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shows up in her young son Samuel’s (Noah Wiseman) bedroom. Full of frightening images by illustrator Alex Juhasz, the book insidiously pervades their lives as they’re drawn deeper into its story. Director Jennifer Kent’s domestic horror from Down Under pulls no punches in its portrayal of a mother and son walking the knife-edge between real and imagined terrors. The film’s visual style and its themes of child neglect, grief, and loss elevate it above the standard fare, making this one of the most original horror offerings in recent years. Not rated. 93 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe. (Michael Abatemarco) THE BETTER ANGELS What was Abe Lincoln’s boyhood like? If writer-director A.J. Edwards has it right, it was slow, rustic, harsh, tragic, brooding, occasionally joyful, mostly silent, and accompanied by dreamy, funereal music. Edwards is the protégé of Terence Malick — who once thought of directing this film and is a producer — and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. A lot of the imagery is pure Malick; when it holds still, the crisp black-and white cinematography by Matthew J. Lloyd can be stunningly beautiful. Edwards’ impressionistic approach gives a flavor of backwoods life in the early 19th century, but it doesn’t really explore what made Abe tick. Not rated. 95 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema, Santa Fe. ( Jonathan Richards) BIG EYES Tim Burton ditches the over-the-top whimsy for the first time since 1994’s Ed Wood with