The Boogeyman

Boogeyman was one of the highly anticipated mainstream horror films of the year. Together with Evil Dead Rise, they should have grabbed the first half of the year in the mainstream field, but unfortunately that didn't happen, especially with Boogeyman. Three years ago, Rob Savage made an excellent covid horror film Host, where he got a lot of value for money. It was one of those films that was hard to stomach and really made the viewer uncomfortable. Now Savage was given a very respectable 35 million USD budget and a chance to show off what he is really made of. It was expected to be a genre revolution, surpassing The Conjuring, rewriting the historical charts and, most importantly, a film where people would actually be scared in the cinemas for the first time in a long time. But the actual result was far below expectations. The Conjuring cost 15 million less, it looked better in every way. Boogeyman is not a dud, it's a relatively inoffensive bubblegum film that has its bright moments, but as a whole it's just another mainstream ghost film with a stale theme that both brings nothing new to the genre, and the haunting itself isn't very effective. The acting is okay, the visuals are okay, but it bothered me that most of the film takes place in the dark and thus not much can be seen. They do show the boogeyman at the end and I have to admit he looks unpleasant (surprisingly decent design), but he doesn't do too much damage. I think that if this film was R-rated and didn't focus on just one family, but kidnapped or killed kids all over the city, it would take on a whole different feel. As it is, it follows the classic template where nobody trusts the child and in the end the family has to fight the monster. The End. I would also criticize the individual scary bits, some scenes in the trailer looked unpleasant, but in the film they are not. Savage ends every potentially scary scene with a jump-scare, and moves on to another one, instead of building up the scene itself, and the tension, scaring the viewer, as James Wan does, for example. You won't leave the cinema completely disappointed, it's a bit reminiscent of last year's Smile in style, but that was a hair better. 6/10. (14.06.2023)

Comparing The Boogieman to other recent Stephen King adaptations, I have to say that it’s definitely better than Firestarter, but also worse than Mr. Harrigan's Phone. It is interestingly paced and builds an atmosphere, and the family discomfort is well portrayed. But when "that" begins, the charm of the quiet psychological story gradually fades away and the film simply becomes a showcases of jump-scares. Not bad, but not interesting either. (23.06.2023)