There are iconic characters in the scaring world that transcend generations. You can list a few of them in your hands -- Michael Myers, Freddy Kruger, Candyman, Chucky or Jason. Now, you can add Mister Babadook to the list of these terrifying characters that can haunt your sleepless nights and turn shadowy figures into nightmarish imaginations.

"The Babadook" is an Australian horror film directed by Jennifer Kent and is based on the short film "Monsters," also made by Kent. It narrates the story between a widow and her son who are haunted by a pop-up storybook character called Mister Babadook. Amelia (Essie Davis) plays the depressed widow who is still haunted by the tragic death of her husband who was killed in a car accident on the way to the hospital as she is about to go into labour. Compounding Amelia's troubles is her 7-year-old son who hardly sleeps, claims to be terrified by a bogeyman, and creates makeshift weapons he claims to be protection against the nightly terror. She also had to withdraw him from class due to episodes of violent behaviour, confining both of them to their clearly troubled home.

The hauntings escalate as Amelia reads his son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) a red storybook which is supposed to be a nursery rhyme but rather contains terrifying verses which illicit goose bumps. The verses go like these:

If it's in a word or in a book, you can't get rid of the Babadook

If you're a really clever one and you know what it is to see

Then you can make friends with a special one

A friend of you and me.

His name is Mister Babadook and this is his book

A rumbling sound and the three sharp knocks

Ba-Ba-Ba Dook! Dook! Dook!

That's when you'll know that he's around

You'll see him if you look

This is what he wears on top

He's sunny don't you think

See him in your room at night

And you won't sleep a wink

I'll soon take off my funny disguise

And once you see what's underneath

You're going to wish you were dead.

The nightmares appear to be troubling her son who continues to exhibit weird behaviour. Samuel claims that the Babadook is out to get him, leading Amelia to tear up and throw away the book. Nevertheless, the irregular tendencies of her son escalates during the birthday party of her niece. Samuel pushes his cousin Ruby out of a tree house resulting in a broken nose.

On the way home and after being kicked out of the party, Samuel has a seizure in the backseat of the car, prompting Amelia to consult a doctor. Amelia gets some sedative prescriptions for his son, allowing her to get some rest. The nightly rest is short-lived as the book resurfaces again in her front door armed with new verses. The tattered pages are pasted back again and more troubling images of a mother killing their pet dog and her son are accompanied with eerie words that complete the final pages:

I'll wager with you, I'll make you a bet.

The more you deny, the stronger I get

You start to change when I get in.

The Babadook growing right under your skin.

Oh come, come see, what's underneath

The haunting begins to focus on Amelia. At one point in the movie, Amelia is curled up in her bed only to be startled by creaking sounds and the door going ajar. She goes under her blanket and the words, "Doook, doook, dook" resonate in the room creepily. As soon as she musters the courage to see what it is, we get a frightening image of the Babadook, wearing Kruger nails and Michael Jackson creepy fedora hat and white make-up, crawling on the ceiling floor and straight to Amelia's screaming mouth, seemingly simulating a possession. True to form, Amelia is now possessed by the Babadook and exhibits the story in the book by slashing the neck of their pet dog.

The climax of the film occurs when Amelia tries to consummate the image of her killing Samuel. Samuel stabs her in the leg and leads her to the cellar where a trap awaits her. Samuel pleads to her mother to fight the Babadook inside her, as the child's love became strong enough to rid Amelia to vomit a black fluid out, signifying that the Babadook has left her mother's body. The haunting does not stop there as the spirit drags Samuel up the stairs, reverse Exorcist-style. The Babadook only stops when Amelia threatens the spirit against harming her son. The movie concludes with Amelia finally giving her son his coveted birthday party and the signs of the Babadook's presence still lingering in the haunted cellar.

The feature film of Kent is impressive considering that it is simple story between a mother and child who are haunted by a presence. It was also prevalent that the director mostly used practical effects to achieve a terrifying effect. While most of these effects can be found in other horror movies, Kent is able to create an atmosphere that can still shake your nerves due to the amount of build-up it has made to that screaming instance. The creaking doors, the crawling shadow on the ceiling and the way the monster says "Dook" tingles the bones in every instance.

What lifts the movie to greater heights is the effective performance of both the mother and son. Davis is able to illustrate a depressed parent struggling mightily to raise a weird son. Her frustrations are evident in the early phases of the film where it is clearly seen that there is a lot missing in her life. There's the longing scene where she looks at lovers making out in a car from a distance and bored out of her wits as she recites the next number in the bingo game for the old people in the nursing home. Nevertheless, despite this sorry state, Davis played a mother every woman can empathize with as she effectively shows that a mother's love can transcend any evil in the world. Wiseman as Samuel is adorable as the young troubled son. He glows in the role as the film progresses, especially in the final chapter when he tries to bring back his mother from the possession.

Kent must be lauded with her efforts in creating recognizable and everyday characters -- the bored housewife and the outcast son who are able to curb adversity by redeeming their love for each other. The film shows how tedious or scary child-rearing may be especially for single mothers. It only reinforces that if one neglects a child, the Babadook is always lurking in the corner, waiting for the right time to let him in.

Watch the trailer of "The Babadook" below:

(Youtube/Movie Clips Trailers)