Good ideas badly realized make Boogeyman a bogey
By: Ian Pugh
Issue date: 2/11/05 Section: Entertainment
Originally published: 2/11/05 at 1:51 AM EST
Last update: 2/11/05 at 1:54 AM EST
Originally published: 2/11/05 at 1:51 AM EST
Last update: 2/11/05 at 1:54 AM EST
Spoiler warning! For those who want, for some unknown reason, to bother and watch Boogeyman, some minor details (mostly of the ending) are revealed here.
The boogeyman (or "bogeyman," if you prefer) is one of the best of all mythical horror creatures - because there's nothing to him. Lurking under the bed and in the closet, he is the shadows of the night; he is the creaks of the floorboards; he is literally fear itself. The concept of the bogeyman is one that has been used in many horror films, both in creative retellings (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and on a figurative level (Halloween). According to the first film actually about this horrific being (named for him, of course), it turns that the monster we have feared for decades is a bald, green-skinned zombie who wears an argyle sweater. After two hours of weary setup,
it is a disappointing sight indeed. Apparently, it's supposed to represent how the shadows of our clothing and jackets "create" the bogeyman, which isn't a bad idea in the long run. Unfortunately, manifested into reality, it is ridiculous and forced, which stands for the film Boogeyman as a whole.
It may ruin the ending to tell you that there really is a boogeyman in the movie, because there is a portion of the film that builds as if the main character may be the killer - whether or not this was a conscious decision is up for debate, but when an entire chunk of the script plays out like an homage to Psycho, it certainly makes you think.
It's unsure how such an approach would have fared if followed the whole way through, but frankly, watching a rip-off of Hitchcock's classic thriller would have been a lot more pleasant than watching a rip-off of every single other horror film ever made.
Very little can be taken from the nonsensical plot - which actually owes more than a little to Fred Krueger and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The hero is Tim (Barry Watson), a twenty-three-year-old whose father was taken away by the boogeyman, or so he remembers.
His mother (Lucy Lawless, for some reason) - who thought that he had merely run off- took the news harshly and spent the rest of her life in an insane asylum. After her death, Tim decides to rummage through their old house, where the boogeyman struck fifteen years before.
However, now, it seems that mysterious events are happening at the old house all over again... combined with news of dozens of missing children, Tim will have to confront his fears and find the secret of the boogeyman.
The film isn't really so much populated by characters as it is by warm bodies. There's really no distinguishing characteristics between any of the people that inhabit Boogeyman - just as a bunch of strawmen for the boogeyman to terrorize. Not even Tim, the center of this film, is given much to do beyond looking really, really spooked. Oh, and let's not forget that they have to walk around empty hallways and call out the names of their comrades... no prizes for guessing what happens to them.
Along with these cardboard characters, the scares are tepid. The best the film can muster is flash cuts of "scary" pictures combined with mostly offensive screeches, which may result in a mild jump. However, the only long-lasting feeling of dread will be found from within your aching eardrums once you leave the theater.
Much better horror films - films that actually have less going for their premises than Boogeyman's does- collect a sense of uneasiness to their proceedings before the payoff, which will always result in scares, and not the unfair shocks that this movie likes to peddle. In fact, the scariest thing about the movie is its closing credits, which feature the title card "Produced by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert," the producers of the classic horror-cum-parody Evil Dead series. One would think that the team that created something so comically horrifying could also make something, well, so horrific and laughable. We all have our off days.
Perhaps the only good thing about Boogeyman is its strangely brisk pace. Maybe that can be attributed to the rapid cuts - not only exclusive to "scare" scenes but also the entire film, setup and all.
Or maybe it's the way you can't make heads or tails of the plot, forcing your mind to wander. Say what you will about Boogeyman - it is certainly a chore to sit through, but it is over mercifully quickly.
Rating: 1 Triangle
 Media Credit: Production Art |
The boogeyman (or "bogeyman," if you prefer) is one of the best of all mythical horror creatures - because there's nothing to him. Lurking under the bed and in the closet, he is the shadows of the night; he is the creaks of the floorboards; he is literally fear itself. The concept of the bogeyman is one that has been used in many horror films, both in creative retellings (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and on a figurative level (Halloween). According to the first film actually about this horrific being (named for him, of course), it turns that the monster we have feared for decades is a bald, green-skinned zombie who wears an argyle sweater. After two hours of weary setup,
 Media Credit: Production Art |
it is a disappointing sight indeed. Apparently, it's supposed to represent how the shadows of our clothing and jackets "create" the bogeyman, which isn't a bad idea in the long run. Unfortunately, manifested into reality, it is ridiculous and forced, which stands for the film Boogeyman as a whole.
It may ruin the ending to tell you that there really is a boogeyman in the movie, because there is a portion of the film that builds as if the main character may be the killer - whether or not this was a conscious decision is up for debate, but when an entire chunk of the script plays out like an homage to Psycho, it certainly makes you think.
It's unsure how such an approach would have fared if followed the whole way through, but frankly, watching a rip-off of Hitchcock's classic thriller would have been a lot more pleasant than watching a rip-off of every single other horror film ever made.
 Media Credit: Production Art |
Very little can be taken from the nonsensical plot - which actually owes more than a little to Fred Krueger and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The hero is Tim (Barry Watson), a twenty-three-year-old whose father was taken away by the boogeyman, or so he remembers.
His mother (Lucy Lawless, for some reason) - who thought that he had merely run off- took the news harshly and spent the rest of her life in an insane asylum. After her death, Tim decides to rummage through their old house, where the boogeyman struck fifteen years before.
However, now, it seems that mysterious events are happening at the old house all over again... combined with news of dozens of missing children, Tim will have to confront his fears and find the secret of the boogeyman.
 Media Credit: Production Art Scene from Boogeyman or 34th and Lancaster? |
The film isn't really so much populated by characters as it is by warm bodies. There's really no distinguishing characteristics between any of the people that inhabit Boogeyman - just as a bunch of strawmen for the boogeyman to terrorize. Not even Tim, the center of this film, is given much to do beyond looking really, really spooked. Oh, and let's not forget that they have to walk around empty hallways and call out the names of their comrades... no prizes for guessing what happens to them.
Along with these cardboard characters, the scares are tepid. The best the film can muster is flash cuts of "scary" pictures combined with mostly offensive screeches, which may result in a mild jump. However, the only long-lasting feeling of dread will be found from within your aching eardrums once you leave the theater.
Much better horror films - films that actually have less going for their premises than Boogeyman's does- collect a sense of uneasiness to their proceedings before the payoff, which will always result in scares, and not the unfair shocks that this movie likes to peddle. In fact, the scariest thing about the movie is its closing credits, which feature the title card "Produced by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert," the producers of the classic horror-cum-parody Evil Dead series. One would think that the team that created something so comically horrifying could also make something, well, so horrific and laughable. We all have our off days.
Perhaps the only good thing about Boogeyman is its strangely brisk pace. Maybe that can be attributed to the rapid cuts - not only exclusive to "scare" scenes but also the entire film, setup and all.
Or maybe it's the way you can't make heads or tails of the plot, forcing your mind to wander. Say what you will about Boogeyman - it is certainly a chore to sit through, but it is over mercifully quickly.
Rating: 1 Triangle
