Presumably, “based on a short story by Stephen King” is a boost at the box office for movies.
Sadly, it’s not a guarantee of quality. Ever seen “The Mangler?” No? Probably for the best.
“The Boogeyman” carries on that unfortunate tradition. It’s a pretty bad movie — not particularly scary, not easy to follow, not a bit of fun.
But it’s also weird. It is, we learn in the credits, indeed based on the King story of the same name, from his 1978 collection “Night Shift.” Sort of. A couple of the characters in the film share names with characters from the book, and one of them does similar things.
Other than that, it’s a completely different story. And a lesser one.
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What is 'The Boogeyman' about?
Mind you, there is no prohibition against changing a story around when you adapt it as a movie. A shot-for-shot copy would bore a good filmmaker. But if you’re going to change it, as least make it better.
Will Harper (Chris Messina) is a therapist whose wife recently died in a car accident. He is mourning, in a denial kind of way, along with his daughters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair). It’s a challenge.
It’s particularly difficult for Sadie. Her “friends” at school — friends being a fluid term at her age — are at best incapable of being truly sympathetic. Or maybe they’re just jerks. (In the case of one girl, definitely that.)
One day a man named Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian) wanders in off the street and into Will’s home office. Will doesn’t take walk-ins, but the man is clearly troubled, so he listens. And it is quite a story — about the death of the man’s children, and what he says killed them. (Most people assume he did it.)
Things get worse from there. A lot worse. And soon Sadie and Sawyer are hearing strange noises at night, catching fleeting glimpses of something just out of their line of vision. Will is skeptical, as adults always are, but Sadie is determined to put a stop to whatever it is that is becoming more and more menacing.
Director Rob Savage can handle a basic jump scare, of which there are a few. He’s less successful at building a sense of dread. In a great horror movie dread hangs over the whole thing like invisible fog. “The Boogeyman” needs more of it.
Instead we get a steady stream of doom and gloom. The film is relentlessly bleak, with no relief. That doesn’t build tension. It’s just exhausting.
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But mostly what the movie needs is a more coherent story. While keeping an audience off-kilter and disoriented is a worthy goal, particularly in a horror film, it’s got to add up to something. In this case it’s more like meandering.
Thatcher is actually quite good. As she grows more confident (or desperate) to fend off evil, she manages to hang on to Sadie’s sense of grief. It’s really her movie, and she’s the best thing about it.
Messina is having a nice year — he’s great as smarmy agent David Falk in “Air.” This isn’t that. Here he’s wounded, sensitive and lost. Lost in the sense that the character just kind of wanders in and out of the story; as Sadie’s role grows, his diminishes, to the point that at times he disappears.
The short story is straightforward, a classic (if not imaginative) horror twist. It’s also difficult to imagine how it could be stretched to feature-film length without suffering. Having seen “The Boogeyman,” I’m more convinced than ever.
'The Boogeyman' 2 stars
Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★
Fair ★★★ Bad ★★Bomb★
Director: Rob Savage.
Cast: Chris Messina, Sophie Thatcher, David Dastmalchian.
Rating: PG-13 for terror, violent content, teen drug use and some strong language.
How to watch: In theaters Friday, June 2.
Reach Goodykoontz atbill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook:facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter:@goodyk.
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FAQs
“The Boogeyman” carries on that unfortunate tradition. It's a pretty bad movie — not particularly scary, not easy to follow, not a bit of fun. But it's also weird. It is, we learn in the credits, indeed based on the King story of the same name, from his 1978 collection “Night Shift.” Sort of.
What Stephen King story is The Boogeyman based on? ›
The film is based on a short story by King, which was first published in the March 1973 issue of the American magazine Cavalier. It was later included in King's 1978 collection of short stories, titled Night Shift.
What did Stephen King think about The Boogeyman? ›
"Showing him the movie was a really terrifying experience. He said that he loved it and that it terrified him. He jumped and threw his popcorn a couple of times. It's just incredible to think about the amount of times that that man has given me nightmares...
Is The Boogeyman based off a true story? ›
The boogeyman is not real, but most cultures have some version of the boogeyman myth, although they go by many, many different names. The actual "boogeyman" name most likely originated sometime in the 19th century, but the mythology of these kinds of "monsters" have been around for much longer than that.
Is The Boogeyman movie demonic? ›
The Boogeyman turns out to be a real demonic force. The demon threatens the ones he loves, so Tim decides to take action. BOOGEYMAN the movie is filled with scary scenes and scary supernatural encounters with the demonic title character.
Is The Boogeyman scary? ›
The Boogeyman might fall short of its terrifying source material, but a spooky atmosphere and some solid performances help keep the chills coming.
What is the meaning of The Boogeyman in the story? ›
The term bogey in the middle of the 19th century was a word for devil or demon. The Boogeyman's personality and appearance can vary greatly depending on the culture and country. Most of the time, the Boogeyman is depicted in a story as a creature who punishes misbehaving children.
What does Stephen King fear the most? ›
The “King of Horror” Stephen King says he's afraid of literally everything. He's afraid of darkness, death, confined space, clowns, the number 13, spiders… Fear of water, darkness and cemeteries haunted Edgar Allan Poe for his whole life.
Is The Boogeyman related to Pennywise? ›
Trivia. The Boogeyman's pleasure in instilling fear in his victims before killing them recalls Pennywise/IT's similar pleasure in terrorizing his prey. It is not known, however, whether the modus operandi of the two monsters are somehow connected.
What happened to the baby at the beginning of The Boogeyman? ›
Lester goes on to tell the story of how his first child died suddenly one night, after crying about the boogeyman. The cause of death was determined to be crib . Here, the death of a child in the very beginning at least gives the impression that no one - not the youngest daughter - is safe from the .
Actually, in the movie it is mentioned that there was another mafia who was called Baba Yaga/The Boogeyman. John Wick was hired to kill him which he obviously did after which he was know as the Boogeyman.
What does the ending of The Boogeyman mean? ›
The Boogeyman's Ending Real Meaning Explained
Despite Sadie and her family getting to a much better place, with Will openly talking about the loss of his wife and The Boogeyman seemingly dying in physical form, the film suggests that grief will continue to be prevalent in one's life no matter how much time has passed.
Is the new Stephen King movie about The Boogeyman? ›
Based on the 1973 short story of the same name by Stephen King, the film follows a family that becomes haunted by the Boogeyman after a troubled man visits and inadvertently brings the creature to them. The ensemble cast includes Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, and David Dastmalchian.
What kind of demon is Pennywise? ›
But, the film makes clear, It (sometimes written as “IT”) isn't just a clown. Oh no. As detailed in King's novel, he's an ancient, cosmic being, described in the novel as an “Eater of Worlds”, who is able to adopt a variety of nasty guises.
What is The Boogeyman legend story? ›
In America, Bogeyman urban legends describe him as a scary figure with no consistent shape or form. He hides under the bed, in dark corners, or in a child's closet waiting for his prey. In other countries, he's a man who wears all black with a sack and kidnaps bad children to either keep them or eat them.
What was in the closet at the end of The Boogeyman? ›
Billings then hears a creepy voice from the closet say "so nice" before the door swings open and the Boogeyman comes out. And if that doesn't get you, King's final line of the story certainly will: "It still held its Dr Harper mask in one rotted, spade-claw hand."
Is Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar a true story? ›
However, at the very beginning of the book, Chizmar divulges that Chasing the Boogeyman is indeed a work of fiction. Mystery solved. So, yes, for those inclined to pick this book up with the notion that it is a true crime tale, take note that this is not that book and this is, indeed, a work of fiction.
What Stephen King movie is based on a true story? ›
The Shining Was Also Based On Real Events, And King Famously Hated It. One of the most famous Stephen King adaptations is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, and the 1980 movie is also based on one of King's real experiences.
Is The Outsider about The Boogeyman? ›
HBO's The Outsider introduced "El Cuco" (sometimes "El Coco") in episode 4. The myth has Spanish origins—El Cuco is similar to the boogeyman. Here's what the myth might mean for the series.
Was Dr. Harper The Boogeyman? ›
Some time after these events, the Boogeyman has not yet given up persecuting Lester. Then he disguises himself as a man, taking on the appearance of Dr. Harper, a psychologist to whom Lester, divorced from Rita and now completely mad with grief and terror, asked for advice (it is not clear if the Boogeyman killed Dr.
