O Pesadelo

This movie is geared for a young audience. With the young audience in mind the movie makers left out much of the gore, and tension that a harder rating and smaller audience would bring. With the previous comment in mind one would rate the film in a PG 13 light instead of an R rating. Horror fans have change from my day in the 80's. No longer geekie guys, with there dads, and hard core horror fans with the glazed look. Mostly younger females, in the audience, with a few guy friends. A few of the older hard core horror fans. No "Dawn of the Dead", but a script that follows hard and fast which follows the past sleep fear of the lead actor. The directing speeds up the pace once the movie develops a story and takes on a faster pace; similar to the "Nightmare on Elm Street" films. A closet scene is done well. The movie could hit harder, but the Boggieman effects and directing keep the viewer from yawning. I would rent it again. 6 out of 10. Notice the film makes the lead actor look like the killer if anyone investigated the people who disappeared

Tim (Barry Watson) is a young man with a great trauma: when his father left his family sixteen years ago, in his imagination his father was indeed taken by the Boogeyman. In Thanksgiving, while visiting the family of his girlfriend Jessica (Tory Mussett), his uncle Mike (Philip Gordon) calls him informing that his mother has just passed away. Tim travels to his hometown, meets his former crush Kate Houghton (Emily Deschanel) and advised by his shrink, decides to spend the night is in old home to face the monster of his imagination. Along the night, weird events happen with Tim and his closest friends.

"Boogeyman" was really a great deception for me. I saw the trailer and I expected a promising story, exploring the fear of darkness of children through the American legend of the monster in the closet. (Note: in Brazil, we do not have the legend of the "monster in the closet". The legend of the Boogeyman does exist (it is called "Bicho-Papão"), but its location is not specified and certainly is not necessarily in a closet). However, the story is very empty, without explanation, and with an awful and ridiculous conclusion. In the DVD, there is a not good alternate ending, but better and better than the released conclusion. The scary effects and the music score are the best this movie can offer. "Boogeyman" is watchable, not a masterpiece of the genre, but also not among "the worst horror movies" as commented by some users. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Pesadelo" ("The Nightmare")

A young boy witnesses her father(Charles Mesure) is taken by a strange spirit, the Boogeyman. Years later, one time grown-up, Tim(Barry Watson) while is visiting the family his fiancée(Musset), he receives a call by his uncle, telling him his mother(Lucy Lawless)has just deceased. Tim trips to his hometown, there he encounter his former childhood friend(Emily Deschenel). In the location inexplicable disappearance occur. Caught in a series of otherworldly events , he becomes inextricably involved and seek to find out their own nightmares at whatever cost. Then he decides stay the night into creepy home and confronting the monstrous Boogeyman.

This eerie film displays bone-chilling scenes, suspense, tension and several images have you on the edge of your seat. It's terrifying entertaining with slick edition and mesmerizing use of shock scenes. The plot stretches plausibility to the break point for a twisted final with similar premise to Forbidden planet. The film is well played by known television actors, Barry Watson(7th heaven), Emily Deschenel(Bones) and the parents, Charles Mesure(Crossing Jordan) and Lucy Lawless, both actors in Xena,warrior princess. Eerie musical score by Joseph LoDuca and adequate cinematography by Bukowski. The motion picture is rightly directed by Stephen T. Kay, he's a nice secondary actor(Angel eyes,Mod squad) and TV director(Saved,Friday night light,Shield) and occasionally cinema director. The movie will like to terror genre enthusiastic.

Something I've noticed lately is that horror movies make for great previews. When I saw the trailer for BOOGEYMAN I was thinking, "This film is gonna rock!" WRONG! This is another terrible Hollywood scare flick that couldn't scare a 12 year old. I jumped more at the preview than the movie. The worst part is the story is so heavy handed that it steals any fun out of this convoluted mess. Let's remember what were making here, guys, it ain't no Oscar contender. Too bad the movie wasn't just a shade worse so it could enter that so-bad-it's good realm. This one is just bad.

There are a lot of great horror movies out there these days so skip this one!

The one genuinely scary moment in director Stephen Kay's laughable excuse for a horror film occurs during the end credits, when the audience discovers that it actually took three professional screenwriters to pen this abominable nightmare. The last few years have been a golden age for modestly budgeted fright flicks. Last fall's The Grudge proved that if you market a film well and release it at just the right time, there's no end to the money you can make. I walked away from that film rather disappointed, but my confusion paled in comparison to the slack-jawed bewilderment that consumed me during Boogeyman.

The film's opening sequence features a man being ravaged by an unseen monster while his son observes helplessly. Fifteen years later we discover that Tim (Barry Watson) has never properly dealt with his father's sudden, grisly death. After learning that his mother has passed away, Tim returns home for her funeral. While in town he decides to face his fears by staying overnight in his unusually creepy boyhood home.

A series of muddled, incomplete ideas figure their way into the plot, but ultimately the story is nonsensical and just plain stupid. As with most recent horror films, Boogeyman provides no real terror, and instead attempts to startle the viewer by adding abrupt, loud noises to the soundtrack. The final straw is the title character itself, revealed briefly during the film's climax to be nothing more than a ridiculous, computer-animated mess. Avoid this moronic snoozefest like the plague.

Rating: D-