Digital Review: THE BOOGEYMAN

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Sep 03, 2023 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

It’s been a month since sisters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher, Yellowjackets) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair, Obi-Wan Kenobi) lost their mother, and they, along with their father, are still grieving, each in their own separate ways. 9-year-old Sawyer is scared of the dark, sleeping with lights on, and cradling a glowing orb to help her fall asleep. She’s constantly worried about monsters lurking in her closet or under her bed. Teenager Sadie has taken the loss of their mother the hardest, wearing her mother’s clothes to keep her mother’s scent close, and even going so far as to research YouTube videos on how to talk to the dead. Her schoolmates don’t understand the grief she is going through, and often make light of the situation.

Meanwhile, father/psychiatrist Dr. William Harper (Chris Messina, The Mindy Project) has been throwing himself into his work, which he runs out of an office in their home. One day a mysterious man named Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian, The Suicide Squad) shows up at the door, wanting to talk to Dr. Harper about the mysterious and gruesome deaths of his three young children, and how he feels guilty for being unable to stop whatever it was that killed them, one by one. He even shows the doctor a drawing one his children drew of a creature, which he claims took their lives while he wasn’t paying attention. William suspects the man may be crazy, and that he may have even murdered his own children. He worries that Lester could pose a threat to him and his own children, but that soon proves to be a major understatement.

The Boogeyman is a creature that goes after the hurt and vulnerable, and follows them wherever they go. It hides in the darkness, mimicking voices, and playing with its “food”, until it manages to literally scare its prey to death. The creature seems to have followed Lester to the Harper’s home, where it has latched onto Sawyer, preying on her grief and fears, trying to make her its next victim. While Sadie initially thinks her sister is making things up, she soon discovers that the creature is also drawn to her grief and starts haunting her as well. So the sisters set out to find out more about this creature, and figure out a way to stop it before it’s too late.

The Boogeyman is based on a short story by master of horror Stephen King. Like many of the author’s works, this is much more than a simple creature feature. There is a deeper level to the story that would work even if the creature was not there. At the heart of the story is a tale of a family that’s been divided by a loss, with each of the family members grieving in private. No one really talks to one another about the loss or their feelings, and this is what is allowing The Boogeyman to thrive and grow in power—grief that is bottled up and unspoken. And so the family must learn to open up to one another and work together if they have any chance of stopping this monster. Otherwise, they could suffer the same fate as the Billings family.

The film comes from co-writers Bryan Woods & Scott Beck (A Quiet Place, 65) and director Rob Savage, who do an excellent job of slowly building the tension and revealing the full nature of this creature. The Boogeyman needs to hide in the darkness, so we often just see the glow of its eyes, or get a quick glimpse of its face. Other times we may see its shadow skittering around on the ceiling or in the background, stalking its unsuspecting prey. This leads to many jump scares, but the frights are as much about what you don’t see as what you do, and I often found myself getting literal chills throughout the film.

The physical Blu-ray disc release of The Boogeyman won’t be available until October 10, but the Digital release is available for purchase now in 4K—there has been no 4K disc release announced. I was sent the HD Digital release for review, which I watched via the Apple TV. The release features a solid presentation. This is a dark movie, but the picture remains clean and clear throughout. While still very pleasing and more than sufficient, the digital HD picture seemed to be lacking that extra level of finer detail in faces that I typically see in a 4K or Blu-ray release. It could be a limitation of the HD streaming quality, and the 4K digital could have a greater level of detail, but either way, this didn’t affect my enjoyment of the film. The audio track makes nice use of the stereo and surround channels to help immerse the viewer in the horror, whether its the off camera sounds of the creature attacking a victim, chittering around the room, or mimicking the voice of a loved one to lure in its prey.

The bonus material, which should be the same as what will be on the physical release, consists of an interesting 16-minute behind-the-scenes featurette with the cast and crew, as well as a short outtakes reel.

What’s Included:

Cover photo is from the Blu-ray release. Specs and bonus material may vary per platform/retailer. We received the HD Digital release for review, which is what is reflected below.

Film: (1:39:05)

1080p / Widescreen 2.36:1
Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English, English CC, French (Canada), Spanish (Latin America)

Extras:
Content may vary by retailer.

Into the Darkness (16:01)
The cast and crew discuss the universal terror of this monster, what the Boogeyman represents and how it chooses and preys on his victims, adapting Stephen King’s original short story, the writing process, the drama underneath the surface, casting the film, working with the director, the design of the creature, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with co-writers Bryan Woods & Scott Beck, director Rob Savage, producer Shawn Levy, producer Dan Levine, producer Dan Cohen, and stars Sophie Thatcher (“Sadie Harper”), Vivien Lyra Blair (“Sawyer Harper”), Chris Messina (“Will Harper”), David Dastmalchian (“Lester Billings”) & Marin Ireland (“Rita Billings”).
Outtakes (1:49)
The cast crack one another up, and have fun on set.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

The Boogeyman is a really well done thriller that literally gave me chills at times. Not only is it a great monster horror movie, but at the core of the film is an interesting dramatic journey for the main characters. The filmmakers have done an excellent job of slowly revealing the creature and building the tension, while also delivering some exciting scares. The cast is great and work well together, feeling like they could be a real family. The digital release features pretty solid picture and sound, which could only look better if purchasing the 4K digital release (we received the HD version for review). The release also includes a small selection of bonus material. This release comes recommended for any horror and Stephen King fans. Those wanting a physical disc release will need to wait an additional month.