Causeway Films, Smoking Gun Productions,
Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West, Ben Winspear
Amelia (Essie Davis) is a single Mom raising her young son Robbie (Daniel Henshaw). Her husband was violently killed in an auto accident on the way to the hospital when Robbie was born, but the Mother and Son survived. Robbie is obsessed with monsters and his life is consumed with monsters to the point that none of the other mothers will allow their children to associate with them anymore. But when a strange book appears called “Mister Babadook” about a horrible monster who knocks on the door wanting to come in and possess the children in the house. Amelia passes it off as a bad story for Robbie and tries to destroy the book, but she’s unable to. Soon she too believes in “Mister Babadook” and the real horror begins.
This is an extremely low budget film, but that does not detract from it a bit. Rumor has it that this film was financed via donations, and that’s probably true. But it’s a very creepy horror film. It’s very well done, and it’s simple but very scary. This is a homage to the old school horror films about a monster that may turn out to be real, and it’s guaranteed that it will frighten you. The simplicity of the story is one of it’s greatest assets. This is just a really frightening tale. This film was just released on DVD this week. It was also made available for streaming from Netflix and others at the same time. I suspect it may make it’s rounds on the premium channels. If you are, as I am, a fan of horror films then this is one you not miss. Without gory and bizarre bloody deaths, this film just simply builds the suspense by what you don’t see, but what you hear, and what that makes you imagine. This is what makes a great horror film.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
