There is something hiding in the closet. Rob Savage returns to the screen with The Boogeyman, a greatest hits of horror tropes – just lacking the ‘greatest’ part. After sparking success with the 2020 Shudder original film Host, this new movie has the backing of a studio budget and brings a few thrills in a largely derivative shell.
When therapist Will Harper (Chris Messina) is visited by an unexpected patient with enduring trauma (David Dasmalchian), he brings with him a deadly creature that lurks in the shadows. While Will’s children Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) continue to mourn the death of their mother, a series of supernatural horrors unfurl as the Harper family defend themselves from an evil that preys on their suffering. If it sounds like you’ve heard all this before, that’s because you have.
Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, The Boogeyman pads out what is essentially a twelve-page short story into a fairly substandard narrative. Savage is clearly having a lot of fun channeling his love of horror, and while there is little plot to form a foundation on, the director somewhat makes up for it with some creative set pieces. Disorienting camera rolls under the bed, loose teeth, televisions that aren’t as they seem, Savage has a bag of tricks, and he has no shame about playing those tricks on his audience – even if they sometimes elicit a laugh instead of a scream.
The strongest component in The Boogeyman is its performances. Messina is as brooding as his rugged sad-dad beard – trying his best to keep his reality from falling inward. Vivien Lyra Blair proves herself to be a continual rising star that handles even the darkest of scenes with force – even despite her age (you probably recognise her as little Leia Organa in Obi Wan Kenobi). It’s Sophie Thatcher, however, who proves to be a true stand out (riding on the success of her role in Showtime’s Yellowjackets). Being able to create a likeable yet troubled teen is a hard to achieve when given such a clichéd formula, but Thatcher rises to the occasion even when the thematic plodding does not. David Dasmalchian continues to excel at encapsulating the perturbed and the unsettled, a shame he is ultimately given so little with the role.
There is an undercurrent of grief and trauma – themes entirely familiar for this genre, that once again propel the narrative. The scriptwriting does very little to unpack these ideas (the visual effects impeding what little there already is), instead creating continual exhaustion at the reliance of modern horror’s perpetual crutch for repeating the same metaphors. At what point can we let go of making grief synonymous with terror? The creature itself is largely left aloof for most of the runtime, a boogeyman entirely in name alone.
It may spook and scare in all the ways you’ve seen before, but admirable performances, flashes of technical sparkle, and elements of comedic flair make this throwaway supernatural flick entirely watchable. There may be an amalgamation of familiarity to The Boogeyman – nothing is particularly unique or distinctive, but maybe that’s not its biggest crime. There’s a certain harmless nature to this film – entirely innocuous and entertaining for a 100 minute one-and-done horror.
You may have already been haunted by what’s in the closet before, but what’s the harm in taking one last peek behind the door?
