Boogeyman

Starring: Barry Watson, Emily Deschanel, Lucy Lawless
Directed by: Stephen T. Kay
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror
2005

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Barry Watson) has been haunted his entire life by the memory of the boogeyman killing his father. However, he has come to accept that it was all a story he invented to deal with his father leaving. As his life takes a frightening turn, he realizes he must return to the house of his childhood and face his nightmares, real or imagined.

Review:

Tim: Another bad horror movie. I seriously wonder why anyone goes to horror films anymore. For every The Ring or White Noise, there are a dozen horrible films like The Grudge and the film currently under scrutiny.

Boogeyman is so bad because it uses cheap tricks that translate into cheap scares. Instead of putting time and effort into its frightening aspects, the film relies on quickly shown flashes of scary images (often at ridiculous times) to try and scare us. Furthermore, every "startling" moment can be seen a mile in advance- the music slowly gets more frightening, Watson looks more terrified, and then a moment of calm and... then the scare (which usually involves some pathetic apparition or flashback or something). The film doesn't scare us because it is sadly predictable.

The best part of the movie comes at the most confusing time. When Watson attempts to chase the Boogeyman (or run from him, it's never quite clear) and he time travels and teleports through a series of closets and under beds. The entire sequence is far too complex, but it offers a hint of enjoyable film making.

Unfortunately, almost immediately following that is the preposterous climax that makes very little sense and seems to be somewhat of a rip off of Signs and a slew of bad horror movies.

This film took a weak but somewhat interesting premise and tried to scare us using all the tired, old tricks in the book. It resorted to cheap tricks and that cheapens the entire film and our viewing experience. I could have been much harder on this movie, but it needs all the pity it can get.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 3



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Grudge, The Ring, Dark Water, White Noise