“The Babadook” is so haunted by the loss of a husband and father that empty suits hanging on the wall loom larger than the titular creature: the child-snatching demon, Babadook. “The Babadook” gets off to a slow start, building out a home life between a single mother and her son still overwhelmed by a years-old death. They are both ground down by each other. The kid, Sam (Noah Wiseman), can feel his mom’s sorrow but tries to help in the most aggravating and ineffective ways. Amelia (Essie Davis) struggles to cope with her son’s monster obsession and behavior problems, but spends more time casting the pall of her dead husband over the house: denying Sam a real birthday party (as his birth date was the same day as her husband’s death), hoarding artifacts of Sam’s father that Sam is not permitted to touch, and being a bummer. But then the Babadook arrives and changes everything.

'The Babadook' Movie Trailer

With the arrival of a mysterious picture book, Mister Babadook, “The Babadook” soon squirms its way into the family’s life, beginning with popping lights, nightmarish visions, and lots of cockroaches, the Babadook soon takes on a more physical form and... what a monster. The Babadook should be silly, a pastiche of silent era villains like Count Orloff and the lost creep of “London After Midnight,” but he manages to be a consistent menace, even when the budget of “The Babadook” forces his most ethereal and demonic forms into shadow.

Critical Praise for 'The Babadook'

All that said, I didn’t love “The Babadook.” The universal praise, much of it rapturous, may have set my expectations a bit high. William Friedkin, director of “The Exorcist,” had this to say:

And while “The Babadook” is good, the best horror movie in 2014 (though it’s been a weak year), it’s very much a first film, however promising. Jennifer Kent, director of “The Babadook,” will be a name to watch, particularly if she sticks with horror movies and vies with Adam Wingard, Ti West and Ben Wheatley for the John Carpenter of the 21st century position.

Since watching “The Babadook” I’ve found it a challenge to critique, perhaps because it has such firm metaphorical trappings, but also a level of subjectivity that muddies the waters, confounding attempts to piece together meaning out of individual elements. “The Babadook” feels dense and hard to pick apart. It’s not that “The Babadook” has a confusing narrative, just that some of the choices never seem to pay off, instead dangling with unfulfilled promise.

A good example would be the build-up of Sam’s traps. A big part of his problems in school come from his homemade weaponry, all designed to fight off the monster he is certain is on the way (and boy is he right). But when it comes time to deploy his weaponry, homemade gizmos that have already seen a huge chunk of screen time, they are almost useless. Expectations exist to be confounded, but the moment ends up feeling deflating. With a movie so laden with the burden of grief and metaphorical presence of the possessive Babadook I found myself looking to slot the weapons into new symbolic interpretations. Perhaps their ineffectiveness is an indication that it’s time for Sam to set aside childish things and address the Babadook threat like an adult? Nope, his next set of Home Alone traps work just fine.

There are a dozen other similar, tiny moments where “The Babadook” just doesn’t play right. For every startling and fresh horror image—the suits on the wall, the Babadook’s wings—there’s a tired trope to match. Black puke signaling an expurgation, the anger of the Babadook rocking a bed, and a book that can’t be bound by latches or destroyed by flame… all stale moments that keeps “The Babadook” from being one of the best horror movies ever made. And, since I’m shaking out my bag of itty-bitty niggles, I might as well mention the repetitious Babadook bird-roar (not the exceptionally chilling “Ba-Ba-DOOOOOK!”) that is a stock sound used in some other film that I’ll never be able to name until I hear it again.

Why You Should See 'The Babadook'

“The Babadook” is a good movie, though it's hard to imagine how it gave A.O. Scott nightmares, nor how anyone could say it stands with “Alien.” But this review isn't meant to be a backlash or a critique of the critiques. Rather a warning that viewers going in with soaring-high expectations should adjust. “The Babadook” is not the greatest horror movie in decades, but it’s something almost as exciting: a new vision of horror from a promising director.

Since I spent so much time working out my own problems with “The Babadook,” whether minor nit-picks or symbolic ambiguities in a movie loaded with genuine emotional and metaphorical resonance, let's end with what “The Babadook” gets right. The Babadook itself is frightening, but the way it always hangs to shadows, striking such a strong silhouette without baring too much, is even better. When Amelia becomes entranced by the television, the Babadook inserting itself into all of time, all of pop-culture, worming into old movies and infecting nature films and news footage, you’ll feel a chill. The Babadook may not be real, but it’s coming for you anyway. Three knocks on the door, ba-ba-ba, then three more, DOOK-DOOK-DOOK, and you too will feel the primal dragon tail “The Babadook” occasionally grasps hold of, just long enough to remind you that there are always new shadows to fear and new frontiers for horror movies to explore.