Why does ‘The Babadook’ still haunt? Its director, Jennifer Kent, has some answers

AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Jennifer Kent’s directorial debut “The Babadook” is one of them. Ten years after it became an unexpected sensation and helped elevate that much-debated term “elevated horror,” “The Babadook” is back in theaters to frighten again. In the 10 years since, “The Babadook” has become a much-memed internet sensation and its dark antagonist an iconic figure. In an interview, Kent says the film’s staying power is due to its purity as a film made without compromises.