‘The Babadook’ Celebrates 10 Years of Terrifying Nightmare

“To be honest, I had had a few movies that had failed in a row, and I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate anything, and then someone said, ‘Hey, it’s been ten years since The Babadook“I was like, ‘Ugh.’ I was honestly really sad about it,” says Jennifer Kent, writer and director of the iconic 2014 Australian psychological horror film. “Now, on the eve of going to America to celebrate, I’m excited to go. I’m so excited.”

Made for $2 million, the filmmaker’s first feature film grossed $10.5 million. The Babadook tells the story of a single mother, played by Essie Davis, who is traumatized by the violent death of her husband in a car accident. As another birthday approaches, her son appears locked in a battle with an evil entity from a children’s book called Mr. Babadook manifest in their home, leading them into a spiral of paranoia and pure terror. Now, to celebrate ten years since the film’s original release, it’s making a comeback in theaters.

“I remember in the US we opened on two screens in 2014, and now in 2024 we’re releasing it on 500 screens, it’s wonderful,” Kent enthuses. “It speaks to me about the need for humans to go back to movie theaters and watch movies collectively in the dark. I’ve been doing it all year. I have a film library here where I am in Australia that shows free movies and it’s wonderful.” 2001: A Space Odyssey Last weekend I played to a sold-out crowd, so I’m not the only one who feels the need to go back. My favorite place to be is sitting in a movie theater, so I’m really excited to be able to celebrate The Babadook this way for its 10th anniversary.”

The screenings, which will take place across the United States beginning Thursday, September 19, 2024, will be followed by a filmed conversation between Kent and two-time Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón.

One of the most famous and influential horror films of the last decade, the filmmaker aimed to make a “very pure” horror film but had no idea he would succeed so well.

“I had made something as pure as possible, but we were protected from interference because I had the final cut. I was able to tell the story in its entirety,” she recalls. “Someone asked me the other day, ‘Would you ever do a director’s cut?’ and I said, ‘That’s it, you’ve got it.’ I knew it was all mine. But I also knew that if the film failed or succeeded at that level of audience or critical reaction, I could sleep soundly. David Lynch once said, ‘If you make a film that’s not yours and it doesn’t do well, you’ll starve to death.’”

“That really resonated with me and when I was going to make my first film, he was in my head. He was my mentor by proxy, telling me, ‘Make your film your film.’ That really resonated with me. I would say to all aspiring filmmakers: if you have a choice between making something that someone else has finished for more money or making your own film for less money, always go for the latter because you will never regret it.”

Some thought “The Babadook” was a terrible title.

However, people had strong opinions about The Babadook and resorted to extreme measures to try to get what they wanted.

“Everybody had their opinion, but it didn’t matter, so it didn’t impact my decision-making. Even when the film was screened in the final version, a lot of investors and other people involved hated it. There was no final sound, but the picture was locked,” Kent says. “Someone who was very involved called Screen Australia and demanded I change this, that and the other thing, and they basically said, ‘Well, we can’t make him change that because we don’t have the final version, so go ahead.’”

People were also very critical of the title, The Babadook.

“A lot of people were like, ‘Nobody’s ever going to remember that name. It’s ridiculous,’ but I was adamant that the movie was going to be called that,” she explains. “Of course, it was completely absurd, because people remember it because it’s a stupid, weird, strange name,” she continues. “I didn’t say, ‘What should I call it?’ I said, ‘You don’t like that name? Okay.’ That’s it.”

Kent appreciated the way The Babadook has become a cultural phenomenon and is particularly pleased that the film, especially the main character, is being embraced by the LGBTQ+ community.

“It was really hilarious to me,” she laughs. “It was unexpected. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m so glad it happened that way. People really took to this character. He has to speak to people in some way. They took this character and ran with it, and I love that it happened by accident.”

While screenings will take place and a pre-recorded Q&A will follow each screening, unfortunately, the reunion with stars Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman, who played the son, will not take place.

“I talk to Noah’s mom pretty regularly. I wouldn’t say it’s every other week or anything, but I reached out to her and asked if Noah wanted to talk about it, and she said no,” Kent reveals. “I understand that because he’s a young adult now. He’s 6’1″ and hasn’t finished high school yet, so he’s probably 15 or 16, but he has his own life. Essie is a dear friend, and we’ve done the same thing.” The whisper together recently, one of the The Cabinet of Curiosities episodes with Guillermo del Toro. We met professionally for that, but he’s someone I talk to regularly.”

Here’s what’s unique about the DNA of ‘The Babadook’

The Babadook managed to avoid a sequel and a remake, two things that happen often. Kent, who is also known for the excellent 2018 film The Nightingaleconfirms that she remains dead against a second Babadouk He believes there is something unique about Australian and British horror filmmakers, and that some things get lost in translation.

“Horror is the great domain of the subversive, and it also deals with taboos. Australians and British people are very similar, pragmatic people, and there’s a fair amount of cynicism, but I think our constitution probably allows us to have a similar sensibility,” she muses. “In some ways, we’re very different people from Americans, for better or worse, and we maybe find different things scary. I think there’s an incredible lineage.” The BabadookI was watching movies like Innocence, and you don’t get a sequel to those movies. It’s not an amusement park, right? It’s just about the human condition, and madness, and how terrifying it can be. There were movies that spoke to me when I was making them. The Babadook as Don’t look nowwhich has a similar atmosphere and is a film that I love. There were also Polanski films like The tenant, Rosemary’s Babyand even Repulsion” . “

Kent believes this is a characteristic shared by Latino filmmakers as well.

“Guillermo has always put humanity at the center of his work. I was talking to someone I’m collaborating with right now, a wonderful horror writer, and we were talking about horror,” she concludes. “I told him that nihilistic horror didn’t appeal to me, and he said, ‘There always has to be beauty,’ and I thought that was so true. There has to be beauty in the midst of this despair and terror.”