The Babadook (15)

THE Babadook will leave you haunted but not for the reasons you might expect.

Director Jennifer Kent's film has all the things you would associate with a horror story – the spooky house, a cursed book and, of course, a monster lurking in the dark.

But for all its scares and psychological menace, it is the Australian film's metaphor and reflection on grief that will have a lasting impact on you.

The Babadook sees Amelia (Essie Davis) still struggling to deal with her son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) six years after her husband died in a tragic car crash while she was on her way to the hospital to give birth.

That painful memory turns into a 'monster' that Samuel is convinced is coming to kill them both and so he constructs makeshift catapults and dart guns in a misguided attempt to protect them.

As Samuel's hallucinations and misplaced sense of blame spirals out of control, the mum and son become alienated from all those around them and Samuel loses his place in school.

Things continue to get worse until they confront 'The Babadook' who seems to lurk in the storage room where photos and keepsakes of Samuel's dad are locked away.

Kent's accomplished debut film, which has been praised by The Exorcist director William Friedkin, follows in the vein of old school horrors and so the 'monster' slowly fills Samuel and Amelia's minds with terrible things before making its presence known.

Essie Davis also stands out as the protective mum who loses her wits.