Brace yourselves: “The Babadook” is back.
The beloved horror feature, which marked Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent‘s directorial debut, will return to theaters courtesy of IFC Films and Iconic Events Releasing to celebrate its 10-year anniversary.
“The Babadook” infamously centers on widow Amelia (Essie Davis) who struggles to parent her 6 year-old son Samuel (Noah Wiseman), especially due to his disturbing outbursts. Yet when Samuel tells his mother that he’s been dreaming of a murderous monster, it turns out he might be trying to save them both. Enter creepy storybook “The Babadook” and Samuel’s visions just might be stranger than fiction after all.
Daniel Henshall, Tim Purcell, amd Tiffany Lyndall-Knight also star in the 2014 indie film that was produced by Kristina Ceyton and Kristian Moliere. The executive producers were Jan Chapman, Jeff Harrison, Jonathan Page, and Michael Tear. “The Babadook” featured cinematography from Radek Ładczuk and first debuted at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
“The Babadook” opened in theaters in November 2014, and grossed more than $7 million on a $2 million budget. IndieWire ranked “The Babadook” as the ninth best horror movie of the 21st century.
This isn’t the first “The Babadook” re-release, though: distributor IFC Films partnered with Shout Factory for a limited edition Pride Blu-ray release in 2019, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
Kent told Entertainment Weekly at the time that the titular Babadook monster becoming a gay icon was “quite perplexing” but more than welcome.
“I’m still trying to work that one out,” Kent said. “I feel it’s really quite beautiful, but I still have no idea why. … I mean, I kind of do. I guess he’s an outsider of sorts,” Kent said. “It’s funny. It’s charming, I think, that the gay community has latched onto it. It’s really sweet. He’s trying to prolong his life, he’s trying to stay relevant.”
Kent followed her debut horror film with controversial rape revenge thriller “The Nightingale,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2018. “The Nightingale” was nominated for the Golden Lion.
Kent also later reunited with “The Babadook” star Davis for an episode of Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix horror anthology series “Cabinet of Curiosities.” The episode co-starred Andrew Lincoln and Hannah Galway in a story by Guillermo del Toro, which was written and directed by Kent.
“The Babadook” will return to theaters September 19. Check out the new 10-year anniversary trailer below.
