Movie review: 'Boogeyman' combines frights, poignancy - UPI.com (2024)

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Movie review: 'Boogeyman' combines frights, poignancy - UPI.com (1)

1 of 5 | Sophie Thatcher stars in "The Boogeyman." Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

LOS ANGELES, May 25 (UPI) -- The Boogeyman, in theaters June 2, employs tried-and-true horror tropes to great effect. From the way it constructs scare scenes to its subtle themes and the monster itself, The Boogeyman shows an understanding of what makes horror scary and emotionally resonant.

Therapist Will Harper (Chris Messina) has recently lost his wife and the mother of his two daughters, Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair), in an automobile accident.

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When distraught patient Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian) shows up without an appointment, Billings brings more than just emotional baggage into the Harper house.

Having an erratic patient in the house is scary enough, but even after he's gone, Sadie and Sawyer continue to encounter something in the dark. The Boogeyman, whom Billings believed killed his children, now is after the Harpers.

Their closets are an easy place for The Boogeyman to hide, but the script, by Mark Heyman with A Quiet Place writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, gets more and more creative with where and how the lights can go out.

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Likewise, they give Sadie and Sawyer creative light sources to ward off The Boogeyman, but only temporarily.

Director Rob Savage clearly believes in the rule "don't show the monster too much." He is correct and effectively reduces The Boogeyman to brief glimpses.

The creature design stands out from the usual movie monster, but Savage uses that strategically rather than showing it full frontal. Even in the climax, the clearest looks at The Boogeyman remain shrouded in shadow and obscured by the camera angle.

Dark scenes use just enough light to reveal how much Sadie or Sawyer still can't see. Lights Out did a little bit more with the concept of a monster in the dark, but The Boogeyman does it well, too, and adds a grief metaphor to the scares.

It's no coincidence that The Boogeyman's arrival coincides with the loss of Sadie's mother. Early in the film, Sadie clings to remnants of her mother, including their last text messages and the last note her mom wrote on her brown-bag lunch.

Once she's dealing with a bona fide monster, Sadie wishes for her mom's spirit to help her. That's poignant for any grieving person wishing for a sign from beyond, but especially relevant when the malevolent spirit is confirmed.

For a therapist, Will practices an unhealthy amount of denial. Ultimately, The Boogeyman is about kids facing the monster their parents can't or won't confront.

That, too, is a metaphor for that moment in life when young adults realize mommy or daddy can't protect them from the real world. There is also a storied horror tradition of kids facing horrors alone when their parents don't believe them.

That goes back to Freddy Krueger and Chucky, Stephen King's It and many others. It remains relevant in The Boogeyman, also based on a King story.

Thatcher and Blair especially master their emotional roles as grieving daughters and the mechanics of horror scenes. They're required to sell the audience on what might be there in the dark, and they do so convincingly.

The Boogeyman sometimes relies too much on loud noises and fake-out scares, but once Sadie understands what she's up against, the rest of the movie remains on theme. The film doesn't necessarily break any new ground, but it is an effective entry in the genre of kids facing monsters.

Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001 a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.

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Movie review: 'Boogeyman' combines frights, poignancy - UPI.com (2024)

FAQs

Movie review: 'Boogeyman' combines frights, poignancy - UPI.com? ›

The Boogeyman

The Boogeyman
Based on the 1973 short story of the same name by Stephen King, the film follows a family that becomes haunted by the Boogeyman after a troubled man visits and inadvertently brings the creature to them. The ensemble cast includes Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, and David Dastmalchian.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › The_Boogeyman_(2023_film)
sometimes relies too much on loud noises and fake-out scares, but once Sadie understands what she's up against, the rest of the movie remains on theme. The film doesn't necessarily break any new ground, but it is an effective entry in the genre of kids facing monsters.

What does the ending of The Boogeyman mean? ›

The Boogeyman's Ending Real Meaning Explained

Despite Sadie and her family getting to a much better place, with Will openly talking about the loss of his wife and The Boogeyman seemingly dying in physical form, the film suggests that grief will continue to be prevalent in one's life no matter how much time has passed.

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 movie Boogeyman about? ›

Is the movie Boogeyman a true story? ›

Interestingly, while The Boogeyman isn't based on a true experience, Savage has been influenced by another horror movie and how it used the night as a cover to kill.

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 called Lester Billings visits Will's office.

What is the point of the Boogeyman? ›

The large majority of bogeymen just function to frighten children with potential punishments, and not actually to inflict much damage. The more vicious bogeyman is said to steal the children at night, and even to eat them, or to commit some other violence.

What story is Boogeyman based on? ›

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. A couple of the characters in the film share names with characters from the book, and one of them does similar things.

What happened to Jessica in the Boogeyman? ›

Tim panics and attempts to leave, but Jessica abruptly shows up and takes Tim out of the house for a night to a quiet motel, where she is murdered by the Boogeyman, dragging her into the bath. Tim returns from getting ice and preparing drinks and enters the bathroom, where he finds that Jessica is missing.

What is the monster in Boogeyman movie? ›

The Boogeyman is the titular main antagonist of the 2023 horror film The Boogeyman, based off the Stephen King short story of the same name. It is a monster of unknown origin that targets and murders entire families, usually ones that have experienced a loss of a family member.

Is Boogeyman worth watching? ›

The Boogeyman has become a great horror film based on a short story by Stephen King. The film is exciting and the makers respond well to the childish fears of a monster in the closet or under your bed. No unnecessary filth or an extremely bloody whole, no, The Boogeyman plays more with the viewer's imagination.

Is The Boogeyman movie demonic? ›

The Boogeyman turns out to be a real demonic force. The demon threatens the ones he loves, so Tim decides to take action. BOOGEYMAN the movie is filled with scary scenes and scary supernatural encounters with the demonic title character.

Who was the real Boogeyman in real life? ›

Albert Fish also known as the “real life boogeyman” or the Brooklyn “vampire”. He was born in 1870 in the Washington D.C area. He married and raised six children. He was a farmer who mostly worked as a handyman and a painter.

Is The Boogeyman still alive at the end of the movie? ›

The movie centers around Dr. Harper and his family, who become the perfect target for the Boogeyman due to their grief and vulnerabilities. Although the family defeats the Boogeyman in the end, the final scene suggests that the monster may still be lurking, representing the ongoing struggle with grief.

What did Stephen King say about The Boogeyman movie? ›

Savage says it "means the world" to be sanctioned by King, who has given readers and audiences some of the most iconic scares of our lives. "His opinion was the one that really counted," Savage said. "Showing him the movie was a really terrifying experience. He said that he loved it and that it terrified him.

What does Boogeyman mean in Russian? ›

Babay or Babai (Russian: Бабай) is a night spirit (Bogeyman) in Slavic folklore. According to beliefs, he abducts children who do not sleep at night or behave badly. He is also called Babayka (Russian: Бабайка) or Babayko (Ukrainian: Бабайко), although the term may also be applied to his female equivalent.

What is the meaning of the Boogeyman in the story? ›

The term bogey in the middle of the 19th century was a word for devil or demon. The Boogeyman's personality and appearance can vary greatly depending on the culture and country. Most of the time, the Boogeyman is depicted in a story as a creature who punishes misbehaving children.

What was the monster in the Boogeyman? ›

The Boogeyman is the titular main antagonist of the 2023 horror film The Boogeyman, based off the Stephen King short story of the same name. It is a monster of unknown origin that targets and murders entire families, usually ones that have experienced a loss of a family member. For its literary counterpart, see here.

Will there be a Boogeyman 2? ›

The Boogeyman 2 Isn't Happening Yet

Disney and 20th Century have yet to announce plans for The Boogeyman 2, so it is not officially happening at the moment. They moved it from streaming to give it a theatrical release in hopes that it would be a hit and even possibly launch a new horror franchise.

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