Year of Release: 2023
Director: Rob Savage
Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, David Dastmalchian, Marin Ireland, Madison Hu, LisaGay Hamilton, Rio Machado, Shauna Rappold, Cristala Carter
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review
Writer/producer/director Shawn Levy continues his prolific output, by producing this new version of "The Boogeyman", which had a prior version in 2005, directed by Stephen Kay, featuring Barry Watson in the lead role. This version focuses on the story of the Harper family, all of whom are still reeling from the sudden death of the matriarch, as a result of a car crash. Father Will, who is a therapist, is tying his best to deal with his sorrow, while supporting his two daughters, Sadie and Sawyer, who are equally crushed by the recent events. One day Will has an unexpected client come over, a man by the name of Lester Billings. The man is obviously distressed, but he manages to confide that his three children have died, as a result of an evil entity that has latched onto his family. Will doesn't believe the man's story, and steps aside to call the police. Lester slips away, and Sadie eventually uncovers him hanging in what was her late mother's art studio. Sadie starts noticing a weird texture appearing around the house, while Sawyer starts hearing rumblings and viewing glimpses of a sinister creature. Sadie decides to visit Lester's house, with the help of one of her friends, only to attest the rundown aspect of the house. Though she believes the house to be empty, she soon realizes there's someone there, Lester's widow, Rita. She explains to Sadie that the creature who has latched onto them is known as "The Boogeyman", a creature that feeds off fear and grief. The only way the creature stays away is by having light around. As the creature's attacks intensify, Rita asks Sadie for help to defeat it, only to realize that there's more to that plan than what she was led to believe.
One of the most interesting aspects of "The Boogeyman" is how Rob Savage manages to create dread and suspense, by manipulating shadows and darkness, creating the illusion of a menacing entity without revealing much of it. That's something that sets the film in a right tone, the same going for the bleakness of the state of mind of the family, all of whom are reeling from the trauma they all just experienced, that has left them all somewhat lost. Sadly this also where the script stops in terms of giving these characters a bit more in terms of subtlety or even personality: Will, Sadie, and Sawyer don't have much in terms of originality or distinctiveness as the story progresses. As the narrative unveils itself, and as the creature appears more and more, the fright shots become more gratuitous, as does the standard clichés of the genre, all moving in the direction of the final confrontation between the family and the menacing entity, at which point the film has lost most of its uniqueness. Most of the issues with this film lie in the fact that while decently shot and staged, Rob Savage tilted its direction towards something more conventional, one where characters, and even the entity, have very little to no explanation or dimension. The cast tries their best with these characters, with highlights going to the always reliable Chris Messina, who has good support from David Dastmalchian, and Marin Ireland. The production team is all effective, including Patrick Jonsson's score, Eli Born's cinematography, and Jeremy Woodward's production design. It's not a bad film, it's just a quickly forgettable one.
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