The Boogeyman

This adaptation was made on a limited budget as it is obviously a college project, but despite it, the setting is well done and manages to maintain a sense of suspense and terror. Stephen King's story is summarized in this short film, but they only took the most essential of the plot, without the need to focus as much on Lester's conversation with Harper as on the original story that spends a lot of time to go deeper into the state. Lester's emotional Here the story is shorter and the environment is responsible for transmitting Lester's fear and the panic he suffers. In a certain way, Stephen King managed to capture his vision of the fear of the Boogeyman as something that can terrify adults. Especially when said character becomes a metaphor for the danger that children can suffer in the hands of dangerous people. This really is one of the best short horror films I've seen despite its limited budget and it manages to be scary enough to reflect King's chilling vision. My rating for this movie is 8/10.

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 Boogeyman (1982)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Stephen King adaptation has a father (Michael Read) being arrested for killing his child but the story he tells Dr. Harper (Bert Linder) is quite different than what the police think happened. The father claims that his son was murdered by the boogeyman who lived in his closet and he tells the doctor his story. This student film from Jeff Schiro actually managed to get released back in the day and while I think it has a few good moments the end result isn't quite as good as one would hope. I thought the first five minutes were quite effective and I think they really captured the heart of the story, which is meant to say that the boogeyman kid's fear is living in their closet is real and it can kill them. The middle section of the picture is where it drags as we get some rather boring dialogue scenes that I'm sure were meant to work as psychological horror but they never really reach a creepy level. The ending of the film finally picks up some but at 28-minutes there's no question that it feels a tad bit too long. The performances are really hit and miss but I thought both Read and Linder were fine, although I think some better editing could have helped both. The music score isn't all that good and appears to be trying to copy THE SHINING. With that said, fans of King's short story should get a few kicks out of this but a better version is certainly needed.

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".

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.