Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 39 minutes, Director – Rob Savage
After a visit from a new client (David Dastmalchian) a grieving therapist (Chris Messina) and his two daughters (Sophie Thatcher, Vivien Lyra Blair) find themselves haunted by a creature which lurks in the dark
After Host and Dashcam I was very much prepared to consider myself as a fan of Rob Savage and his works of tension building. With The Boogeyman preparedness is removed as I’d happily label myself a fan. The director’s first studio venture certainly has the markings of a studio horror piece in being more direct with its elements of convention than the former two titles, however this largely comes in the presence of one character. The character who often crops up in Stephen King adaptations, this particular one taken from the short story of the same name, to explain what’s going on and give warning to the protagonist.
Yet, there’s a fair deal of time spent building up the tension before this. Savage solidifies that he’s an excellent suspense-builder with the smallest of details. Bringing you in to the moment to feel the fear of those on-screen – primarily sisters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair). Much of this assisted by the quiet and lingering nature of Patrick Jonsson’s score which emphasises the tension of the moment, the uncertainty and realisation of just how little is known about the unnamed creature which appears to be living in the darkness.
A refreshingly little amount of information is given for a studio horror of this nature. All we get is what we need to get the gist of the story. A new client (David Dastmalchian) to Sadie and Sawyer’s therapist father (Chris Messina) appears to bring with him a demon which lurks anywhere light doesn’t touch, attacking anyone in the darkness of the family home, still holding many shaded memories of their recently-passed mother. It’s effectively enough to build-up the story and ideas being played with and allow for the scares to come through in a number of scenes. They arrive early in the moment and continue to build-up there lasting until the cut to the new location or sequence.
This even being the case after the, luckily brief, moments of convention which themselves have good points about them and some good horror within. Perhaps it comes down to the central performances which effectively capture the family throughout, alongside a number of the ideas which crop up every now and then – one highlight includes a character lighting up a room with blasts from a spell in a video game. Things move along easily and quickly and make for an engaging piece of work with plenty of moments of suspense to keep the fear factor in place. Even with work he hasn’t co-written (Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd are also not present here as Mark Heyman adapts previous drafts written by also-credited duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods) Savage manages to focus on the small details and recognise that suspense and what’s not to be trusted lies in the background, or does it?
While it may stray into occasional brief patches of convention The Boogeyman is an effective studio debut for director Rob Savage who, with a strong cast – particularly Thatcher and Blair – manages to create plenty of moments of suspense with little build-up and detail.
Just A Little Bit Random 