The Boogeyman (1982)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Stephen King adaptation has a father (Michael Read) being arrested for killing his child but the story he tells Dr. Harper (Bert Linder) is quite different than what the police think happened. The father claims that his son was murdered by the boogeyman who lived in his closet and he tells the doctor his story. This student film from Jeff Schiro actually managed to get released back in the day and while I think it has a few good moments the end result isn't quite as good as one would hope. I thought the first five minutes were quite effective and I think they really captured the heart of the story, which is meant to say that the boogeyman kid's fear is living in their closet is real and it can kill them. The middle section of the picture is where it drags as we get some rather boring dialogue scenes that I'm sure were meant to work as psychological horror but they never really reach a creepy level. The ending of the film finally picks up some but at 28-minutes there's no question that it feels a tad bit too long. The performances are really hit and miss but I thought both Read and Linder were fine, although I think some better editing could have helped both. The music score isn't all that good and appears to be trying to copy THE SHINING. With that said, fans of King's short story should get a few kicks out of this but a better version is certainly needed.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Stephen King adaptation has a father (Michael Read) being arrested for killing his child but the story he tells Dr. Harper (Bert Linder) is quite different than what the police think happened. The father claims that his son was murdered by the boogeyman who lived in his closet and he tells the doctor his story. This student film from Jeff Schiro actually managed to get released back in the day and while I think it has a few good moments the end result isn't quite as good as one would hope. I thought the first five minutes were quite effective and I think they really captured the heart of the story, which is meant to say that the boogeyman kid's fear is living in their closet is real and it can kill them. The middle section of the picture is where it drags as we get some rather boring dialogue scenes that I'm sure were meant to work as psychological horror but they never really reach a creepy level. The ending of the film finally picks up some but at 28-minutes there's no question that it feels a tad bit too long. The performances are really hit and miss but I thought both Read and Linder were fine, although I think some better editing could have helped both. The music score isn't all that good and appears to be trying to copy THE SHINING. With that said, fans of King's short story should get a few kicks out of this but a better version is certainly needed.