Alright so The Boogeyman has slowly creeped into theaters, the latest Stephen King adaptation,
and I’m not going to lie, there’s… there’s some scary stuff scurrying about here.
So in this video, we’re going to be breaking down this latest frightfest, explaining the
ending, differences between the movie and King’s short story, the symbolism of The
Boogeyman, along with our thoughts on the film.
Spoilers inbound, so if you haven't had a chance to check it out, then I highly recommend
you close the closet door now!
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With that out of the way, thank you for clicking this, again I am Jared.
Now don’t turn off that light…
So with The Boogeyman being based on Stephen King’s shorts story by the same name, Rob
Savage and crew take some of the lore and twist things a bit, with this movie almost
being a faux followup to that book, as the opening shows us the daughter of Lester Billings
being attacked by the fabled Boogeyman as a bit of a cold open, showing the intensity
and some attributes of this fabled creature.
The story then settles on our main family of the Harper’s, Will and his two daughters
Sadie and Sawyer, as it’s alluded that their wife/mother had recently perished in a car
accident, as all of them struggle to get back to the normalcy of daily life.
Both daughters return to school, and Will returns to his role of stay-at-home therapist,
when a shifty man shows up unannounced to Dr. Harper’s office begging to talk.
This is Lester Billings from the opening of the movie and main character from the short
story, as he lays out his story to Dr. Harper.
Lester confides in Dr. Harper, explaining how his infant child passed away due to SIDS,
bringing grief upon the family, which soon followed by his other two children mysteriously
passing due to unknown circumstances, with the public thinking he and his wife are murderers.
However Lester believes he and his family were being stalked by something, some sort
of supernatural entity, showing a sketch of it to Harper, while being frightened by the
slightly ajar closet in Harper’s office.
After some reassurance, Will calls the authorities because of Lester’s erratic behavior, as
Lester then wanders to the upstairs of the Harper’s home.
Sadie had ditched school earlier, and hears strange banging and rustling noises coming
from her late mother’s art studio.
She finds Lester’s lifeless body hanging from the back of the closet door in the studio.
Now the main thing we learn throughout this, is that the Boogeyman is drawn to “wounded
victims”, typically ones suffering from loss, grief, some sort of trauma, and the
fear that these victims show, acts as almost a food source for this ancient unknown creature.
This toying with its food continues with several frightful sequences, as Sadie reminisces over
some of her mother’s belongings in their basement, finding a lighter that belonged
to her mother.
She’s curious if her mother’s spirit is watching them, and as a test, she asks her
mother to move the lighter’s flame to the left.
However the flame doesn’t move.
These further attacks cause Sadie to wander into the Billings old home, only to find Lester’s
wife acting all crazy old lady type, hunting the unknown beast like the old man at the
end of Jeepers Creepers 2.
This is where Sadi learns of the monster’s tendencies, its motives, and so forth.
Leading to her and her family having a much larger target on them, as later that evening,
the Boogeyman drags around the young Sawyer, tossing her into the television like a 2008
rogue wii mote, sending her to the hospital.
Lester’s wife calls Sadie telling her she’s found a way to stop the beast, but it is all
a trap.
Tying up Sadie as bait, to lure The Boogeyman out of hiding, but the room is rigged like
an adult Kevin MacCalister contraption, resulting in the Boogeyman being pelted with dozens
of shotgun shells once it steps on a trip wire.
Like Dutch always says.
With this new information, Sadie runs home to find her father and sister prisoners to
The Boogeyman, almost using them as bait to get to her.
Sadie goes back into the basement, Casey Jones style, fighting off the creature with a hockey
stick, until she’s pinned and her essence is slowly devoured by The Boogeyman.
I..
I don’t know man, it looked like Death Eaters stealing something out of her.
Dr. Harper stabs the creature with the broken hockey stick, freeing Sadie.
She attempts to ignite her mother’s lighter again, only for the flame to shine brighter
than before, slightly moving to the left, as a sign her mother’s spirit is finally
with them.
Sadie then lights that some beach up with some hairspray and gasoline, resulting in
some crispy fried Boogey, as the family escapes the home, watching as everything burns down.
I’m assuming what is week’s later, we see Dr. Harper and his two daughters all in
therapy together, finally confronting the trauma, grief, and loss together.
The things the Boogeyman was thriving on, are now healed as a bonded family unit.
But as they are about to leave, Sadie hears the therapist call to her, only to find an
empty room, with the closet door ajar.
Ohhhh shit!
The Boogeyman is still there, just like the short story.
But instead of fear, Sadie closes the closet, as a symbol that she is healed, the past is
in the past, and she is okay with moving forward with life.
Grief will always be with her, but it will no longer consume her, control her life, as
closing the door literally and metaphorically symbolizes this.
As for The Boogeyman, overall I think this was a somewhat effective horror movie.
Some might say it’s more of an elevated horror film, because of the real life metaphorical
implications it’s dealing with are things a lot of people can probably relate to.
But it’s also a creature feature monster movie, so it’s in a weird position trying
to pull overtime.
I was scared, don’t get me wrong, and the camera movements helped with those frights,
whether it be panning to a character to distract us from something else, or the Boogeyman lurking
in the background of an unsuspecting character.
There’s a specific shot of the youngest Harper, looking under her bed, and the camera
flipping was the perfect disorienting way to take things.
In the end, does it all work?
Not entirely.
I think the acting, specifically Vivien Blair and Sophie Thatcher really helped bring us
into this world and the lore of The Boogeyman, combined with the idea of grief and trauma,
and how it can effectively affect people differently, but in the end deteriorates a person’s mind
slowly over time.
I thought those aspects were the strongest.
I also thought the creature design, even though much of the time it’s shrouded in darkness,
therefore leaving a lot up to our imagination, really worked in the film, attaching itself
to that grief and trauma I just mentioned.
I’d give The Boogeyman an ehhh idk a 6.1/10.
Just because it doesn’t necessarily do anything new, it’s quite paint by the numbers predictable,
and the lore or mechanics of The boogeyman are sorta left to our imagination.
It is taking elements from It follows, Relic from 2020, Smile, Darkness Falls, anda few
others.
And like Is it teleporting, are there multiple of them, was it human at some time, or is
it literally just a creature from Monsters Inc trying to make a living?
I..
I don’t know man.
Anyway, let us know your thoughts on The Boogeyman.
Was this one of 2023’s scariest movies or was this just another horror movie running
through the motions.
Let us know in the comments below!
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We’re ramping up with more classic movie breakdowns, so treat yo’self.
With that out of the way, huge thank you for sitting through the video, it’s been a long
one, but I've been your host Jared and I'll see you next time.
Take care, Peace