Mommie Fearest

Or, "A Woman Beyond the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" ...

THE BABADOOK (B+) - This Australian creeper about a mom and her son being terrorized by a children's book character isn't so much a classic horror film, but more a study of the challenges of motherhood.

Debut writer/director Jennifer Kent shows poise and restraint in spinning the tale of a mother struggling with the crazed fears of her son, whose birth will forever be linked to the car crash on the way to the delivery room that killed her husband. Kent trots out a few familiar horror tropes -- the requisite knocks, creaks and screams -- but otherwise brings a fresh perspective to the genre.

Essie Davis carries the load as Amelia, burdened by little hellion Samuel (newcomer Noah Wiseman). She destroys the Babadook book, but the monster only comes back stronger. Amelia feels like she's losing her mind and the ability to control her son.

What makes this special is the authentic depiction of the struggles of a single mom. Amelia can't sleep; she struggles to keep the house clean enough to not tick off visitors from Child Protective Services. As the film progresses, Kent cleverly makes us wonder whether this all has nothing to do with the boy but rather might be the delusions of a sleep-deprived woman who has never reconciled the fateful day when her son was born and her husband died.

"The Babadook," at a brisk 93 minutes and with enough twists to keep the viewer sharp, avoids the pitfalls of modern horror films by focusing on the psychological rather than some bloody hatchet job.

BONUS TRACK

WILLOW CREEK (B) - Bobcat Goldthwait, who hasn't made a bad film, tries his hand at "Blair Witch"-style horror, with decent results.

Thirtysomething couple Jim (TV journeyman Bryce Johnson) and Kelly (Goldthwait regular Alexie Gilmore) take a journey to Big Foot country, Willow Creek, Calif., with video camera in hand. Kelly is a good sport about indulging Jim's passion to venture into the heart of darkness and capture the mythical yeti just like his heroes, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, did in 1967.

The first half of the film is devoid of chills, but rather screens like a documentary, with actual inhabitants of the Willow Creek tourist community sitting for interviews or performing Big Foot ditties. We get to know Jim, a loveable goofball, and Kelly, a sarcastic but agreeable girlfriend -- a neat trick by Goldthwait to get us to care about them. They set up camp in an obscure forest area on their way to ground zero. A scene in the tent in which Jim proposes is classic Goldthwait, darkly comic.

Eventually, the couple are besieged by thumps and howls and other inhuman sounds. They have trouble finding their way back the next day, and they are fated to spend a second night in this nowhereland. Goldthwait's ending is brutal and frightening, as well as beautifully shot.

True horror aficionados will probably dismiss this as weak-willed and derivative. But it has two likeable leads and it zips by in 77 minutes.