The Boogeyman. He terrorised children while Freddy and Jason were still getting their diapers changed. He haunted more closets than any monster ever will. You would think he’d get the royal treatment once brought to the big screen… Well, you would be wrong.
Fifteen years after losing his father to the hands of the boogeyman, Tim’s life is still poisoned with dark memories and an irrational fear of the dark. He decides to go back to his childhood house to face his demons.
As he prepares to spend a night in the house he never before dared go back into, he will rekindle a childhood friendship and meet with a little girl curious about what really happened before she was even born.
The movie starts with an overdone yet fun opening scene, raising viewers’ hopes. However, the viewer is soon forced to surrender all hope of a good time. The movie turns out to be nothing but a series of random events that take forever to get, 80-something dreadful minutes later, absolutely nowhere.
Viewers will quickly become bored with seeing Tim nervously opening closet doors and reluctantly looking under beds. You are amused the first few times, but after a while, it gets tedious; after all, how scary can a doorknob be? Not at all, if you ask me.
In Boogeyman, the macabre turns to mockery as the audience tries to make some sense of the story. Upon realising there is none, the audience’s mind quickly shifts into auto-pilot, waiting for the end.
The movie fuels up on choppy camera shots, but what could have otherwise given an artistic dimension to the movie leaves the audience even more puzzled as to what is really going on in the most chaotic sequences. It also doesn’t skimp on screeching sound effects to create tension. After all, when the plot fails to scare, sound effects are all that is left.
7th Heaven’s Barry Watson takes another stab at big-screen fame with this movie, as his past endeavours have left a less than lasting impression upon viewers. This movie is no exception, as he proves his talent is somewhat limited to sappy TV series. He stars opposite a cast of unknown – and, quite frankly, untalented – actors, creating characters whose fate we could not care less about.
Although self-billed as a horror movie, Boogeyman lacks every element of the genre. Even the dramatic turns of events are pathetically predictable. Slightly more bloody than Winnie the Pooh’s latest Halloween special, it will provide nothing more than a few jumps. No gore. No nail-biting. No logic. No fun either. In the end, Boogeyman reminds us some myths are better left alone.
Boogeyman is currently playing in theatres.
