The Babadook – (2014) is, in my opinion, one of the better horror films released in the last 20 years. The story follows a young single mother, Amelia, and her heavily implied autistic child, Samuel, through their experience with the horror film’s monster the Babadook. The acting from the two main characters was very impressive, with Essie Davis convincingly portraying a mother whom is in desperate need of assistance with her life. Then, Noah Wiseman’s performance as Samuel was excellent, really driving home the over-the-top nature of his character. Their dynamic together, combined with the writing for the film being quite eloquent for a horror movie, definitely deserves the 9.5/10 score I gave it. The only complaint that I had was the relative lack of explanation for what exactly the deal was between Amelia’s character and the Babadook at the end. The vague-ness for me, was less than what I would’ve liked to have seen for the conclusion. There is definitely the argument to be made that the entire Babadook’s character is just horror-monster embodiment of depression/grief. But my issue then becomes, what’s the point of the worms??? I am not sure. Regardless, the story was well crafted, and monster was genuinely creepy.

The Visual Effects and Film Score for this movie were the “weaker” parts of this film, and yet for me they received an 9/10 and 8/10 respectively. The visual effects for this movie combined some excellent camera angle tricks, with some genuinely creepy effects surrounding the Babadook’s book and the monster’s appearance. It adds to the movie, and greatly improved the effect/impact of the scenes with the monster. As for the Film Score, earning an 8/10, it was definitely well done. And it certainly is recognizable on its own. But… it doesn’t have any true standout pieces. Something that separates it from the great scores out there. For that reason, it deserves an above average score to me.

When we start talking about the Casting/Set Design/Costumes and the Impact, these two categories for me were the strong points of the film. They did an excellent job with the character castings for the film, but the set design and costumes were really the stand outs to me. The Vanek’s house, with its deep blue color throughout the entire home from room to room, was the perfect set to represent the deep sadness of the family. It perfectly complimented the mental state of the characters, and the costumes that the characters wore, were excellent at portraying their state of mind as well. For example the choice to have Amelia wear the vibrantly bright pink home health care colored outfit, that was obviously out of sorts in the way that would be expected from a woman in her position in life, added to her character’s mental state subliminally to the audience. Then, the Impact of this film was in the past, and still today for me, a 10/10. The story, the acting, the visuals of the monster, and everything combined into one of the best and impactful horror movies I have watched. It makes you think every time you watch it, and for me, I got goosebumps multiple times during the movie from the various intense moments. This horror film should definitely be watched by more people as I rarely hear anyone talking about it. But I would certainly recommend it.

– Josh