Boogeyman (2012)
** (out of 4)
Average SyFy production has brothers going into a creepy house and accidentally letting loose the title character, a burned faced monster who can kill with its bare hands. Soon the boy's father (Eddie McClintock), a cop, is investigating while his partner/lover (Amy Bailey) might know more than she's telling. BOOGEYMAN (there's no "the" before the title) is certainly far from the majority of the bad movies that turn up on SyFy but at the same time its not that good either. In reality this turned out to be one of those movies that features some interesting things in it but they never really add up to be a good movie. Everything here from the direction to the performances are good but there's just something missing from the film. I think it would have helped had there not been the entire Biblical thing going on. I'm not a moralist or anything, I don't object to religion being used but I just didn't think it worked here. Another problem is that none of the characters are all that interesting and since we spend a lot of time with them, it certainly would have helped to make them more likable. Again, I thought the performances were rather good and this includes the two leads. They share a nice chemistry together and they certainly overcame their weak characters. I also really enjoyed the look of the monster. The burned, skull-like face was very effective and I thought it was one of the better monster designs I've seen in a while. His killing power was also fun to watch. With that said, BOOGEYMAN is worth watching if you're a major fan of the genre but it's still way short of being a classic or even a good film.
