Review of The Babadook (2014) by Scott K — 17 Oct 2015

I've just seen The Babadook for the second time and it is just a striking the second time around. When I initially watched it, I saw it as a self-curated double-bill with Annabelle. Annabelle was passing fare, which seemed to have been cooked up in an office somewhere as the kind of horror film that studio execs seem to think audiences 'want'.

The Babadook is completely different. There is no cattle-prodding, there is simply a great amount of imagination at work. It works in the shadows, it uses metaphor and encourages interpretation. It also draws, quite uniquely from the expressionist horror of the silent era.

For Example I see Dr Caligari in the sets and Nosferatu in the 'monster'. The Babadook is certainly a gem and is one of the most compelling horror films of recent years.