The Boogeyman is a 2023 horror film based upon the short story by Stephen King, directed by Rob Savage (Host), co-written by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (A Quiet Place), and produced by Shawn Levy. It stars Madison Hu, Vivien Lyra Blair, Sophie Thatcher, David Dastmalchian, and Chris Messina.
The story follows two sisters grieving the loss of their mother, when their psychiatrist father’s latest patient unwittingly unleashed a supernatural threat upon the family. The film was released in theatres on June 2, 2023.
No relation to the 1980 film of the same name, nor the similarly named 2005 movie and video game.
Previews: Trailer 1
, Trailer 2
The Boogeyman features the following examples:
- Adaptational Heroism:
- In the short story, Lester is an abusive bigot who deliberately lets the Boogeyman kill his son to buy himself some time. There's no evidence of this here, and he's at worst guilty of not believing his children until it was too late.
- In the short story, Dr. Harper was merely a disguise for the Boogeyman to kill Lester. Here, he's a normal psychiatrist who is at worst a flawed but loving parent.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the short story, the Boogeyman was able to take on a convincingly human disguise as Dr. Harper. Here, it's simply a Voice Changeling that relies primarily on vocal mimicry to lure victims in.
- Advertising by Association: Aside from mentioning it’s a Stephen King adaptation, the trailer also mentions that the film is from “producers of Stranger Things”.
- Ambiguous Situation: Was Lester killed by the Boogeyman, or did he commit suicide to lure it into the Harpers' household instead of tormenting his wife?
- Ancient Evil: Rita Billings speculates that the Boogeyman has existed since the beginning of time, and that it's the reason why humans started using fire: to protect themselves from it.
- Big Brother Instinct: Sadie is very concerned to protect Sawyer, her little sister. It's what convinces her to fight the Boogeyman, despite her great fear of it and the danger.
- Bumbling Dad: A downplayed, realistic variant with Will. He's fairly put-together and loving towards his daughters, but he's distant from them and often fails to take their words into account.
- The Cameo: Seylan from Rob Savage's previous film Host appears in a Youtube video Sadie watches.
- The Corruption: The Boogeyman's arrival into the Harper's household is accompanied by a series of black vines slowly growing inside the house. When Sadie arrives at the Billings home, she finds it covered in them.
- Dark Is Evil: The titular creature is a spindly, spiderly, dark-skinned being that hides in the shadows and is completely cruel and utterly malevolent.
- Death by Adaptation: Lester Billings dies much earlier on here, namely due to having been Demoted to Extra.
- Decomposite Character: Dr. Harper isn't a disguise of the Boogeyman here, and is simply a normal man.
- Demoted to Extra: Lester Billings is the main protagonist of the short story, but here he's a supporting character.
- Dying Candle: In the trailer, there is a shot of a hallway with lit candles all over the floor. In another shot, the wind blows out the candles…
- The End... Or Is It?: After the Boogeyman is seemingly killed, Sadie is called back into the room after a family therapy session by Dr. Weller, only to find the voice is emanating from the closet. Dr. Weller than appears behind her, hinting that the Boogeyman was trying to lure her into a trap.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: On the rare occasions it speaks in its own voice, the Boogeyman speaks in a harsh and guttural rasp.
- Faux Affably Evil: The Boogeyman mockingly reassures its victims as it murders them. Notably, it briefly pauses while trying to kill Sadie in the climax to whisper "Hush now."
- The Film of the Book: It is based on the 1973 short story "The Boogeyman" (it was first published in the magazine Cavalier in March 1973 and was later republished in the 1978 short story collection Night Shift).
- For the Evulz: It's left ambiguous exactly what the Boogeyman is, but it's heavily implied to be motivated by nothing more than its own sadism.
- Good Is Not Nice: Rita is trying to kill the Boogeyman, but it doesn't stop her from using Sadie as bait to lure it out without even telling her her plan.
- Gory Discretion Shot:
- The Boogeyman murdering Lester's daughter is kept offscreen, with only a few drops of blood being shown spraying onto a photograph.
- Rita bring torn apart by the Boogeyman is shown only in quick cuts so the viewer can't see it clearly.
- Hope Spot: After the Boogeyman kills Rita, Sadie desperately calls Will to warn him not to go in the house with Sawyer. Will actually listens and prepares to leave, only for the Boogeyman to grab him and and Sawyer and drag them into the house.
- It Can Think: The Boogeyman acts like a feral beast, but it's actually quite intelligent and notably taunts its victims while using the voice of their loved ones just to Kick the Dog.
- Jerkass: Nathalie shows an astonishing Lack of Empathy to Sadie and even mocks her about her mother's death. She later locks her inside the room where Lester died as a prank, and is genuinely offended when Sadie calls her out for it.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sadie is gloomy, withdrawn, and at times short-tempered, but she's still a generally decent person who risks it all to save her family.
- Kick the Dog: Lester notes the Boogeyman specifically preys on people who are hurt and vulnerable, seemingly out of nothing but sadism.
- Kill It with Fire: The Boogeyman is ultimately defeated when Sadie and Sawyer douse it in lighter fluid and set it ablaze. It is hinted at the end it might have survived, however.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Sadie's friend Bethany is popular and surrounds herself with superficial jerks, but she genuinely cares about Sadie and wants to help her. Unfortunately, her decision to help Nathalie prank her seemingly severs their ties for good when it leads to Sadie being attacked by the Boogeyman.
- Missing Mom: The girls' mother and Will's wife was recently killed in a car accident. All of them are still mourning her, with the girls having therapy together for it. Will, though a therapist himself, hasn't opened up about it with his daughters and dealt with the loss well. Sadie wears a dress of her mom's early on, and is quite unhappy with her dad not talking to her about it. His trying to get rid of her mom's old things also angers Sadie. The three's sadness over her death turns out to be a plot point, as it's their sorrow which causes the Boogeyman's targeting them, as it preys on people like them.
- Never Suicide: Lester's apparent suicide is implied to be the work of the Boogeyman, though nothing is ever stated.
- Nice Girl: Dr. Weller is nothing but polite to the Harpers and genuinely cares about the family's well-being.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Will's reaction to his daughters' bringing up the Boogeyman, though in fairness Sawyer had been afraid of monsters even before it showed up and Sadie only brought it up after having smoked weed. He averts it towards the end when a desperate Sadie calls him and warns against going in the house, only for the Boogeyman to abduct him anyway.
- Papa Wolf: Will's reaction to the Boogeyman trying to murder Sadie is to stab it with a broken hockey stick.
- Parents as People: Will Harper is a loving father, but he refuses to come to terms with his wife's death and won't talk with his daughters about it. He also has a bad tendency not to listen to them, which helps enable the Boogeyman to haunt his daughters for as long as it does.
- Precision F-Strike: Sadie says “f*ck you” to the Boogeyman before setting him on fire.
- "Psycho" Strings: The trailer has ominous violins playing over the footage.
- sad*st: Rita notes that the Boogeyman could easily kill its victims all at once, but it prefers to play with its food and torment them first.
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: The trailer begins with a dad checking his daughter’s closet for monsters. Shortly after, the daughter finds something under the bed.
- Villain Opening Scene: The film opens with the Boogeyman murdering Lester and Rita's daughter, all while tauntingly mimicking Lester's voice.
The Boogeyman: Don't worry… Daddy's here.
- Voice Changeling: The Boogeyman can mimic the voices of others, which it uses to lure in its victims.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Boogeyman takes a sad*stic joy in tormenting children while their parents aren't paying attention. It's fully capable of killing an entire family on its own, but it enjoys toying with them first.
- Writing Indentation Clue: Sadie rubs a pencil on a page to reveal Lester's creepy drawing of the monster.
