The Boogeyman (Mini-Review)

The Boogeyman is an adaptation of the short story of the same name by Stephen King. The Harper family is reeling from the loss of their mother. Their father is a therapist but the loss of his wife is making him close himself off. His two daughters are lost without him for support. Especially Sadie, the eldest daughter, who doesn't want to move on from her grief. The Harper family reels from even more tragedy when a patient shows up unexpectedly. The Boogeyman was released in 2023. It was directed by Rob Savage. It stars Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, and David Dastmalchian.

There are no mid or post credits scene. Though you may want to use the credits as time to calm down as this movie is intense.

During one of the tensest parts of the movie, the theater I was in experienced a problem. For some reason the theater lights went on at the start of the scene. So it was like even the theater was scared to the point that it didn't want to show the movie anymore.

When I saw trailers for this movie I wasn't impressed. It seemed good and I am a Stephen King fan, so I was looking forward to seeing it. I am glad to say that the trailers didn't do this movie justice. Like all good horror stories, the normalcy of the family makes everything more terrifying. These people don't deserve what happens to them and it's uncertain whether they will survive or not.

The fact that Will Harper, the father, is a therapist adds a lot of impact to the movie. He has training in helping people deal with loss and tragedy, yet he can't face his own. When the time comes to help himself and his daughters, all of his education doesn't help him. It shows that sometimes no matter how strong you are, there are just some types of pain that can tear you down.

There is one moment in the movie that didn't make sense to me. Which could mean it doesn't make sense or I'm missing something. There's a moment where Sadie slams the door on her younger sister. She hears knocking on the door and assumes it's Sawyer not leaving her alone. But when she opens the door it's the Boogeyman. Before she has time to react, the entity jumps down her throat. I assumed the entity had taken over Sadie at that point but that wasn't the case. There's a brief time jump and yet viewers are never informed of what took place directly after the Boogeyman jumped into her.

This movie reminded me a little of King's novel The Outsider (I've only seen the television adaption of it). Both stories have an entity that feeds on grief. Both stories have an entity that can jump in some form from person to person. I have no evidence of this but the Boogeyman feels like a prototype for what would eventually become the Outsider.

I would highly recommend The Boogeyman to fans of Stephen King. I would also recommend The Boogeyman to those looking for a good horror movie.