‘The Boogeyman’ Review: Classic Stephen King Story Gets an Overfamiliar, yet Scary Adaptation
The Boogeyman
PG-13: Terror, violent content, teen drug use and some strong language
Runtime: 1 Hour and 39 Minutes
Production Companies: 21 Laps Entertainment, NeoReel
Distributor: 20th Century Studios
Director: Rob Savage
Writers: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, Mark Heyman
Cast: Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, David Dastmalchian, Marin Ireland, Madison Hu, LisaGay Hamilton
Release Date: June 2, 2023
In Theaters Only
The most recent Stephen King film adaptations (Children of the Corn (2020), Firestarter (2022), and Mr. Harrigan’s Phone) have been so terrible that they’re in the sewers sitting next to Pennywise. But it’s a new year, which means fresh attempts at finding a crowning jewel horror movie to honor the King. Enter new combatant Rob Savage (Host, Dashcam), indie-turned-studio-horror filmmaker, shooting his Stephen shot with The Boogeyman. Based on the short story from his Night Shift anthology book, this loose adaptation strives to capture King’s malignant energy with serviceable expansion. What would you know, this Boogeyman adaptation is of decent quality. That means, by “Stephen King standards,” it's a B-tier movie.
Following the unexpected death of their mother, the Harper family succumbs to grief. The eldest daughter, Sadie (Sophie Thatcher), has it rough. She trudges through her high school’s hallways wearing her late mother’s clothing, looks up YouTube tutorials on how to talk to the dead, and smokes her dead momma’s doobie. Sadie tries to be present for her younger sister Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair), while their father, Will (Chris Messina), a therapist who needs therapy the most, distances himself from them. One day, a disturbed man (David Dastmalchian) suffering from a loss shows up at Will’s house, seeking help to get a supernatural entity to stop haunting him. Once the man enters Will’s office, the demonic spirit hops from him onto the Harper family.
The Boogeyman is one of the most rudimentary supernatural entities. Right next to Bloody Mary, Boogeyman is like a baby's first horror mascot. It hides in your closets and under your bed. Yet, Rob Savage executed a genuinely frightening experience that takes you back to being a child, scared of being alone in the dark. With this expansion on King’s short story, he blends a ghastly creature feature with, oh GOD, another tale of grief.
Boogeyman has a solid set-up as it establishes this tumultuous chapter in the Harper family's lives, stricken by their shared loss. Sophie is a mess, Will is unresponsive to his daughters’ needs, and Sawyer… well, they don’t do much with her. That said, she’s still grieving. The disturbed patient, played by an eerie and commanding David Dastmalchian, comes in as the film’s crux, reflecting how broken Will is. The vulnerability on Will’s sleeve is wide enough for the Boogeyman to make his new home within him. The scene between Dastmalchian and Chris Messina sets the tone for the ghastly ambiance.
Sadie and Sawyer's sisterhood works to the film's benefit. Sadie is in her grieving bag, but she buckles down and becomes her kid sister’s protector. Once the Boogeyman settles into their home, it starts terrorizing Sawyer first. Since Will is emotionally M.I.A., she tries to convince Sadie that she’s haunted. Sadie initially dismisses her, but it's not long before the spirit says, “Alright, you’re next.” When the Boogeyman starts messing with both the sisters, Sadie protects Sawyer as much as possible. I adore the kinship they explore throughout the narrative. They share cute, comical moments acting like sisters and processing their grief together. Sophie Thatcher and Vivien Lyra Blair have great sisterly chemistry, which carries the film’s underlying charm.
Savage emphasizes light and shadow during most of the interior horror sequences. Most of the scares stem from—surprise, surprise!—the Harpers' house. With several shot choices and an attentive sound design, Savage mines many tense scares. It’s reminiscent of David F. Sandberg’s Lights Out. Although I wasn’t jumping in my seat, I was endlessly terrified.
Another strength working in Savage’s favor is how he keeps the creature’s design, movement, and functionality a mystery for most of the film. During the brief moments you see it, it’s in the shadows, out of focus, sitting there menacingly. As gimmicky as it can be, Savage delivers decent practical effect work that adds to the frightfulness.
If you’ve watched Yellowjackets, you won’t be surprised by how good Sophie Thatcher is in this movie. She has a great range, exuding fear and slow-burning power. From the supporting cast, I must mention Marin Ireland, who steals the show halfway through the film. Her character (also stricken by grief) is another victim of the Boogeyman. While everyone is terrified, she’s borderline psychotic and vengeful. But she got shit DONE. She has an “I wish a motherfucker would” vibe to her, and I appreciate how badass she is.
Everyone and their mother is making horror movies where demonic spirits metaphorize grief. I think I’ve seen seven of these within the past year. I’m just expecting a call from a studio exec saying, “Hey, Rendy! If you review three more of these movies, you’ll get a free Ouija board!” I can’t believe the Boogeyman got subjected to another familiar horror story tied to grief. Compared to other recent horror flicks like Smile and A24’s upcoming Talk to Me, Boogeyman is more narratively consistent while interweaving its theme with the spirit. Nevertheless, it’s bogged down by ostensibly delivering the same beats. It may work as a solid expansion to a short story, but it lacks originality among many other grieve-scary stories.
The screenplay, provided by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (first draft) and Mark Heyman (final shooting draft with added comedic beats), is a hodgepodge of tones that don’t mesh well together. Sometimes the film reeks of “written by dudes” energy during scenes set at Sophie’s school. There’s a CW aesthetic to how Sophie gets bullied by her best friends’ cartoonish clique and other peers who treat loss like an unidentified emotion. I appreciate that the film didn’t aim for straight campiness, but it has a level of inconsistency. Sadie isn’t exempt from this because sometimes she makes laughably dumb decisions to keep her attachment with her mother strong. A plot point revolving around her dead momma’s doobie immediately comes to mind. Yes, it’s even dumber than you think, and somehow, it’s the film’s best highlight.
Through Rob Savage’s skillfulness compensating for an overplayed grief-centric story, The Boogeyman provides solid, crowd-pleasing scares for the summer movie audience.
