The Babadook: a genuinely scary film

[echt]

DH and I got this out on DVD for our Christmas Eve scary film today.

Some aspects annoy, e.g. Farrow and Ball blue-painted house and cool colours to denote, er...what? So unnecessary, and the normal aspects of an Au/NZ home would have aded to the the scariness. Dog-related events poorly-trailed. 'Nuff said.

However, I've never seen film that so overtly shows the ambivalence/hostility of some women to their children. To be fair, DH saw it as straightforward possession. Many chilling moments.

Essie Davis is outstanding.

Well worth a watch.

Thanks for reminding me about this. Wanted to see it in the cinema for Halloween but never got round to it.

I thought it was a phenomenal film. Agreed that the lead actress was incredible.

SPOILERS SPOILERS*

To me, it seemed obvious that the Babadook is the mother's suppressed violence to her child - and at the end of the film, there's a chilling reminder that all that violence is still there - down in the basement, placated for the moment but still present. To me, it was much more a film of someone's mental disintegration (we only see events from her point of view, don't we?) than a film about the supernatural.