Before you think this is a 80's stalk 'n slash nasty from Ulli Lommel think again. This is a slick slice of horror from the men behind 'The Evil Dead' and the recent US remake of 'The Grudge' , Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. Here be the 'Boogeyman' .
If you listen to the extras on this disc first, Mr. Tapert would love you to believe that what you are about to see is unique and very much in way of the recent wave of Japanese horror movies that is taking the filmic world by shivering storm. Sorry Mr Tapert, the thing that makes these very movies different with the one you are gushingly producing and championing is quite simply ‘tension’. ‘Boogeyman’ doesn’t have any, it may try from the quick shock type of scare and does so quite successfully on occasion but tense it ain’t.
The calibre behind the camera here is high with Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert doing the production roles and even director Stephen Kay (director of the unnecessary ‘Get Carter’ remake) does a reasonable job of loading on the shocks with some nifty camera moves and some not so nifty special effects.
Timmy Jensen (TV star Barry Watson) is not your average well-adjusted guy, as a kid he was having bad dreams and scares from what he was imagining roaming around his closet and under his bed. What made matters worse is he believes his Dad disappeared in said closet on one particularly scary eve all those years ago. He now lives in a sparse room, bed on the floor and all the cupboard doors have been removed; it’s his safe haven.
Things take a turn for the worse when Tim is invited to Thanks Giving at his girlfriend’s family home. Jessica (Tory Mussett) is looking forward to having her elusive boyfriend to show off to her folks but not before long he gets a phone call telling him of his mother’s death. It’s time to go back to the old homestead and all those childhood memories.
At the funeral Tim meets Kate (Emily Deschanel), a childhood sweetheart and homely girl next door. She still has a soft spot for the twitchy Tim and after falling off her horse outside his parent’s farmhouse they reminisce about old times. She goes home with a dinner invite in the bag and then little mysterious Franny (Skye McCole Bartusiak) appears lurking about farmhouse long after she should be in bed.
Will Tim have any luck with any of the women in his life or will he become a complete basketcase. Watch and see…
The acting on the whole is pretty decent, Lucy Lawless (more commonly known as Xena Warrior Princess or Mrs Tapert) has a great supporting turn as Tim’s mum and 13-year-old Skye McCole Bartusiak is a rare find for the role of Franny.
‘Boogeyman’ is not a bad film; it starts off well and then gets remarkably silly while trying to be more clever than what it is. There is a post credit sequence, which heralds the possibility of a sequel, which is completely unnecessary huge neon sign for those of a very short memory span. If you like your movies full of ‘boo’ shocks and you are in a forgiving mood then you could much worse than this. It’s the type of horror flick my mother hates as her cuppa tea would have been spilled all over the place but if you are just wishing for a movie to creep you out, that your skin curls right off your bones, this ain’t it.Extras come in the shape of 30 minutes worth of Cast and crew interviews, which have all the usual backslapping and the aforementioned gush from Mr Tapert. Deleted scenes include an alternate ending and one in particular snippet involving the rucksack with all the ‘missing kid’ pics, would have been a nice touch to be left in, giving another twist to the proceedings. Some storyboards for several scenes including the alternate ending and some special and some not so special visual effects progression on several of the key scary moments finish things off neatly.
'Boogeyman' is out to own now and available via
Amazon in the US and available for pre-order in the UK via
AmazonUK .
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