Film review: ‘THE BOOGEYMAN’, by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
I went into the film The Boogeyman having read nothing about it and hoping it was a biopic of a 70’s pop funkster like say, Harry Wayne Casey from KC and the Sunshine Band. Anyone else thinking likewise, be warned, this is no upbeat music flick but instead The Boogeyman is a grim supernatural horror film. This reasonably effective spook-fest is based on a Stephen King short story and like many of the horror maestro’s works, the resident creature and the terror it brings are metaphors for family trauma and self-doubt.
Here, that family trauma is the devastating grief teen Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) is experiencing after her mother’s death. Still clinging to her mother’s belongings and struggling to readjust to life at school, she seems to be sinking into depression. At the same time, strange events start occurring in the family home Sadie shares with psychologist father Will (Chris Messina) and tween sister Sawyer (Vivien Harper Blair). Doors open by themselves and something otherworldly seems to be visiting young Sawyer at night. The events appear to be connected to the family’s bizarre encounter with one of Will’s traumatised clients (David Dastmalchian) but something more powerful and sinister is stalking them.
In the early part of the film, director Rob Savage conjures some effective horror sequences. Importantly, he slowly builds the terror with strange but low-key events becoming increasingly disturbing and threatening. Along with atmospheric cinematography from Eli Born and ominous music from Patrick Jonsson, Savage creates a tense and occasionally nerve-jangling world that recalls films like The Babadook and Poltergeist; one sequence in particular invokes the infamous ‘clown under the bed’ sequence form Poltergeist.
For what is essentially a fright-fest, the film contains some impressively strong performances, especially from Sophie Thatcher as the troubled Sadie. The way in which she gathers courage and has to deal with not only the central fiend but also snarky high school friends at times recalls Jamie Lee Curtis in the original Halloween.
The problem here, though, as with so many horror films, is the creature reveal. When it’s an ambiguous supernatural force capable of appearing and disappearing in different places at will, it’s genuinely unnerving but when it’s given physical form it loses much of its threat. Throw in some inconsistent monster toughness and the film becomes much less effective. This movie often reminds us of Andrés Muschietti’s 2013 film Mama which successfully explored similar themes and horror tropes before losing its way badly at the end.
The Boogeyman is, for at least its first two thirds, a pretty successful mix of creepy unseen menace and pop-out scares but it doesn’t quite stick the landing.
Nick’s rating: ***
Genre: Horror.
Classification: MA15+.
Director(s): Rob Savage.
Release date: 1st June 2023.
Running time: 99 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.