de facto film reviews 3 stars

Rob Savage’s breakthrough debut film Host was one of the few projects to emerge early on in the Pandemic that utilized the made the most of its resources, delivering a terrifying film set entirely over a zoom call and ran for less than one hour in length. His first studio film, an adaptation of a 1973 short story by Stephen King, Savage utilizes his skills as a talented craftsman to a fairly conventional horror premise into something memorable.

Will (Chris Messina), a grieving therapist, is visited by Lester (David Dastmalchian), a man whose three children have each died mysteriously from something they called ‘The Boogeyman”. Lester is being haunted by the very same thing and unleashes the terror onto Will’s family, including his teenage daughter Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and youngest daughter Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair, Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi).

Yes, on one hand this is yet another horror film with trauma at the forefront, but while The Boogeyman doesn’t offer many original nuances to the subject, it work simply off the strength of Savage’s assured direction and the work of the lead actors. Savage has proved in his past work he can effectively pull off a solid jolt, but his first studio film shows his growth as a filmmaker with a mature approach to storytelling, skillfully intertwining familial pain and horror. The performances undoubtedly elevate the material, led by a sympathetic Sophie Thatcher. The Yellowjackets star is a likable lead who gives weight and authenticity to the role of the grieving teenager. Chris Messina, already having a great year with his fantastic scene-stealing in Ben Affleck’s Air, fully commits as the emotionally stunted father trying to keep his family together. David Dastmalchian has been a dynamic character actor, from his memorable bit role in The Dark Knight, and a regular collaborator with director Denis Villeneuve, so it’s nice to see him have a meaty supporting role in a film like this.

It’s not hard to see why this originally straight-to-streaming release, was upgraded to a wide release, similar to recent horror hits Smile and Evil Dead Rise. Director Rob Savage’s use of the widescreen frame is worth seeing on a large screen. Working with Wild Indian cinematographer Eli Born, the use of low light, and how that becomes integral to the plot is expertly achieved and creates a consistently ominous tone. The film opens on a surprisingly dark note, while shot in a constantly moving single tracking shot. Vivian Lyra Blair’s Sawyer is afraid of the dark and sleeps with a light ball, for which Savage uses several times as a source for crafting scares and revealing/hiding particular creature elements.

The latter half of The Boogeyman has shadings of a classic creature feature with Savage keeping his depiction of the monster scary through his Jaws approach of showing just the right amount, while keeping the fear of the unknown alive. Keeping the creature lurking in the shadows, Savage is able to sustain the mystique and horror of the monster, punctuating the creeping dread with well-crafted jolts.

Savage employs jump scares at a hearty rate, but rarely do they feel cheap. The strong sound design and effects work make the titular monster frightening through its finale. The film resembles Shyamalan’s Signs on more than a few occasions, and not just in how it intertwines familial grief and primal horror.

The Boogeyman is a properly spooky big-screen horror film. With memorable frights and a terrific cast, it’s not a particularly unique concept, or even script for that matter, but Savage’s assured direction elevates its greatly.