle into the psyche of a fragile and tortured soul of Amelia. And that is what's so terrifying about the film is not the power the Babadook has but the one Amelia possesses. She takes all the conventional tropes of horror and gives the story a nice and tight little twist! There is even a real Babadook storybook being sold now all signed by Kent herself! Kent is a brave, bold, and brilliant new voice in cinema and I simply cannot wait what she does next!