Film Review – The Boogeyman

Film: The Boogeyman
Year: 2023
Director: Rob Savage
Studio/Distributor: 20th Century Studios
Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair
Genre: Horror
Runtime: 98 minutes

How much can you strip away from a horror story before it evaporates into thin air? James Wan and Alfred Hitchcock would answer that – as long as the set pieces justify the thrills, not much else is needed. 

By that measure, the Boogeyman succeeds: it’s got genuine scares, relentless atmosphere, and plenty of thrilling sequences. On top of that, with its beautiful red color palette, it feels like we’re finally out of the dreary blue horror period marked most infamously by Twilight. When the director deigns to give us light, everything is wrapped in a cozy glow. Yet darkness is used brilliantly throughout (fitting because our creature is afraid of the light.)

Thank goodness the color palette was warm because that’s the closest thing to humanity present in the film. Even James Wan would be left saying, “dude, someone in this movie needs more to them than ‘sad that their mom died.’” The scenes with the school bully are almost a relief because she’s the one character who actually wants something (to be an asshole, apparently.)

 You could make the high minded argument that this movie is dealing in archetypes or that the lack of personality is deliberate because serious grief flattens personality and desire. But this is a horror movie not a psychology textbook. Moreover, it’s not as though this movie is saying something profound about fear and grief that the TV series the Outsider (also a Stephen King adaptation and also about the boogeyman), doesn’t explore with more depth and panache. 

Yes, a film has got a shorter runtime than a TV series, but a well developed film about fear and grief could integrate personal stakes and character development withiut sacrificing thematic depth about the dehumanization of grief. Yet we get none of that here. When a family member crashed my viewing  for the last 15 minutes – she asked, “what do I need to know about what’s going on?” I responded “literally nothing – a monster is chasing the characters.” After all, how invested can you get in a movie if the characters act like they’d be better off if the monster eats them?

If there’s a ghost in the film, it’s not the boogeyman – it’s the remnants of a story line about how the protagonist feels like her father doesn’t listen to her. These moments, which feel like they got buried for a tight runtime, reek of fragments that the studio was unable to excise without killing the already minimal narrative. 

And it’s a shame, too. Most films, let alone most horror films, have as accomplished a visual style as the Boogeyman. In other words, don’t give me Wong Kar Wai-level cinematography for a Wong Jing-level story. Let’s hope Savage’s adaptation of Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House (retitled Other Mommy) can strike a balance between scares and character. 

Verdict: You’ll be passably entertained, but you’ll forget 85% by the next day. However – wait on bated breath for Savage’s adaptation of Other Mommy – a story with real characters and story. But studios overlords – please don’t make Savage put out the red light

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Poster image courtesy of 20th Century Studios.