[That is sad, and not uncommon. Is a monster that can control its actions and feelings that much worse than a monster that acts on pure instinct alone?

This movie, though, seems a little less complex in its representations: It was enough to get her to groan at the characters in frustration, after all.]

Who can say? Remember: The person telling the story is the one who controls what you see. They probably just want the monster here to scare you, because its actions are a catalyst for what those people are doing.