Director Rob Savage delivered a superb breakout in 2020 with Host, which defined “doing a lot with a little,” and now returns to evolve his horror vision with a terrifying adaptation of Stephen King’s 1973 short story, The Boogeyman.
At its core, The Boogeyman is as relatively simple and straightforward as its title and isn’t like more recent King adaptations. Unlike the It films or Doctor Sleep, The Boogeyman isn’t trying to be a grand epic and is more like a small, centralized King horror story akin to something like Cujo or Christine. For the most part, it’s basically a single-setting horror movie and stays focused on sisters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) being targeted and tormented by an entity that moves through the shadows. Yet, The Boogeyman thrives in being a more scaled-back King adaptation as it allows for Savage’s ability to do “a lot with a little” to excel and evolve.
Given that Savage has really only made found-footage style horror movies prior to The Boogeyman, it was going to be interesting to see how his style translates to more traditional filmmaking. As expected, Savage shows no issues in making something more traditional and his distinct vision for scares rises to new, horrifying heights. After The Boogeyman, it’s safe to say that Savage is right on the cusp of being widely viewed as a modern master of suspense. His ability to build tension and catch viewers off guard is phenomenal here and it’s what makes The Boogeyman one of the scariest King adaptations in recent times.
He really does a great job utilizing the shadowy backgrounds to give the film’s titular entity this omnipotent presence and the lead up to the creature’s look being revealed is full of juicy tension. Savage shows some real patience in bringing the creature out of the shadows and it pays off greatly, since the titular Boogeyman is truly the stuff of nightmares. Even just the reveal of what the Boogeyman does to those it catches will literally haunt your dreams and makes such a big impact because of how much Savage keeps this creature and its lore a mystery. Viewers will never feel like they have a full grasp on the Boogeyman or what its real intentions are, and it ultimately makes it a much scarier force.
Overall, though, Savage’s strengths are easily shown in his scares as The Boogeyman is chock full of terrifying jolts that never let audiences feel comfortable. The timing for scares is flawless as Savage really waits for the right moment to shock viewers. Not every scare is just a typical jump scare either as Savage sprinkles in some disturbing visuals and tense action that make The Boogeyman a fulfilling feast for horror fans. Savage’s keen eye for scares is on display throughout The Boogeyman and it’s why it’s one of the scariest films of the year.
Savage’s great character direction and the script by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods and Mark Heyman are also great strengths for The Boogeyman, since they really take the time to make viewers genuinely care about the family’s lingering pain. Sadie’s central arc dealing with her unresolved trauma stemming from her mother’s passing is a great emotional thread throughout. It adds those great shades of real-life horror and trauma that are key to any great King story and feature some deep emotional cuts that really gut viewers. Even Sawyer and the girls’ father (Chris Messina) have their own parts in delving into the grief this family is going through, and it helps build this big emotional arc that’s excellently weaved throughout the scares.
The performances and direction meld perfectly and it’s hard not to love this family simply because of how charming and likeable they are in their banter—especially Blair and Messina. The only area where this trio can be a little frustrating and the complexity of their characters is brought down is in how clueless they can be. Sometimes, it literally feels like they’re just clumsily walking into horrifying situations, and it’s frustrating because they feel smarter than they act. Still, though, their story and the performances outweigh some of the characters’ weaknesses and viewers will find themselves totally invested in their fates until the very end.
Simply put, The Boogeyman is a great horror film and an even better moment for Savage that further showcases his vision and rise in the genre. It features a great mix of horror that’ll make viewers shudder, characters that viewers will care about, and suspense that’ll keep viewers drenched in panic. The Boogeyman continues the horror genre’s undeniable dominance in film and provides one of the genre’s best offerings of the year.
