"Boogeyman". Horror by Stephen King came out gloomy, but too bland

On May 31, the world premiere of the film "Bogeyman" took place. The horror turned out to be as original as its name.

In 1978, Stephen King's short story The Boogeyman appeared, translated as "And Came a Boogeyman". The short story, in which a man visits a psychotherapist, reports on a mysterious villain who lives in the closet, but does not give details about him.

The first film called "Bogeyman" was released in 1980 and was a slasher about childhood trauma. Later it was provided with two sequels. But none of these were adaptations of King.

In 2005, a new "Bogeyman" appeared - a horror about a monster living in a closet. It had two sequels, and later a Moroccan-French remake was also shot on it. Here from King there was a little more than its predecessors, but still not much.

"Bogeyman" -2023 relies on the original story more significantly than previous films, but it still won't work to call the film an adaptation.

Screenplay by Scott Beck and Bryan WoodsQuiet place

”, and the final version was written by Mark Heyman (“Black Swan”). The director's chair went to Rob Savage, who directed The Registrar and Host (translated in Russia as Astral. Online"). Starring Sophie Thatcher (The Hornets), Vivienne Lyra Blair (A Tragedy in Waco) and Chris Messina (Air).

Psychotherapist Will Harper is raising his two daughters on his own after the death of his wife. One day, a man comes to his reception, claiming that a certain Boogeyman took his children (in fact, only this scene is completely based on King's story). While Harper calls the police to protect himself from the patient, he kills himself in the closet. After Will's children begin to suffer from nightmares and haunting visions - it seems to them that something terrible has settled in their house. The eldest daughter Sadie begins to study the notes left by the suicide to understand what is happening.

Events move too slowly

Boogeyman is only 98 minutes long, but it feels a lot longer. The fact is that there are only four or five bright and important plot twists in the film, and the pauses between them are filled with approximately the same scenes - not only in terms of events, but also visually.

Rob Savage decided to shoot the whole picture in the dark, so house, where the psychotherapist's family lives, is not bright - even during the day the rooms are gloomy. The emptiness caused by the death of the girls' mother is also felt. But there are so few dialogues and actions that this emptiness makes you bored. In the first half of the film there is both tension and fear, but the more you get used to the darkness on the screen, the less emotion it evokes.

The story is not scary at all.

In 2023, scolding horror for not being scary is a bit of a shame. Both post-horror and slowburner come out more often than standard Horror, therefore, you no longer expect horror from the corresponding films.

However, the "Boogeyman" is still trying to scare, it just doesn't work out for him. Seven or eight screamers scattered throughout the film can only affect a person who watches a movie for the first time - they are too predictable. As a result, only the characters are scared - and then only because it is written in the script.

The Boogeyman hardly appears on the screen, so his invisible presence causes more alarm. This feeling rhymes with the feeling of loss experienced by the characters.

Both the cause of grief and the cause of fear are off-camera for almost the entire film. Bye gloomy the atmosphere does not become a familiar background, "Boogeyman" touches emotionally - at least causes discomfort. However, every minute it becomes more difficult and boring to watch it, and therefore the climax is perceived not as the highest point of tension, but as a signal that the film will finally end soon.

Sometimes the movie is annoying

The boogeyman is afraid of the light, and the heroes live in an ordinary house in our time. Therefore, it is not at all clear why villain constantly scare away with candles and small lamps. No, it is clear that such details help to create tension for the viewer, but still... Maybe you should sleep once with the lights on so that nothing happens? Or use a flashlight on your smartphone? But heroes always choose the worst option.

But that's not all. Three people live in the same house, but when one of them screams, the other members of the family do not hear anything. The father of the family is especially surprised - if the children have nightmares, then maybe you need to be more careful? But he ignores everything.

Actually, eternal father's absence in the life of his daughters is explained by the loss of his wife, but he is too distant. This is a character that you sometimes forget exists. And of course, he does not believe in any Boogeymen, which he tells the children about. It was hardly possible to come up with a more standard and gray hero.

Sophie Thatcher shines

It is unlikely that the "Bogeyman" has too serious flaws, but there are many minor flaws - from boring visuals to a dubious script. At the same time, the picture also has a huge trump card - Sophie Thatcher.

The actress pumps up nerves and fear much better than the thousandth hint of the presence of the Boogeyman in the film. Her heroine is both weak and strong, and shy, and brave - and this despite the fact that some scenes with her participation could be safely cut out because of their meaninglessness.

In general, after minor roles in "Hornets" and "Boba Fett book» Thatcher did not get a very good project, but she squeezed the maximum out of it.

The Boogeyman isn't bad, but it's not a shocking horror movie either. If you accidentally go to a session, then it is unlikely to directly disappoint, but a week after watching it, you can hardly remember what happened in it at all. Director Rob Savage tried to squeeze a little bit out of the meager script fear, but he failed.