Interview (Written): Jennifer Kent (“The Babadook”)

New York Times magazine interview with Jennifer Kent, writer-director of the horror-thriller The Babadook:

The Babadook is your first feature film. How did you know what would work and what wouldn’t?

I have written a few others, but they were too ambitious. This is the first one I could actually develop. The process was quick: I wrote a draft, and then left Australia to go to Amsterdam, to a place called Binger Filmlab, to develop it for six months. Amsterdam has a history of fostering unique visions, and I really wanted to follow my instincts on this. Sometimes, [working in Australia], things tend to be done by the book.

— —

How did the idea for The Babadook come about?

I have a friend who’s a single mother, whose son was traumatized by this monster figure that he thought he saw everywhere in the house. So I thought, “What if this thing was real, on some level?” So I made Monster [a 2005 short film] about that idea. But I couldn’t leave it alone. I kept coming back to it. And that led to The Babadook.

Were you influenced by any particular horror films or directors?

I continue to watch modern horror films, despite the constant disappointment. I don’t think a lot of the filmmakers making horror now know its worth, or realize the potential of the genre. Just because it’s a horror film doesn’t mean it can’t be deep. I think a lot of filmmakers who make horror now go in with dubious motives — money, predominantly. They want to make a film that will feel like a theme-park ride, and ultimately make a lot of money.

But horror is a pure form of cinema. I think there are some modern-day filmmakers our there who understand that. The films that will stand the test of time are the ones that have depth — Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In, for example, or Honeymoon [directed by Leigh Janiak] and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night [directed by Ana Lily Amirpour].

Here is the trailer:

For the rest of the interview, go here.