Review
THE BOOGEYMAN – Review
By Marc Butterfield
THE BOOGEYMAN opens with a scene that will give any parent the heeby-jeebies, and sets your skin on edge right away. From there, we quickly move to the movie’s main protagonists adjusting to their new lives after a tragic death in the family of the mother. We find that the oldest daughter, 16-year old Sadie, is having the hardest time with it, going so far as to borrow a dress from her mother’s closet to wear to school, in an effort to still feel some connection to her mother. The father, Will Harper (Chris Messina), a psychiatrist, seems unable to address the new family situation, avoiding talking about his recently departed wife even with his kids. His youngest child, 10-year-old sister, Sawyer, is dealing with it in her own way, although she is too young to make much sense of it as yet. This is all of the setup you get, and all the setup you need. Director Rob Savage (DASHCAM, HOST) doesn’t waste a lot of time with unnecessary detail of their lives, and you only find out the details of the mother’s passing later in the story, as they become necessary.
It’s at this point that a mysterious new patient, Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian), unexpectedly shows up at their home desperate to unload his grief over the deaths of his children and leaves behind an evil presence that dwells in the shadows and feeds on the suffering of its victims.
If you caught the photograph of him as the father of the child in the opening scene, you’ll know that this can’t be good, but he starts talking, you find out that it is way worse than you even saw at the beginning of the movie. From this point on in the movie, the pace picks up to a sprint, and continues until the very end.
“The Boogeyman” was first published in Cavalier Magazine in 1973. It was then included in Stephen King’s book of short stories, Night Shift, which was published in 1978. His interpretation of the creature hiding in the closet became a template for the genre moving forward. Screenwriters Scott Beck, along with his childhood friend and writing partner, Bryan Woods, came up with the idea for the movie, and co-wrote the initial screenplay. The duo also wrote A QUIET PLACE and the sci-fi thriller 65.
The movie is dark most of the time, setting up the ambience and mood, but is never so dark that you can’t tell what’s going on, and it really plays up that feeling of seeing things just out of the corner of your eye, hearing things, and the heart-pounding score by composer Patrick Johnson is absolutely flawless for putting you on the edge of your seat. The talented team behind the camera helping Savage’s vision come to life includes director of photography Eli Born (“Hellraiser”), production designer Jeremy Woodward (“Antebellum”), film editor Peter Gvozdas (“The Purge”) and costume designer Kari Perkins (“Boyhood”).
Savage lets the audience decide if it’s a monster story or an allegory for confronting grief by creating just the right atmosphere. Robert Redford’s 1980 masterpiece, ORDINARY PEOPLE, expertly captures the heart-wrenching disintegration of an American family, whose inability to talk about their grief rends them apart. It’s almost the same of the Harper family and Savage’s terrific film says if the Boogeyman never showed up, this family might have completely dissolved, but because it did, they have to work together and they have to address what’s going on.
The true star of the movie is Sophie Thatcher, who carries most of the movie as Sadie, and does a great job of portraying a daughter disappointed with her father for shutting her out of his feelings, all the while caring for her baby sister (Vivian Lyra Blair) who begins to see the manifestations of the boogeyman shortly after the visit by grieving father Lester Billings.
It’s here where we discover The Boogeyman is an ancient, predatorial entity that’s been around since the dawn of time, it’s attracted to pain, and it preys on fear. It literally sees fear. That is what feeds the Boogeyman. It finds people in distress and cultivates dread, growing it until it’s ready to harvest, and then it moves in for the kill.
The film has its fair share of jump scares, most of which are completely enjoyable, and keeps viewers on the edge of their seat, especially for the entire second half. It’s also fair to say that while all of the actors here pull their weight and give great performances, Marin Ireland as the widow of Lester brings the real heat of showing a woman who has lost everything and is now consumed with vengeance.
In the end it’s a tale of dealing with grief and acceptance, and all of the emotions that can haunt a person who suffered a great loss, while putting maximum scare into the viewer. Anyone thinking you can’t get a really good horror film with a PG-13 rating will be delighted to find out how much so if they go to see this. THE BOOGEYMAN is that unique scary movie that does give us the monster in the closet. This is why we go to the movies… for that thrill, that scare… that thing that makes our heart race and maybe gets a scream out of us.
3.5 Out Of 4 Stars
THE BOOGEYMAN is playing in theaters now.
Contributed by Michelle Hannett
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