Simply dreadful.Obviously a very limited budget, so well done on that score, but so disappointing.The story is poor. You don't have to have all the effects if the story's good, and you can create terror just as much from something unseen as you can from the visual, but this is way off the mark. It goes from one stupid scenario to the next, with a dour palette inside a house that is seemingly from the mid-eighties. If this is set in that timeline, it's not made clear, although in the ensemble's clothing and the protagonist's car it would seem that way. Nobody has a mobile phone, but the telephones seem modern.The cast is far too limited when the main characters are this weak, and I didn't find myself rooting for either the flaky mother or the annoying child. Aside from those points, this is meant to be a horror film, and there wasn't a second of it that was enough to make the hairs on my arms stand up. The clichés are all there: dull, creepy house, unstable parent, the knowing child, a concerned neighbor, incredulous police and of course a cellar. The 'Babadook' (what a ridiculous name!) is less scary than some of the costumed revellers I see walking the streets with buckets of sweets in hand at Halloween. Not that you really see it.The ending is so awful. And not in a good way.If you're easily scared, or a child under the age of 12, you may love this. If I'd seen this at the cinema, I'd have asked for a refund.

The Babadook has remained with me since I saw it a couple years ago. It is beyond horror, for it digs at themes much deeper and more lasting. Painful to watch and eternally chilling.

The main claim about this movie for a lot of people is that it is "not the usual horror movie" and "doesn't rely on jump scares or cheap tricks." Now for the most part, I guess it doesn't fully, but it still holds its fair share of jump scares. When the film tries to rely on just sheer tension and fear, it fails most of the time. Seriously, I think what kills it for me the most is any time a child is on screen. The child actors are GOD AWFUL. Especially the son. He is the worst. I hate and you will too. Guaranteed. There is certainly some interesting ideas and really cool story elements, but the Babadook overall is predictable, stupid, and not very well thought out.

People are generally pretty dumb. When the average person watches a movie, they want to laugh, see explosions, be scared or feel closer to their loved ones. This a movie for the High Tension, Se7en, A Clockwork Orange, Anti-Christ, Taxi Driver, Requiem for a Dream, Blue Velvet and The Silence of the Lambs crowd. One of its biggest problems is that people think it's a horror movie, it's not. It's a psychological thriller. People see the boogie man and think that's all that it is...it isn't. Although, I do dig the Man in the Beaver Hat.The synopsis is pretty basic, a single (widowed) woman has a bratty kid that she can't deal with. One night, she reads him a bedtime story that begins to haunt them. They have to deal with it. The End.Anybody who gave a negative review of this movie, saw that film which I just described but this is not Saw or Friday the 13th. This movie is way more thought out than that. Most people simply don't want to think that hard...but I do, which is why I am writing this review.If you were hoping for a scary movie with jump scares and gore, there are literally thousands of them. Although this movie has a little of that, this isn't one of them. For the record, I love a lot of those movies too but I also like movies that are smart. This movie is smart. If you don't get it, you're either too dumb or you lacked the attention span to care. I have talked to several people who didn't like this movie and they all thought (as did many reviewers) that it was some "boogie man" flick and they all seemed to tune out at the halfway point. That's when you really need to pay attention to this movie. If you watched the whole thing and paid attention to it and you still didn't get it, well, I am sorry but you're an idiot. I mean, they kind of spell it out for you, you were just too dead set on the Michael Meyers in the shadows to realize it.I believe in being honest with people and I stand by my statement, regardless of the backlashes or negativity my comments might create. I grow tired of catering to morons. If you haven't felt offended yet, then, this movie may just be for you. Honestly, it was harder to watch the second time around for me because I knew what the outcome was going to be.I don't want to spoil the movie but if you watch it, remember to think for yourself and pay attention when the book shows up on the doorstep. Just remember..."Whether in a word or in a look, you can't get rid of The Babadook..."