The Boogeyman - Movie Reviews (2024)

What the film wants to be is a metaphor for the grieving process and how if we let things fester in the darkness they will thrive, but when we bring them into the light, we can triumph.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 5, 2024

The Boogeyman shoots for younger movie goers, but I don't think it hits the bullseye.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 9, 2023

The lowest common denominator of horror cinema is the film that goes “whisper whisper whisper BANG whisper BANG whisper whisper BANG BANG” then rolls a bunch of credits. Not credit, really. More like blame.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Oct 7, 2023

Honestly, if the screenwriters had just stuck with the original framework of the original short story, it wouldn’t be such a convoluted mess.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Sep 23, 2023

The lack of lore behind the ostensible antagonist leaves a gap in the film. All we know is that it doesn’t like light, it is a creature of darkness (metaphor overload is all we get).

Full Review | Sep 6, 2023

"The Boogeyman" isn’t scary, but it could have been. The source material was right there. David Dastmalchian was right there.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Sep 5, 2023

It’s just math: A couple of creepy moments can’t compensate for dozens of irritating, repetitive cliches.

Full Review | Sep 1, 2023

Movies usually don’t depict gruesome murders of children so I didn’t think The Boogeyman would be a faithful adaptation of the Night Shift’s Stephen King short story. Color me surprised when I realized it was.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 29, 2023

The Boogeyman has a few effective jump scares and thrilling sequences (that returning tooth brought on a delicious shiver) as well as the usual horror movie silliness including going into dark spaces shouting, ‘hello’.

Full Review | Aug 27, 2023

In context and scope it’s akin to Parker Finn’s 2022 surprise hit “Smile” (2022), which makes “Boogeyman” feel like a weak-kneed knockoff even though King penned the short in 1973, decades before Finn’s cinematic splash.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 16, 2023

Rob Savage’s horror film aims for a touch of sophistication. But all it can manage is to apply a slow, doleful style to a generic plot...

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 2, 2023

Savage’s first venture into big-budget horror is disappointingly pedestrian and musty. Things that go bump in the night has timeless appeal, but the delivery system here is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jul 23, 2023

A feature can be as layered as strings upon strings of fairy lights and equally as conventional as a regular incandescent bulb... The Boogeyman, with its generic title, swings between both extremes.

Full Review | Jul 22, 2023

Man I wanted to love The Boogeyman but walked away pretty disappointed. The Creature design is awesome, Sophia Thatcher is incredible in this, Vivien Lyra Blair showcases her incredible charm, but the rest? You’ve seen it all before

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jul 20, 2023

The use of lighting works well to amplify the scares, and Sophie Thatcher is good, but there are some head-scratching story decisions being made here.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Jul 7, 2023

I have wanted to cheer Rob Savage’s career on since he made one of the very first highly effective pandemic horror films with Host. But, his latter works have made me hopeless to see him in top form again.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Jun 26, 2023

British director Rob Savage rustles up some effective jump-scares while keeping the creature in the dark.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 22, 2023

After the successful “Host” and the disaster of “DASHCAM”, Savage is back with a well-done horror that plays on our childhood fears while delivering a layered story with solid performances.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jun 22, 2023

A dark crowd-pleaser for lovers of mainstream chills.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 21, 2023

Breaks all the rules we have learned from horror movies - don't go down in the basem*nt, don't stumble around in the dark, don't get separated - and on and on.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Jun 20, 2023