The Babadook (2014)

A single mother (Essie Davis) works at a residence for senior citizens while trying to raise her son (Noah Wiseman), who is seemingly psychologically disturbed with an obsession about monsters who want to kill him and his mother. A bedtime story about The Babadook, a supernatural monster that will terrorize you once you acknowledge his existence, convinces the child that the monster is real and out to get them. It's taken me awhile to get around to this acclaimed horror film from last year which received near unanimous praise. I went in with lowered expectations and I'm glad I did because if I had gone in expecting it to live up to its rapturous reviews, I would have been mightily disappointed. I didn't find it particularly fresh, it seems cobbled with pieces of other (better) horror films like THE EXORCIST and REPULSION. It's directed with style by Jennifer Kent (who also wrote the screenplay) in her directorial film debut and while I can admire the effort she put into it, the end result is a patchwork of horror cliches. I guess I liked it overall but ..... not very much. With Hayley McElhinney and Benjamin Winspear.