I love horror the most when they're willing to bend the classic tropes the genre has established over the years. This was a horror movie where the monster lives on, but not as we expected. The theme of latent grief is also deeply relatable and resonates more than your typical horror movie.

Is it as scary as some people had hoped? No, but that's fine. There's a million horror movies out there that aren't really scare. Scream, Cabin in the Woods and Cabin Fever are in my personal pantheon of horror greats and they're not scary in the slightest (The Descent, 28 Days Later and Funny Games would be on the other side of that spectrum).

With that said, I thought The Babadook was plenty scary. I loved the not-quite-jump-cut style of editing that showed the passage of time. I loved the sense of pervading dread as Amelia's psychosis deepened. I loved the disparate images on the television that grew creepier and creepier.

I did think that some images of the monster were a bit goofy but apparently Kent was going for more lo-fi effects. And while most of the climax was great (driven by Essie Davis), certain scenes from it weren't as impactful as they could have been.

Overall great movie though, and I'm glad it got the accolades it did. I'm totally checking for Jennifer Kent from now on.