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Ervell E. Menezes finds Boogeyman engrossing
What could that be is the big question. The action dwells much on what happens after 15 years when Tim is a social editor and spends a good deal of his time partying. Jessica (Tory Mussett) is his girlfriend who is quite embarrassed when this phobia comes back to haunt him during his weekend visit to her parents’ house. This is because of the closet in their room. Tim then goes to the psychiatric hospital where he spent many years after his dad’s death and is told that he must confront "the evil presence once and for all." Boogeyman is all about this evil presence. He goes to the old house, the same one Norman Bates lived in in Psycho. Kay is apparently a fan of Hitchcock. The interiors are similar to Psycho. Instead of the shower scene, it is the bathtub, with shades of Fatal Attraction. In the beginning, the Psycho allusions seem pretentious but scriptwriters Eric Kripke, Juliet Snowden and Stiles White weave an engrossing drama involving his childhood sweetheart Kate (Emily Deschenel) and a mysterious little girl named Franny (Skye McCole Bartusiak) whom he first encounters at his mother’s funeral. "There is no such thing as the boogeyman," he tells her initially but he seems mistaken. Could she be holding the key to the mystery? Actually, director Kay does a good job of keeping viewers engrossed. The narrative moves along two fronts and then suddenly merges. Clever plot. We then find our social editor in a psychological whirl, shuttling between his present and past girlfriends. Meanwhile, the boogeyman sets to work and characters get eliminated. Boogeyman keeps the viewer engrossed for three-fourths of the length of the film. The climax is a bit of a letdown. Barry Watson does an excellent job in the lead role. He is supported by Skye McCole Bartusiak and Emily Deschenel. Yes, Boogeyman warrants a dekko. It starts weakly but gains momentum. |
MOST
of us, if not all, have been frightened in our chidhood by someone
called the bogeyman. The purpose, not wisely so, is to coerce a child
into doing something he or she doesn’t want to, the most common reason
being to eat one’s food. But Stephen Kay’s Boogeyman is more
real and probes the mysterious incidents that plague hero Tim’s (Barry
Watson) life much after his dad succumbs to some outer power.