25 Best Horror Films of the Past Decade

This 2014 Australian film from writer-director Jennifer Kent shares many attributes with the film in our #1 slot. It’s a debut feature. It deals with traumatic loss and parenthood, and its lead performance is a stunner. Essie Davis plays Amelia, the mother of 6-year-old Samuel, a troubled boy who presents his mother with the pop-up book starring the creature of the title. Amelia’s grief at the loss of her husband and doubt about motherhood manifest in the Babadook, leading to an emotionally impactful and thoroughly scary ride. Kent’s follow-up feature, The Nightingale, might be even more horrific in parts, but that shouldn’t bother the Babadook, who lives on as a LGBTQ icon.

“The brilliance of The Babadook, beyond Ms. Kent’s skillful deployment of the tried-and-true visual and aural techniques of movie horror, lies in its interlocking ambiguities.” –A.O. Scott, The New York Times