'The Boogeyman' is Frightfully Familiar but Frightful Nonetheless - Knotfest (2024)

Posted by Nicolás Delgadillo in Culture on June 6, 2023

Rob Savage takes on a big screen adaptation of an old school Stephen King story

You’ve gotta have a certain level of confidence to call your scary movie something as silly as The Boogeyman, but thankfully confidence is in abundant supply in this solid slice of horror from director Rob Savage. Savage has more than earned his credentials in the genre with films like Host and Dashcam, and it’s his excellent direction that helps lift The Boogeyman beyond the confines of its overly familiar formula.

Based on one of the oldest short stories by Stephen King (1973 to be exact), this film adaptation is more or less your basic haunted house setup. The Boogeyman 2023 follows the Harper family, still reeling from a recent devastating loss. Will (Chris Messina) is a therapist that is ironically unable to face his own trauma of his wife’s death, and in turn is unable to help his two young daughters deal with theirs. The teenage Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) wears her brooding emotions on her sleeve while her little sister Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) can’t fully understand but knows enough to be scared, especially since there appears to be some evil entity in her closet that messes with her during the night.

That’s pretty much it – something creeps around the Sawyer home whenever the lights go out and terrorizes the girls while dad remains oblivious / in denial. It’s both a literal and metaphorical monster of some kind, any kind really. You’ve seen this movie before if you’re at least somewhat familiar with horror, which definitely holds The Boogeyman back from greatness, but what we do get is a strong gateway for newcomers to the scene.

A PG-13 rating certainly helps in that regard, and Savage uses the lack of R-rated gore to focus on building a dread-inducing atmosphere that helps make the film genuinely scary where it counts. That feeling of dread is usually my go-to description of what makes King’s writing so effective, so while The Boogeyman’s scares can be predictable, they still very much work. The film wisely holds back on fully revealing its monster until it can make a real impact; an impressive show of restraint considering the design for it is admittedly pretty cool.

Plenty of praise needs to go to the more than capable cast as well. The film focuses on Sadie and her desperate attempts to save her family, and Thatcher’s performance is more than up to the task of carrying the film. The Yellowjackets star is able to sell you on both the fear and the fearlessness of her character, sneaking in a competent coming-of-age story that blends well with the family-centered horror plot.

Savage’s feature-length take on King’s original short shines in its execution. While not particularly innovative and boasting some silly problems like a gang of mean schoolmates that act more ridiculous than anything the evil nightmare monster does, there’s still a very capable style clawing its way above it all. Savage is a filmmaker that’s nice and comfy in the horror realm but still clearly hard at work all the same. You’ll care enough about the Sawyer family to make the already-effective scares all that more harrowing, and best of all, the film refreshingly avoids any gratuitous dead mom flashbacks. Definitely have to give props to that decision.

'The Boogeyman' is Frightfully Familiar but Frightful Nonetheless - Knotfest (2)

Speaking of smart decisions, The Boogeyman was only recently moved from its original planned release on Hulu to a wide theatrical campaign. 20th Century Studios (now owned by Disney) changed course following some strong test screenings they did in December of last year. It makes perfect sense considering this is an obviously great time up on the big screen with a lively audience. The jump scares are expected but earned; the good kind that have a proper buildup and rhythm that holds your attention throughout.

There’s not much that’s new here but there’s plenty to have fun with and get spooked by. You’ll at least learn that you should always take your kids seriously if both of them start talking about nightly attacks from a demonic grief monster. You definitely don’t want one of those in your house.

‘The Boogeyman’ is now playing in theaters.

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'The Boogeyman' is Frightfully Familiar but Frightful Nonetheless - Knotfest (2024)

FAQs

What is the meaning behind the movie Boogeyman? ›

The Boogeyman is a horror movie based on Stephen King's short story, and it explores the theme of parental neglect and trauma. The movie centers around Dr. Harper and his family, who become the perfect target for the Boogeyman due to their grief and vulnerabilities.

Is The Boogeyman bad? ›

The production design and special effects in The Boogeyman are decent but cannot salvage the movie's overall poor quality. The editing suffers from sloppiness, resulting in disjointed and poorly paced scenes.

What is the creature in Boogeyman? ›

Bogeymen have no specific appearances and conceptions vary drastically by household and culture, but they are most commonly depicted as masculine or androgynous monsters that punish children for misbehaviour. The bogeyman, and conceptually similar monsters can be found in many cultures around the world.

What was in the closet at the end of The Boogeyman? ›

Billings then hears a creepy voice from the closet say "so nice" before the door swings open and the Boogeyman comes out. And if that doesn't get you, King's final line of the story certainly will: "It still held its Dr Harper mask in one rotted, spade-claw hand."

What is the slang meaning of boogeyman? ›

A bogeyman is someone whose ideas or actions are disapproved of by some people, and who is described by them as evil or unpleasant in order to make other people afraid. [disapproval] The media depict him as a left-wing bogeyman.

Is The Boogeyman a metaphor for grief? ›

But taken together — the darkness, the quiet, the inchoate beast of indeterminate origin — it all makes an effective visual metaphor for grief: No matter what we do, the darkness refuses to go away, and the monsters within it remain unknown and unknowable.

Who killed boogeyman? ›

Boogeyman (2005)
NameCause of deathKiller
CrowCrashed into windshieldTim Jensen
JessicaDragged down bathtub/drownedBoogeyman
Ome MikeWrapped in plastic sheet, dragged into closet, killed (off-screen)
BoogeymanFall back into closet into ethereal pitTim Jensen
2 more rows

Who is The Boogeyman in real life? ›

He was also known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Moon Maniac, and the Boogey Man. Fish was a suspect in at least ten murders during his lifetime, although he only confessed to three murders that police were able to trace to a known homicide.

What Stephen King book is boogeyman based on? ›

"The Boogeyman" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1973 issue of the magazine Cavalier and later included in King's 1978 collection, Night Shift.

What is The Boogeyman afraid of? ›

Quotes. "The Boogeyman isn't just some ordinary Boggart that can be expelled through a simple Riddikulus. That thing is a Tulpa, a creature born from the dreams of mankind, or in his case, nightmare. He isn't just some embodiment of fear of the dark, he IS the fear of the dark, of the strange, of the unknown.

What is the theory of The Boogeyman? ›

Oftentimes, the Boogeyman is a story told by adults to children to discourage them from misbehaving. In order to achieve this, the Boogeyman is usually described as being horrific in appearance and having grotesque tendencies such as kidnapping, attacking or killing those it views as being punishable.

What is The Boogeyman's weakness? ›

Fire is the Boogeyman's weakness, as it stays in the shadows and fears light. Humans can wield fire to combat the creature. The Boogeyman preys on emotionally vulnerable victims, primarily targeting children.

Why is John Wick called the Boogie Man? ›

Upon release, he was manipulated into joining the underground crime world operating out of the Continental Hotel chain. John became the top enforcer for the New York Russian crime syndicate, becoming an infamous hitman. He was nicknamed "Baba Yaga" after the supernatural Boogeyman-like entity in Slavic folklore.

What happened to the mom in Boogeyman? ›

Therapist Will Harper is struggling to overcome the death of his wife, who died suddenly in a car crash. His daughters, Sadie and Sawyer, are likewise struggling to deal with their mother's passing. One day, a disturbed man named Lester Billings visits Will's office.

Is there a Boogeyman 2? ›

Boogeyman 2 is a 2007 American supernatural horror film edited and directed by Jeff Betancourt and the sequel to the 2005 film Boogeyman. The film was written by Brian Sieve and stars Danielle Savre, Matt Cohen, David Gallagher, Mae Whitman, Renee O'Connor, and Tobin Bell.

What is the Boogeyman movie based on? ›

A film adaptation of a short story, written by Stephen King, that was originally featured in a March 1973 issue of Cavalier magazine & later in Night Shift, a collection of short stories all written by King.

What short story is the Boogeyman based on? ›

“The Boogeyman” carries on that unfortunate tradition. It's a pretty bad movie — not particularly scary, not easy to follow, not a bit of fun. But it's also weird. It is, we learn in the credits, indeed based on the King story of the same name, from his 1978 collection “Night Shift.” Sort of.

What is the theme of the Boogeyman? ›

The central theme of "The Boogeyman" is the power of fear. It explores how fear can consume and control individuals, leading them to question their own sanity. The story also touches on the themes of parental guilt and the loss of innocence.

What are people saying about the Boogeyman movie? ›

Audience Reviews

The Boogeyman is one of the better Stephen King adaptations. It's planned out well with its casting and horror sequences. But it shouldn't be the top choice when looking for intense scares. Content collapsed.

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