The Bye Bye Man

Like some other reviewers said, I could not understand how the IMDb score at this time is 4.3. but there were so many 1 star ratings in the written reviews. This horror movie deserves 5 stars, which makes it worth watching if you are a horror fan. IMDb users note, horror movies rarely get above 6 stars, its just how people vote in this entire genre. A 7 in a real horror movie, is like "gone with the wind" or "citizen kane" level classic (lol). Anyways, back to the review.

This movie has a good premise, good rules for the supernatural critter to follow, real unease and dread, even among the "authority" support characters, and a few good scares. The CGI budget is low, and it DOESN'T MATTER, as it might in some other movie.

And I don't just mean it is good for an indie, it is just plain good (if you are a horror fan).

Truly a PG-13 flick. Not exactly scary if you're over the age of 13 but I can see people not into horror finding it a decent watch. With that in mind I won't exactly be harsh on the movie it had it's good and bad ideas. I think what it suffered from the most is that the Bye Bye Man wasn't exactly scary because you never knew what he'd do once he got you and it's never really explained. He's just like a guy with a dog that rides a train and leaves coins or something. I dunno he's just not a scary enough character.

What has happened to this genre? Years ago it seemed a similar type of film would be hitting the big screen on an almost bimonthly basis, now when we get a horror, it always feels as if something is missing somehow.

The Bye Bye Man begins well enough, and has a fairly interesting concept, trouble is the direction is so poor, it fails almost entirely to so the basic premise of a film, and tell a story, it's lazy somehow, we get no backstory, no real conclusion, and certainly no real tension.

The acting was fair I guess, but none of the cast were treated well in terms of script.

Overall, a total disappointment, some wonderful ideas, just badly realised, and way too predictable, you always seem to know what's coming next. 4/10

I've just been to see The Bye Bye Man and i can honestly say it isn't that bad. OK so it isn't going to win any awards and its unlikely to be a horror classic. But if you go in expecting little then its a pretty decent horror film. Its pitched somewhere between Sinister and it follows.

Pros

Its quite easy to watch. Fairly decent story

Cons The acting is below average. The story had potential to be really good but seemed to lack in a proper back story and the main characters were lacking any real personality.

Overall If you are looking for an amazing horror film then this probably isn't for you. If you want something fairly enjoyable for 90 minutes i can think of worse films to watch.

First thing you need to know is the acting is bad. At times it's alright, at times it's awful, and at times I cringed. The plot of the movie is not bad, no one really has addressed this but this is easily the only thing that kept my interested throughout. Not a new idea by any means, but the psychological aspect of the movie kept me entertained. The directing was good. Some shots were pretty cool and some jump scares were actually clever. Depending on how you look at it, one of the jump scares was either a rip off or was inspired by a James Wan jump scare. The movie had the potential to be good and they just dropped the ball. Some people have mentioned how the shot gun deaths were one of the reasons it was a "bad" movie. These people are over dramatic. That scene, while head scratching is not going to ruin the movie. Though, it's what they had to do it seems to keep a PG-13 rating based off rumors I'm seeing/reading. If you are a fan horror, go into this movie with low expectations. If you are not a fan of horror, don't watch this movie.