The horror genre lends itself well to presenting dark and brooding family dramas on film. It’s simple: the traumas, obsessions and torpor that come after experiencing a tragedy usually fit perfectly with the elements that are almost always seen in these tapes. The movie Boogeyman: Your fear is real It is the product of this formula, but it is a rare product, to say the least, since it dares to deny a little of what has been done for years when talking about mourning, forgetting the conventions to entertain greatly and even at times to be funny. A curious but functional combination.
The death of a loved one is, most of the time, the starting point for these stories that take advantage of melancholy to make the viewer uncomfortable. However, it is common that, when trying to focus on the feelings of those who suffer the loss, the stories become dense and pessimistic to evoke terror from the vulnerability of the protagonists. This is by no means wrong, and the bravery of so many filmmakers to turn exhausting and suffocating experiences into true nightmares is appreciated.
The truth is that twists, in any field of feature film production, will always be welcome as well. For this reason, what director Rob Savage proposes is a success: on the screen we see what happens when all that density is synthesized as much as possible until it becomes literal, leaving something that has very little subtle symbols. Here, grief and grief are a John Carpenter and HR Giger-esque monster, and its victims will be a father and his two daughters, a teenager and a girl. Archetypal characters found in a Steven Spielberg or Tobe Hooper movie.
To put together this battle of “monster vs. humans”, Savage and screenwriters Mark Heyman, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods —who maintain the adventurous tone of their magnificent film a place in silence (2018)— were based on a story by Stephen King published in 1973. In that story, also called boogeyman, narrates the visit of Lester Billings to the office of Dr. Harper, a psychologist he has just met. Throughout 18 pages, we witness a conversation in which the patient confesses to the therapist that he feels great guilt for having allowed his children to be murdered by “the bogeyman”, a shadowy figure who attacks in the dark and wait hidden.
In this adaptation, the focus is not on the life of Lester (a chilling David Dastmalchian, who could have had more frame time). Appropriately, the story expands to show us the daily life of Dr. Will Harper (Chris Messina), recently widowed and now caring for his daughters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair, stealing their scenes with great charisma). After his mother passes away, things start to happen in his house and everything is very similar to what Billings related. Will they be able to deal with the creature?
While the tale is chilling for the way King’s frenetic prose perfectly conveys the anguish of a tormented father, the filmic expansion succeeds in shining a spotlight on another problem, capturing the loneliness and isolation during the mourning stage.
In fact, it is striking that, during the first act, the trick of not showing the monster too much and only suggesting it is used. This serves so that the public is infected with the sadness of the characters. Although in this part the rhythm is slow and contemplative, the wait is worth it, because when melancholy is juxtaposed with the jumpscares and the eighties horror film techniques, the result is exceptional. Using the grief of the protagonists as her main engine to drive them to fight the creature, she creates a coming-of-age that organically dialogues with sensitive and lurid topics.
It is not surprising that the film is produced by Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine, from the company 21 Laps, since several scenes are presented in a veiled way that are very similar to what was seen in stranger things. Also, near the end, there is a shocking and very well executed tribute to Poltergeist: Devil Games (1982).
The movie boogeyman is a great option for those who enjoy stories that are not afraid to experience. His mix of styles is crazy, but very well justified. It is proof that the narratives of yesteryear can still be fresh, even when interpreted from a modern perspective.
Jose Roberto Landaverde I love writing, listening, reading and commenting on everything related to cinema. I love music and am a fan of The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and Paramore. My favorite movies are Rocky and Back to the Future and obviously one day I’ll climb the “Philly Steps” and drive a DeLorean. Faithful believer that cinema is the best teleportation machine, and also that on the big screen we can all see ourselves represented.