The Babadooktells the terrifying story of a young boy who becomes convinced that an evil spirit lives in his home, despite his mother’s reassurance that he’s safe. But when his behavior becomes erratic and uncontrollable, his mother realizes something isn’t quite right.The Babadookis an unnerving horror film that delves deep into the human psycheand proves that, sometimes, we can be the scariest monsters of all.The Babadook’sfrightening endinghas become notorious for its ambiguity and excellent use of horror imagery.
What works so effectively aboutThe Babadookis that, while it’s clearly rooted in the horror genre, there aren’t any clear monsters or ghosts like you’d expect in a basic haunted house story. Instead,the narrative is a largely metaphorical oneabout trauma, fear, and loss, focusing on the people affected by these themes. It’s one of thescariest horror movies about griefthat’s ever been made, and its analogical storytelling isn’t easy to find elsewhere. Fortunately, there are some horror movies that will appeal to fans ofThe Babadook.
10Nocebo (2022)
Directed By Lorcan Finnegan
Nocebofollows the life ofa troubled fashion designer who comes down with a mysterious illnessthat doctors and medical specialists are unable to identify. Instead, it comes down to the woman’s Filipino nanny to use her folk healing and get to the bottom of her infliction. Much likeThe Babadook, this film doesn’t center around any particular monster or spirit, but rather the victim of something mysterious and unidentifiable that haunts their daily life.
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There’s a clear blend of psychological terror and physical horror that comes to a head inNocebo, as the woman’s illness serves as a dark metaphor that’s explored through the very real pain and suffering of the film’s characters. The story is gripping and chilling from start to finish, sucking the audience into its mystery and luring them into a false sense of security just when things begin to heat up.
Skinamarink
Cast
Skinamarink, directed by Kyle Edward Ball, follows two children who awaken to discover their father missing and all windows and doors gone from their home, leading them into a night of unsettling experiences. Released in 2023, the film explores themes of isolation and the surreal.
Skinamarinkundoubtedly ranks among the most controversial films of the past decade, taking an extremely unorthodox approach to storytelling that intentionally tests the audience’s patience, then pays it off with rich, atmospheric filmmaking. The story follows two young boys who wake up in the middle of the night to find their parents missing. Their house’s windows and doors are gone, and the only light in the building is coming from their flickering television screens.
The film came under major criticism for its snail-like pace, with almost nothing happening in the film besides the children gradually moving around the house - but that’s exactly the point of the film.
Skinamarinkuses well-timed jumpscaresand methodical tension-building to get underneath the audience’s skin and create a terrifying atmosphere that doesn’t let up for a single second.The film received criticism for its snail-like pace, with almost nothing happening in the film besides the children gradually moving around the house — but that’s exactly the point of the film. The unusual framing and odd directorial choices all contribute to the strength ofSkinamarink, which is just as creepy and frightening asThe Babadook.
The Dark and the Wicked
The Dark and the Wicked is a 2020 horror film directed by Bryan Bertino. The story follows two siblings who return to their family farm to care for their dying father, only to find themselves grappling with a malevolent force that threatens their sanity and lives. As the sinister presence grows stronger, they must confront deeply buried secrets and the pervasive sense of dread engulfing them.
The Dark and the Wickedhas a very similar premise toThe Babadook, but the two films’ methods of exploring their central concepts couldn’t be more different. In this movie,two siblings are cursed with vivid nightmaresthat make them convinced an evil force is taking over their isolated farmhouse.The Dark and the Wickedexplores many of the same themes asThe Babadook, namely the overwhelming power of trauma and grief,but from a more overtly supernatural and horror-driven perspective.
TheDark and the Wicked’s demonic creatureis much more real and obvious thanThe Babadook’s ambiguous villain, but both approaches have their benefits. WhileThe Babadook’s cryptic events allow for multiple interpretationsand help slowly build fear, this film is much more of a horror-fueled nightmare that’s scary from the very beginning. There’s lots of dark, gritty imagery packed into every scene, and Bertino’s direction really makes the most of this scary concept.
Run Rabbit Run
Originally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Run Rabbit Run is a psychological horror-thriller film that stars Sarah Snook as “Sarah,” a fertility doctor who begins to notice troubling behavior from her daughter. Sarah, who believes that life and death are finite, soon sees that her daughter can recall a specific deceased person’s memories, challenging her beliefs and forcing her to reckon with her past.
Run Rabbit Runis an Australian horror film that came to Netflix worldwide, frightening audiences with its chilling story of past lives and broken memories. The story follows a fertility doctor who notices strange behavior in her young child, who claims to have memories of a previous existence. This brings all kinds of evil into the family’s daily life. What starts as a simple psychological thriller quickly morphs into a grotesque horror as the child’s memories get more and more vivid, givingRun Rabbit Runan exponential pace to keep the audience locked in.
Run Rabbit Rundidn’t perform great critically, but there are still aspects of the story that should be commended.Reid’s manipulation of tone and atmosphere is excellent, and she understands exactly which parts of this story make it so frightening, doubling down on them as the film picks up speed. Some of the horror set pieces are a little bit weak, but the overall message of family and generational trauma is tightly woven into this exciting narrative.
6Men (2022)
Directed By Alex Garland
Alex Garland is best known for his sci-fi projects likeEx MachinaandAnnihilation.But withMen, the director leans heavily into the horror genre and provides one of the most unsettling and disturbing stories of that year. The film follows a young woman who travels to the English countryside in the wake of a major tragedy, butthe town’s men soon make her uncomfortableand turn her idyllic holiday into a waking nightmare.
What’s so effective aboutMenis Garland’s ability to get inside this young woman’s mind, making the audience understand exactly what she’s feeling at all times. Some of the commentary on female abuse and toxic masculinity is a little on-the-nose, but the surrealist imagery and creative set pieces are enough to cementMenas a chilling piece of horror on par withThe Babadook.
It Follows
It Follows is a horror-thriller film released in 2014 and follows a college student named Jay who is terrorized by a specter of a woman that follows her everywhere she goes. When Jay has sex with her new boyfriend, he ties her up and reveals that this mysterious woman will now haunt her until she passes it on to another or is killed by her. Now haunted by a woman that only she and those once afflicted by her can see, Jay will attempt to survive and find away to break the curse.
InIt Follows, a high school student finds herself the victim of a malicious curse after an unexpected sexual encounter the night before. With the evil spirit constantly watching her, the young woman devises a plan to make it detach itself. Much likeThe Babadook, this film thrives on the ambiguity of the story, and the power of what’snotthere. For the most part,the audience knows just as little about this creature as the characters.This makes for a confusing watch at first, but it’s extremely effective in making everything even scarier.
It Followshas a terrifying ending that finally steers the film towards a more metaphorical style of storytelling, much likeThe Babadook.
It Followshas a terrifying endingthat steers the film towards a more metaphorical style of storytelling, much likeThe Babadook. There are countless theories surrounding what this film is actually about, with ideas like trauma, genetic illness, and even sexually transmitted diseases circulating on the internet. The truth is thatIt Followsis just as mysterious and unknowable as the curse that it depicts.
The Visit
From director M. Night Shyamalan, The Visit follows two siblings who are sent to stay with their estranged grandparents while their mother is out of town on vacation. Realizing that all isn’t what it seems during their stay, the siblings set out to find out what is really going on at their grandparents' home. Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould star as Becca and Tyler, with Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, and Kathryn Hahn making up the rest of the main cast.
The Visitis a very different kind of movie fromThe Babadook, both stylistically and in terms of its content. However, there are some glaring similarities that exist nevertheless.The film follows two young children who are sent to meet their grandparents for the first time, staying in their remote home in the middle of nowhere. But the children soon yearn for their mother when their new hosts don’t meet their expectations.
The Visitdoesn’t have the metaphorical storytelling and intentional ambiguity that’s on display inThe Babadook, but it’s just as bold and brash with its story. Like many ofM. Night Shyamalan’s best films, it takes plenty of huge risks and twists. These ultimately pay off its silliness by taking the audience on a non-stop thrill ride that’s slowly crafted throughout the first two acts.
The Omen (1976)
The OmenpredatesThe Babadookby almost 40 years, and it’s easy to see how the latter was inspired by it. Both films center around young children who are seemingly afflicted by supernatural curses, but the truth of each situation is much darker and more unpredictable than it initially seems. InThe Omen, however,this child is the human embodiment of the Antichrist,brought into the family after the parents secretly switch their child at birth.
There’s a reason thatThe Omenhas entered the history books as one of thescariest horror movies ever made;it’s filled with demonic imagery and chilling set piecesthat effectively get under the audience’s skin and make for an incredibly uncomfortable viewing experience. Much likeThe Babadook, it’s unclear exactly what direction this story is going to take until things finally pick up towards the end, when everything is let loose and the real horror begins.
Smile
A psychological horror film written and directed by newcomer Parker Finn, Smile is the story of a woman who, after witnessing a traumatic incident involving a patient, terrifying incidents keep occurring in her life. Sosie Bacon stars as Dr. Rose Cotter, the woman afflicted by these new realistic nightmares. The horrifying occurrences happen so frequently that Rose realizes she’ll have to confront past trauma to escape this new reality and survive the supernatural forces trying to kill her.
In many ways,Smilefeels like a direct response toThe Babadook. Not only is the story very similar, but it adheres to many of the same themes. When a young woman is cursed by visions of a monster that nobody else can see, she starts an investigation into how to free herself from this apparent curse. LikeThe Babadook,it’s a story about how trauma manifests in dangerous ways, with both film’s monsters serving as representations of this process.
Smileis much more of an all-out horror thanThe Babadook, which often leans more towards terror instead
Smileis much more of an all-out horror thanThe Babadook, which often leans more towards terror instead. This film features plenty of bloody kills, shocking jumpscares, and disturbing imagery that makes it more overtly frightening. By contrast,The Babadookaims instead to make the audience uncomfortable and form a lasting impact.
Hereditary
The feature film debut of writer-director Ari Aster, Hereditary tells the story of the unwittingly cursed Graham family. Annie Graham (Toni Collette) lives with her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne) and their children Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro). After the death of Annie’s mother, the family is beset by disaster and stalked by a supernatural entity that dredges up a past that Annie had spent her life trying to overlook.
Hereditaryis one of thebest ghost stories ever put on-screen. It’s a chilling adventure through supernatural folklore, family drama, and childhood trauma that doesn’t let up for a single second. The 2018 film floods the audience with terrifying scares and unsettling sequences that are remembered long after the credits roll.Hereditary’s story is a very simple “haunted house” narrative, but thanks to Aster’s direction and the ferocious performances, it’s elevated way beyond its tropes.
Much likeThe Babadook, Aster’s film centers on the family dynamics at the heart of the central ghost story. It’s a narrative about love and grief, and whileHereditaryisn’t quite as metaphorical asThe Babadook, both films do a great job of exploring how the family unit can be broken apart by traumatic experiences. Needless to say,Hereditaryis a great follow-up to the earlier horror film.
The Babadook
The Babadook, directed by Jennifer Kent, explores the struggles of a single mother grieving her husband’s death while confronting her son’s fear of a lurking monster. As they contend with this unseen entity, the sinister presence grows increasingly pervasive in their lives.
