10 Terrifying Horror Films That Exploit Your Everyday Fears

10. Fear Of Losing Someone You Love - The Badadook (2014)

One thing that everyone can agree on was that The Babadook was scary €“ and not simply because of those brilliantly dark stop-motion animation sequences, the astonishingly raw performances from the two leads, nor because your friend called you at 3am after you saw it and did a worryingly accurate rendition of Mister B's voice. What lay at the heart of this film was something we all fear: losing a loved one and, further, what life becomes without them. In The Babadook, we meet Amelia (Essie Davis), a young, harried widow raising a difficult six-year-old boy, and can only watch in horror as she is swallowed up by anguish at her husband€™s death, slowly becoming the monster she fears. Her grief becomes so huge, so all-encompassing that it takes on a life of its own and becomes the titular monster. It€™s only by finally facing down her own fears €“ of living without her husband, of being an inadequate mother €“ that she is able to tame the beast€ And have it live relatively peacefully in her basement, naturally. After all, you can€™t get rid of The Babadook.
Contributor
Contributor

Jen is an actor, writer and clown, living and working in London.