Movie Review: ‘The Boogeyman’

The movie, adapted from a Stephen King short story, suffers from a combination of cheap scares, ridiculous plotting and a well-worn concept.

Sophie Thatcher as Sadie Harper in 20th Century Studios' 'The Boogeyman.'

‘The Boogeyman’, in theaters June 2nd, is just the latest adaptation of the work by prolific horror master Stephen King. And to stand out in an incredibly, and increasingly crowded field, the new movie needed to be something special.

Long in development (long enough that it was being worked on when 20th Century Fox was still its own studio, only to be cancelled and revived by the now Disney-owned 20th Century Studios), it’s unfortunate to report that this latest attempt at a scary story is somewhat of a dud, with cheap scares that draw laughter more than screams and some big logic issues.

The Boogeyman

"It's not real. It's not real. It's not real."

PG-131 hr 39 minJun 2nd, 2023

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What happens in ‘The Boogeyman’?

‘The Boogeyman’ is adapted (by ‘A Quiet Place’s Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, with the most recent work from ‘Black Swan’s Mark Heyman) from King’s short story. Originally published in ‘Cavalier’ magazine in 1973, it was later collected into ‘Night Shift’ in 1978.

Focused on a 1970s take on an alpha male called Lester Billings who has been traumatized by the death of his children at –– according to him –– the hands (or claws) of a terrifying creature, it’s a swift, brutal tale with a twist, one that the movie takes as its basic concept then expands upon.

Chris Messina plays Dr. Will Harper a therapist in mourning for his wife, who recently died in a car accident. He’s raising daughters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair).

Chris Messina as Will Harper in 20th Century Studios' 'The Boogeyman.'

Into Dr. Harper’s office stumbles Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian), who has a horrific story to tell: his children are dead, and while people will think he did it, they were actually slaughtered by a mysterious shadow creature that lurked in the darkness and toyed with him and his family.

Harper calls the authorities, but Billings appears to kill himself in a secluded closet within the Harper house, traumatizing the good doctor and his daughters further.

But that’s only the start of their problems –– both Sadie and Sawyer start seeing strange things, with Sawyer convinced she’s being haunted by the same creature that ruined Billings’ life. But is it all just a projection of their grief? And how does Billings’ widow (Marin Ireland) fit in?

David Dastmalchian as Lester in 20th Century Studios' 'The Boogeyman.'

Who else is in ‘The Boogeyman?

The cast also includes LisaGay Hamilton, Maddie Nichols, Madison Hu, Lacey Dover and Daniel Hagan.

Hopes for ‘Host’ director

A big plus for the film would seem to be the presence of canny British director Rob Savage, who made a splash in 2020 with his creative, entertaining horror movie ‘Host’ in which a zoom seance held between friends during lockdown goes supernaturally, bloodily and mortally wrong.

Savage followed that up with DASHCAM, the story of a rude, opinionated live-streaming DJ who encounters something awful when she offers a ride in her car to an old woman. Both movies play out entirely on computer (or phone) screens and are chillingly effective uses of that particular horror genre.

Yet given both the budget and the scope to expand beyond that, Savage here falters, let down by a corny script that has more tropes than it does storyline and more archetypes than it does characters.

While Savage brings some level of artistry to it all –– tilting camera shots, effective and evocative use of lighting in some scenes and a genuine sense of unease in one early moment –– it’s not enough to save a story that goes to ridiculous lengths to try and evoke some terror.

Vivien Lyra Blair as Sawyer in 20th Century Studios' 'The Boogeyman.'

Messina and his younger co-stars do what they can to breathe life into their characters (Blair, a veteran of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ and ‘Yellowjackets’), Thatcher appropriately acting scared when needed, but it’s all a losing cause in a movie that will evoke giggles more than a desire to find covers to hide beneath.

The movie also fails to follow its own internal logic; when Sawyer is introduced as the grieving young girl sleeping with a variety of lights on even before she’s haunted and hunted by the titular creature, it makes absolutely no sense that she’d later be content to sit alone in a darkened room with just the meagre light of a TV screen where she’s playing a PlayStation game to make her feel safe.

Then there are the usual horror movie conventions wheeled out for the 700th time –– the girls screaming and making noise while their father is oblivious in another room, characters noticing creepy black tendrils littering a hallway and stairway but deciding to investigate anyway. And in a scene that could come out of a horror spoof, Sadie is driven by a friend to a particular house she’s investigating, one littered with graffiti calling the occupant a murderer and with a mailbox bent over on its pole by a vandal, only to asked, “is this the house”? Yes, young lady, we’re pretty sure it’s the house .

It all builds to something increasingly silly and chaotic, characters making stupid decisions when a clear threat is lurking, and the creature itself switching tactics midway through with no discernible reason. And don’t get us started on the therapist who decides that the best way to cure a traumatized child with issues to do with the dark is immediately to plunge them into a darkened room. The movie makes far too many silly choices such as this to be credible.

Final Thoughts

There are plenty of great Stephen King adaptations out there, on screens big and small. ‘The Boogeyman’ is, sorry to report, not among them. This is one nightmare that’s more likely to be lurking in the bargain bin than on anyone’s must re-watch list.

‘The Boogeyman’ receives 3.5 out of 10 stars.