Following the unexpected death of his wife, a father and his two daughters struggle to adjust to their new normal. However, a sinister, almost ancient evil entity has now attached itself to the recovering family, having used their grief and anguish as a homing beacon. It targets the youngest daughter at first, and as the rest of her family fails to believe her, the entity only goes stronger. Will they come together to send the beast back to Hell in time to save each other? Directed by Rob Savage based on the short story by iconic writer Stephen King, The Boogeyman stars Sophia Thatcher, Chris Messina, Viven Lyra Blair, David Dastmalchain, Marin Ireland, Madison Hu and Lisagay Hamilton.
The Boogeyman was adapted to screen play by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods and Mark Heyman. It features cinematography by Eli Born and editing by Peter Gvodzdas. It’s virtually picture perfect because it’s a typical Hollywood production, and it comes with all the polishing and technicality that a big budget allows. The cast and crew boast credits in A Quiet Place, Black Swan, Dash Cam, Hellraiser remake, The Purge, Stranger Things and Yellowjackets – to name a few. So, you know going into your viewing that you’re not about to be let down by production quality. Hell, even the pacing here is pretty much perfect, and the acting was superb, especially from the youngest actor Lyra Blair.
This film actually contains a very small body count, and even fewer by the entity itself. It’s able to fall into the horror category based on its use of suspense, noise and jump scares. You feel the monster, you hear the monster and then the monster pops out and attacks someone. I’m not a huge fan of loud, but the jump scares were definitely effective. With that said, ever since The Babadook, we’ve seen an implosion of “grief is the secondly villain” horror films. While The Boogeyman is one of the better ones on the list, it didn’t necessarily bring anything new to the table. I thoroughly enjoyed my viewing, but I’m not sure if I enjoyed it enough to buy it on blu-ray or dvd down the line.
The Boogeyman has palpable atmosphere, paralyzing suspense and a truly gut-wrenching moments of terror. Well done. Final Score: 7.5 out of 10.
