Boogeyman

Imaginative direction from gifted film maker Jeffrey Scott Lando brings depth and meaning to what is more than just a horror story. Working from a fine script by screenwriter David Reed, Lando's film is a truly terrifying movie while at the same time being a sensitively observed study of a single father trying to raise sons on his own. It's in this aspect of the drama that the film finds its greatest strength and significance. Eddie McClintock is utterly superb in his role as that father, a police officer struggling with his patriarchal mission, a romantic relationship, and his job in law enforcement. With three important duties, he has difficulty as to which deserves the most attention at any one time. Still grieving the death of his wife and attempting to deal with possible PTSD, McClintock does remarkable work with his character. It's certainly one of his finest performances to date. Emma Samms is also excellent as a police chief under extreme pressure to end a horrific killing spree by an unknown entity that even spreads to the confines of her own station. Beautifully made and artistically realized, Boogeyman offers the audience much more than the title implies. Much more indeed.

This isn't Stephen King's Boogeyman, although it came out the same year.

It is unusual in the respect that it links to the Bible; a first for me in horror films.

The story starts with Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:9), but leaves us wondering what this has to do with the Bogeyman. We'll find out later.

The boogeyman starts with Skinner, who had him hid in the attic. Why?

He dispatches a couple of luscious babes who are getting it on in the woods. Are we back to the Bible again? Paul's letter to the Romans?

Anyway, there is little to recommend this film. It is not scary, and the killings are mild. Find the original for a good boogeyman.

"Boogeyman" directed by Jeffery Lando was far, far better than expected. Most syfy original movies leave me wondering what has happened to the film industry but this particular movie was very enjoyable.

Although the script could have been better, the actors did the best an actor could do with what they were given. The two brothers (played by Gabriel Steele and Danny Horn) shared an excellent chemistry on screen and are definitely ones to watch for the future. For his age, Steele came across relaxed and professional on screen and Horn (who studied at CSSD, after doing a little research) had a fab American accent. Steele and Horn definitely lead the movie excellently.

The actual boogeyman monster was fun to watch and the brutal deaths did not come across as scary but were still great fun to watch. The CGI boogey head was very cool too! Some might instantly disregard this movie because of its syfy origin and its genre. But what you have to remember is that it is a fantasy horror and should not be taken seriously. Sit back and enjoy it, if you like the genre. You won't be disappointed! Loved it! :)

When a series of strange deaths are apparent in a small town, the local authorities find them to be caused by a demon released that has a special connection to several of the residents and must stop its rampage before its target is found.

This was a decent overall entry as this wasn't one that really has a lot of bad points but not one that's really overflowing with positives either. One of the better features here is the enjoyable pace, as it's got some nice action scenes spread throughout with the different confrontations here with several high-energy scenes including the great attack on the old man, a generally enjoyable massacre on the kids in the forest and a later attack on a neighbor that gets some chilling stalking including along with the actual kill which is quite brutal. The film's two biggest scenes, though, come from the house ambush where the phone calls let them on to what's happening early on, the bedroom encounter is chilling and the different gun-battles here bring the action as well as some creepy stalking in the house's hallways gives this some better scenes, and the later encounter in the father's shack is really fun with the chaos and panic of the abduction serving as the launching point for the myriad of fine stalking scenes out in the woods picking off the members one-by-one in chilling encounters, the confrontation in the attic is highly enjoyable with a lot of action streaming throughout here and the influx of the storyline ramifications gives this one some even more fun here with how this impacts the action. While there's also some fun to be had with the creature's history and back-story, which is pretty clever and quite unique in and of itself because of what it signifies and how it's done here to link together both its appearance in the story as well as the connection to the human stories, it's got enough to really like here that gives this one some positive points against the film's big flaw. The problem here is basically a common grievance in having the one character who knows what's going on and how to stop it keep that information to themselves, forcing everyone else to deal with the situation without knowing what to do themselves. It's gradually apparent here that something's happening and there's little reason to think that would've been accepted and useful from what's happening, but rather it's all kept here that way instead. As well, the film's decision to handle the bullying aspect here is somewhat mishandled here as this spends quite a bit of time here setting it up only to drop it without really giving it any real purpose at all, since it doesn't really have any point in helping them overcome the creature, none of the bullying provides the strength to battle it later and the creature never gives them any kind of comeuppance or even accidental revenge as it just drops the thread altogether which makes such a questionable and controversial angle to have been included at all. Along with some usual atrocious CGI, these problems do affect it but overall it's pretty decent.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language, Brief Nudity, strong themes of bullying and children-in-jeopardy.

The Sci Fi Channel has always had a reputation for bringing low-budget movies that, however absurd or ridiculous they may be, turn out to be highly entertaining and enjoyable. On this occasion, the company presents this version of the Boogeyman that, with some characteristics of said creature, uses the biblical story of Cain and Abel. What the movie shows regarding this Boogeyman in relation to the story of Cain and Abel, becomes somewhat ridiculous. A justifiable point is that the story of these two brothers has had certain versions, in one of which it is said that God punished Cain by turning him into an undead being. Of course, the Boogeyman has had different variants for a long time. The film is somewhat difficult to categorize as a horror film because it doesn't take itself seriously and parodies itself. It has some humorous moments that make you lose the seriousness of the story. The plot is simple, with several loose ends, but the goal is clearly to be a B-movie that doesn't necessarily have to be taken seriously. As for the effects, it is very common to see scenes made with CGI in these movies and the design of the Boogeyman is somewhat salvageable. This is arguably a pretty entertaining monster movie as long as you don't take it seriously. My final rating for this movie is 7/10.