The Boogeyman

Directed by Rob Savage, The Boogeyman follows a single father (Chris Messina’s Will) and his two daughters (Sophie Thatcher’s Sadie and Vivien Lyra Blair’s Sawyer) as they’re stalked by the mysterious and seemingly unstoppable title creature. Filmmaker Savage, armed with a script by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman, does a terrific job of initially capturing the viewer’s interest and attention, as The Boogeyman kicks off with an impressively grim opening that seems to lay the groundwork for a tough, uncompromising horror effort in the vein of King’s (vastly superior) short story – with the promising vibe heightened by a fantastic early sequence involving Will’s encounter with a deeply disturbed man (David Dastmalchian’s Lester Billings). It’s disappointing to note, then, that The Boogeyman segues into an increasingly tedious and interminable midsection rife with unappealing, hackneyed elements (eg everything involving Thatcher’s eye-rollingly sullen figure), and there’s little doubt, as well, that the arms-length atmosphere is heightened by Savage’s emphasis on some of the genre’s hoariest and most familiar attributes – which ensures that the movie, for the most part, feels like it’s emerged directly from a template for tales of this ilk. By the time the completely ineffective (and thoroughly grating) climax rolls around, The Boogeyman has confirmed its place as an entirely ill-advised adaptation that squanders its strong first act and sporadically stylish visuals. (And what’s with the non-existent body count?)

* out of ****