The Boogeyman is a 2023 horror movie directed by Rob Savage. After the death of their mother a teenager and her sister find a creature living in their house. Below is my The Boogeyman (2023) movie review
While the movie is only about 90 min long, it does take some time before it truly feels like it has begun. There are a good amount of scenes that are emotional and are trying to set up background for our characters and their tragic past. It is done in a decent way and all the actors do a good job with what was given to them. Usually child actors/actresses are very mediocre but not in this case. Vivian Lyra Blair as Sawyer dies a great job being so young.
In terms of the creature, it is not great but not bad either. While it is mainly shown in the shadows or has its eyes glow, we never get to see it clearly. At the end we get to see it a bit more but we never truly get to see it for more than a few seconds. It would go around knocking things and grunting, but our eyes can’t focus on it to actually see it fully. It does not like light and the director really plays on this weakness a lot.
With that in mind, the cinematography overall is good. As mentioned, the creature does not like light, so we see all types of light sources being used to keep it away. We see the director using shadows and light to have the characters fight the creature. It is very fast so any slip ups could cost a person their life. This is also why the main character sleeps with a giant ball of light. She is shy/timid but also knows that something is in the house/walls. She uses the ball as comfort.
Speaking of that, the movie is full of jumpscares. The whole house seems to be alive with a bunch of groans and creaks coming from walls. The little girl uses a ball of light as comfort and the director eventually uses it for some creepy moments. From the creature smashing the ball as well as it rolling away and giving us a quick glimpse of the creature’s face. Agaib, the use of light in the movie is pretty clever in my opinion. However, there are some moments that make you question why the characters are doing what they are doing in the dark. We know why, but it makes no sense.
Overall the movie is not bad. However, it is still filled with jump-scares. That is the only way to make the movie “scary” without making it very gruesome. There is not much violence to be found here. However the movie makes up for it with some creepy scenes as well as great acting all around. It is a short movie that is based on a short story by Stephen King that was published in his book “Night Shift”.
Thanks for reading my The Boogeyman (2023) movie review
