‘The Boogeyman’ Review
Stars: Chris Messina, Sophie Thatcher, David Dastmalchian, Vivien Lyra Blair, LisaGay Hamilton, Madison Hu, Maddie Nichols, Marin Ireland | Written by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, Mark Heyman | Directed by Rob Savage
Host director Rob Savage makes his mainstream Hollywood debut The Boogeyman, a loose adaptation of a Stephen King short story from the co-writers of A Quiet Place. As such, it delivers some effective scares and is elevated by a trio of terrific performances, though the story itself ultimately feels a little derivative.
Yellowjackets star Sophie Thatcher plays Sadie Harper, a teenager whose family – younger sister Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) and therapist father Will (Chris Messina) – are still grieving the tragic loss of her mother in a recent car accident. Their lives are swiftly upended when a strange man (David Dastmalchian) seemingly commits suicide in their house, after relating a dark tale to Will about a shadow monster that killed his children.
Soon afterwards, Sawyer – who’s already terrified of the dark – begins seeing a strange figure in the shadows, and when Sadie finds a picture of the creature in the dead man’s notebook, she becomes convinced that the monster has targeted her family, perhaps drawn to their misery and pain.
Savage proved with both lockdown smash Host and his less successful follow-up Dashcam that he knows a thing or two about orchestrating a suspense sequence, and that ability is front and centre here, as he pulls off several effective jump scares and finds inventive ways to play with the basic set-up. One particular highlight in that regard involves the use of Sawyer’s ball-shaped lamp, which can be slowly rolled into dark corners, cranking up tension as it goes.
In addition, Savage is genre-savvy enough to know that it’s much scarier to only briefly glimpse your central creature (it’s only referred to as The Boogeyman once), rather than overly rely on CGI effects. Consequently, the monster is hardly ever seen in full, and instead the scariest bits of it (teeth, claws, a sort of life-draining proboscis that comes out of its mouth) are deployed to strong effect in close-up and/or shadow, as required.
In terms of the general plot, the script is disappointingly familiar, and it doesn’t add anything to the idea of monsters as metaphors for grief, loss, pain and trauma that hasn’t been seen multiple times before, including as recently as Smile. Similarly, the film under-uses its most promising element, with regard to how Sadie’s experience affects her relationship with her friend group, some of whom are let off way too lightly.
Screenplay-wise, there’s also a problem with the general mythology of The Boogeyman, in that it’s never clearly defined, especially when it comes to its limits and weaknesses. With that in mind, it’s hard to escape the feeling that a lot of the Harpers’ problems could be resolved by simply changing the lightbulb in their basement.
That said, the otherwise familiar material is considerably elevated by the trio of central performances, each of whom create strong characters that we really care about. To that end, each actor is particularly impressive in their own right – Thatcher (who has an eminently watchable face) is terrific as the teenager navigating general high school hell and her own personal trauma, Messina is genuinely moving as the sensitive father too lost in his own grief to be there for his daughters, and Blair has a line in vulnerable wide-eyed terror that is almost painfully adorable.
In short, this particular Boogeyman isn’t memorable enough to give anyone any sleepless nights, but it’s effective enough for a forgettable Friday night horror and it’s ultimately worth seeing for the superb performances of its three leads. It will also be fascinating to see what Savage does next, hopefully with a stronger script next time round.
*** 3/5
The Boogeyman is in cinemas now.
