Boogeyman

Introduction

When is a horror film not a horror film? This is easy to answer after you have seen Boogeyman.

Young Tim is traumatised by the `memory` of his father being abducted by the Boogeyman and since then has a phobia of doors of all types; shut, open, or indeed in the process of being shut or opened (or perhaps it was because he realised his mother was actually Xena - Warrior Princess, and couldn`t quite cope). And that`s it basically.end of story, or what there is of one.

Ok, I`m being a little cruel, but there really isn`t much else. I`ll try and explain what I mean in the following sections.

Video

The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.35:1, and there are no noticable defects...except for much of the camerawork. It seems that the director, Stephen T Kay (middle name `The` ??) enjoys the modern music video, as we are confronted with the constant jerky, unnecessarily heavily edited, oddly-angled style which we are used to seeing in Snoop Bangy Woof-Woof`s latest bling vid. After a very short time I was hankering after some of Hitchcock`s 15 minute single takes just to keep my sanity.

Audio

The sound is very nicely done in DD 5.1, although you have to watch the volume level as most of the `shocks` in the film arrive as a loud bang (with accompanying 2-frame shot of something moving fast). After a while, this attempt at frightening you becomes tedious and I began to second guess when the next one was coming. There are creaks aplenty from all sides though, if you`re into that sort of thing.

The original soundtrack is by Joseph LoDuca, who produces a fairly effective score full of electronic mysteriousness and rumbling bass stuff, but it`s nothing too special.

Features

Extras include cast and crew interviews, which contain much of the mutual congratulatory cheese we`ve come to expect from extras thrown onto DVDs with not much thought. Apparently, Rob Tapert is "a wonderful human being". I can sleep soundly knowing I`ve learnt so much about this film now.

As part of the `interviews` we have a short item called `Evolution of the Horror Film` which I hoped was a fairly intelligent retrospective of the genre, but turned out to be some more inane comments on the making of this film alone.

Conclusion

This seems to be a film which has no idea whether it should turn into a horror film, or psychological thriller, and it fails dismally at being either. It seems that all the frights we get are from the sudden noises in the soundtrack together with the sudden flashes of `things` on the film itself, and when anyone is supposed to look terrified they just appear as if someone has insulted them.

The plot veers from some genuinely creepy scenes (the beginning, in the startlingly `Amityville/Bates Motel`-type house, is probably the best bit of the film ), to some completely way-out and unexplained time-travelling , or what seems like it. Portals to other parts of the film set open from closet doors, people disappear from the storyline without adequate, or indeed any explanation, and what there is of a `monster`, if it did exist at all, appears as some appalling CGI effect.

Sam Raimi was one of the producers, but doesn`t appear in the interviews. I`m not surprised. Apart from the `Xena` connection - composer, several actors etc, I cannot imagine what he was doing involved in such a mess. Despite the blandness of the extras, much truth is spoken. If I may share some with you…

"I think this movie will be unique.." - Rob Tapert (one of the producers)..I couldn`t agree more mate.

"You never know what`s going to come next" - `Franny` the little girl. Well, quite frankly, Franny, I`m not sure the scriptwriters or director did either.

"It`s a people movie, with scary stuff in it" - courtesy of the director. Ah well.