The Boogeyman

Amateur-grade adaptation of a Stephen King story from his legendary NIGHTSHIFT collection. A screwy father's three children die, one by one, which he attributes to a monster in the closet. Now he is worried he will be next. Most of this short film has the dad telling his story to a kindly psychiatrist. A very static film, consisting mainly of one actor at a time appearing on screen to spout his dialog. Michal Read is the nervous dad, and the best part of this odd little thriller. The surprise ending is a hoot. Bert Linder is the benevolent shrink. The editing is on the choppy side, so be prepared. It is worth watching if for no other reason than to see what lies on the other side of that closet door.

The story is decent and quite faithful to King's original, and performance of Michael Earl Reid, playing a man who is trying to explain to his psychiatrist that the Boogeyman exists and that it killed his children, is impressive. But overall, the movie is pale and boring and more or less it's a waste of time. But considering the fact that this is pretty much "one man show", where Jeff Schiro did the screenplay, directing, editing and music, and on top of that this is his movie debut, I can not bury it completely. I do not like it, but I respect the efforts.

4/10

How this short film has a 4.7 is seriously beyond me. This is a fantastic short! Sure the ending isn't that great, but it stays really close to Stephen King's original short story. I could only find a VHS rip on youtube for this (since I am reading and watching everything Stephen King) and the grainy quality just adds to the eerie tone of the film. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has a interest in either Stephen King's work or the other Dollar Baby adaptations.

Not because it's a college short film, but because:

a) it butchered possibly Stephen King's best short story &

b) as a film alone it doesn't really make any sense

the acting left something to be desired too and I really found the music annoying. The main protagonist (Lester Billings) was interesting but I was unsure if this was a good or bad performance, I want to say good but the direction was bad and the effects were cheesy thus bringing down the actor. Too bad.

Final verdict: Stay away from the film. Read the book.

This mega-cheap, college film has a way of getting under your skin. The main character is so weird that I didn't know if I was watching a good performance or a bad one. Watch this one late at night with the lights off, then check your closets! I found it when I rented Stephen King's Nightshift Collection which showcases this one along with "The Woman in the Room".