The Boogeyman

The Boogeyman is a horror movie inspired by a Stephen King short story. The film revolves around Sadie Harper (played by Sophie Thatcher) and her younger sister Sawyer, who are struggling to cope with the loss of their mother. Their father, a therapist, attempts to assist them in dealing with their grief, but their household becomes a site of mysterious occurrences.

Directed by Rob Savage, known for his work on "Host" and "Dashcam," the movie is completely unoriginal. The plot feels predictable and derivative, borrowing elements from other horror films. The story progresses slowly, resulting in very few genuine scares.

The themes of grief and trauma are present in the film but are not explored in depth. The movie's overall tone aims for darkness and sombreness but fails to establish a pervasive sense of dread or suspense. Sophie Thatcher's performance as Sadie is commendable, delivering a solid portrayal of her character. However, the remaining cast members are forgettable, and their characters remain underdeveloped throughout the film.

The director, Rob Savage, demonstrates some competence with a few visually striking scenes. Nevertheless, the movie lacks a distinct visual style to set it apart. The score is forgettable, failing to leave a lasting impression, while the cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable.

The production design and special effects in The Boogeyman are decent but cannot salvage the movie's overall poor quality. The editing suffers from sloppiness, resulting in disjointed and poorly paced scenes. The dialogue lacks inspiration, with characters frequently delivering exposition and relying on clichéd lines.

The Boogeyman is an easily forgettable horror movie that struggles to deliver genuine scares or explore emotional depth. Its derivative and predictable nature, underdeveloped characters and slow-paced plot contribute to its lacklustre impact. The film fails to establish a distinct visual style despite a few visually striking moments. Unless you are a diehard horror genre fan, it is best to avoid this one.

Fairly enjoyable dark and creepy, jump scare fest.

Its a terrible title - makes it sound like an 80's straight to video affair.

Get past the title and what you have is a fairly enjoyable horror movie.

Theres not much any horror fan won't have seen many times - something goes bump in the night, the person experiencing it is not believed, things escalate... Jump scares.

Its fairly well done. It got a little silly towards the end that took me out of it a bit, but for the most part its enjoyable.

I doubt I'll watch it again or see it as a milestone film, but not every movie is a classic - some are just an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes or so.

Refreshingly it is only 90 ish minutes rather than the current trend for over long posterior numbing.

Full disclosure: I haven't read the story on which "The Boogeyman" is based, so I can only assess it on its own merits. It was okay, as I expected. Like many horror movies of recent years, grief plays a major part of the plot. Of course, most of the horror comes from jump scares.

As for the cast, they do a fine enough job, considering what they have to have work. The title character does turn out to be freaky in some scenes.

All in all, this is a movie that you'll probably enjoy enough. I wouldn't say that there were any scenes that stuck me with solid memory, but you do have to admire the intense scenes.

So, it's nothing great, but if you're willing to spend the day with some friends and watch something scary, this should be fun.

While I give the film props for an interesting and unique creature design, it can't really elevate a movie that just feels mediocre.

The film presents itself as something of a metaphor for grief, but it ultimately feels extremely toned down and toothless. Jump scares aside, the movie does very little to ratchet up its tension, making its handful of tense moments feel a bit like islands in a sea of "get on with it".

The performances are fine, but ultimately the film never lets the characters really get to dig into their own trauma and depression in a way that might give the film some much needed depth. It ends of feeling as if someone wanted to make the Babadook, but in the style of films like House on Haunted Hill or Thirteen Ghosts.

It's a pleasant enough watch, but you'll forget it in a week.

Truly, this movie was screwed over with its title. I know it's an adaptation, but "The Boogeyman" makes it sounds like a bottom-of-the-bargain-bin DVD movie. But while far from original, this is a thoroughly well-crafted, at times thoughtful horror film.

By far, this is one of the most frightening PG-13 movies I've seen. Director Rob Savage has a lot of talent, and he wields the camera with style and with care. Excellent sound design and mixing, as well as a smart subdued musical score, build anticipation for each scare and don't let up the tension once something has been revealed.

The monster is horrifying in its design, but Savage wisely doesn't show it to us very often, and never really shows it to us in detail. Dark, oppressive atmosphere pervades the screen and it leaves a lot of distressing things to the imagination.

While this isn't the first film to hold grief or trauma as a metaphor for its monster, it's done quite well here. The family dynamics in this script are restrained and well-realised, with satisfying thematic payoff at the end.

I have only one major issue with the film, and that's that the characters seem to easily brush off when they see horrifying things. They didn't sell the paranoia at all. And at a couple points Sadie finds potential proof of the monster's existence but never does anything with it. Perhaps there was some material left on the cutting room floor that fills in these gaps, but we may never know.

Still, this is a supernatural scare-fest that's several cuts above average and I would truly recommend it for anyone who enjoys a decent story with their spooks.