Since the death of their mother in a car accident, Sadie, a teenager, and her little sister, Sawyer, are alone to deal with their grief. A shame, since their father, Will, is a therapist. But it is he who systematically refuses to talk about the tragedy, much to the despair of his daughters.
Will receives one day at his office, located in the house where the family lives, a desperate man, who has lost all his loved ones, according to him because of a diabolical force. Shortly after his visit, Sadie and Sawyer begin to record strange phenomena at home, while their father refuses to believe it...
No blah, the bogeyman goes straight to the point!
From an eight-page short story by Stephen King published in 1973 in an American magazine, then reprinted in the collection – "Danse macabre" – five years later, British director Rob Savage draws a real fantasy feature film versing in horror, which deserves no more than an average rating, even if its first cut has supposedly been modified, because he scared the spectators too much!
We think rather of a nice publicity stunt by Savage, who had not really convinced with his film "Host", passed by the Gérardmer festival in 2021 and was one of the first to integrate the Covid-19 pandemic into its history, but was never broadcast by us. The filmmaker cites as references for his latest effort no less than "Evil Dead 2", "The House of the Devil", "Ring" or "Do not turn around", masterpieces from which he remains far away.
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It is rather more recent films, including the effective "Dans le Noir" (2016), that come to mind at the vision of the "Croque-mitaine", which does not waste time in useless blablas and goes straight to the point. The story is not lacking in ideas, such as the character of this half-crazy mother whose life was once shattered by the monster, with whom Sadie will come into contact for an unexpected result, to say the least. A film that will not harm the legend of Stephen King – he enjoyed the feature film – but will not remain in its essential film adaptations either.
Editor's note:
3/5
"The Bogeyman", American fantasy film by Rob Savage, with Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, Marin Ireland... 1h38
