Finally, a movie about a mythical creature that gets it right!
Shortly after Tim Jensen (Barry Watson) was told a creepy bedtime story, his father disappeared. While adults told him that his father had abandoned he and his mother, Tim knows the truth: the Boogeyman got him. Fifteen years later, Tim returns to his hometown to attend to the passing of his mother (Lucy Lawless), only to discover that he isn’t alone in his beliefs. To his horror, Tim also learns there’s only one way to stop it and only one person who can: him.
Almost everyone that began life as a child initially harbored a fear the darkness in the closet, the draft under the bed, and the creepy shapes that their imagination creates of things laying about in an unkept room. But hey, what if they’re right and something IS crouched down ready to pounce on them while their sleeping? Boogeyman not only effectively recreates these fears but personifies them in a way that doesn’t undermine them, then manages to solve the problem in a clever way and demonstrates its effectiveness. Amazingly, this is all managed with a PG-13 rating, and that works very well for the kind of story being told here.
Without giving any plot away, the Boogeyman is more concept than creature, but his intent and abilities are well known: lurking in the darkness, hiding in closets and under beds, and able to spring from anywhere to get you when you’re not looking (sadly, the assumed method of protecting oneself pulling a sheet over your head doesn’t work as well as we’d hoped). The film takes this one step further by allowing our hero (and the audience) into a glimpse of how “the man” goes about his diabolical business. It’s a little hard to follow at first, but it makes a twisted kind of sense that, once you get it, you’ll be as impressed with yourself as well as how the effect is used in the movie.
A virtually nameless cast carries the film while a New Zealand location mimics a sleepy American country town; in fact, the most recognizable cast member is the 69′ Mustang the hero drives. The lack of star power helps shine the light on the story and its title creature, and the lack of music in place of creepy sound effects only enhances the mood (and, thankfully, there’s a lot less “loud sound, false scare ” use in this movie than in many wishful thrillers). Boogeyman manages to make you do what films like Jeepers Creepers and Darkness Falls wouldn’t let you do: believe.
(a three and a half skull recommendation out of four)
MovieCrypt.com Grim D. Reaper #grmdrpr 
You DO realize you’re one of the few who actually liked this flick out of hundreds of critics, right? Do you WANT to be a target?
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you’re a loser if u actually liked this movie. i was more scared by Toy Story’s toys coming to life than anything in “Boogeyman.”
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This is easily the worst, most abysmal movie I’ve seen this year. I hate myself for wasting money on this piece of incomprehensible nonsense.
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Is this review a joke? Seriously. Is it?
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I am glad someone was impressed by this movie. I have seen every scare flick in the last few years. I love to be scared. This won my heart. I think some of these posters should have seen wedding date. Maybe that would scare them.
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Not only was this the worst movie I’ve seen this year. It is the worst movie I have ever seen. I love scary movies, but the Boogeyman was just awful. Honestly, there is a reason that it only received a 7% rating. That actually might be somewhat high.
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Silence this reviewer, his thoughts should not be heard!
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How can this be the WORST movie ever next to Uwe Boll’s House of the Dead? Just wondering…
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Im going to see this movie tommorow and i can’t wait. The reviews suck for this movie but what do you people know. Half the movies on this site have bad reviews and they all rock so you needa learn to write reveiws.
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Yeah! Hey wait…
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Although “Boogeyman” is certainly no masterpiece of horror cinema, it does at least (in the first 15 minutes) allow us to remember our primal childhood fear of the thing that waited for us in the closet. Although lacking in depth and any ending whatsoever, “Boogeyman” makes you do something that so many horror films fail to do, and that is, if just for a little while, remember feeling the helplessness of being alone in a dark room as a child.
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Are you god damn kidding me? This has to be worst wannabe “boo” flick in the long, sad history of wannabe “boo” flicks. I was bored to tears with this steaming pile of 80mm shit. Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if the intelligence of a 4th grade elementary student could come up with a plot equally as lame.
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the movie set an atmosphere ill give it that….this movie would probably been okay if it had a plot and didnt use the same damn scare technique every five minutes…flash…loudnoise….what?
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If ypu all don’t care so much then why do u even bother to leave a comment on this site we are in the minority we are looking 4ward to going to see this movie even if it does host “cheap thrills” we like it!
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this film was one of the best horror films in years i havent seen afilm like it in years
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They’re is the contraction of “they are”, (as in “they’re sleeping) not “their”.
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You know, Anonymous, I think you should spend a little more time in school rather than at the movies? What, you think you’re not going to be 7 years older in 7 years? Then what? And by the way, did you have someone help you spell your name?
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I liked the movie. If you are really trying to boggle down as much “logic” as you can into this movie, then why the f*ck are you watching a horror movie? ‘Boogeyman’ has great style, even if it doesnt quite make sense, it’s not a f*cking masterpiece. And please don’t f*cking call the critic stupid and sh*t, if he liked it, he did. If you decide to see it, and you hate it, it’s your damn fault. So, don’t bitch.
-G-
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Please…for those of you who have not yet spent money to see or rent this film, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use it for the Tsunami victims, your local homeless shelters, or heck, even rent Mean Girls! (which wasn’t that bad, actually)
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You liked Mean Girls OVER Boogeyman?
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Makes “The Excorcist” look like a Z-Grade horror flick, an instant classic. Boogeyman should go down in history as the most underrated horror movie in film history!!
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[…] On one severed hand, it would be easy to say that, as one of the few critics that actually enjoyed Boogeyman (see our review) and thought it was by far a more original piece of filmmaking than the “monster in your closet” genre has enjoyed for a while. […]
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