The Boogeyman (1980) (AKA The Bogey Man)
A certain amount of affection is levied in reviewing The Boogeyman as it was a key movie in terms of my formative years. With its provocative video cover of a priest (played by Llewelyn Thomas) holding a crucifix out front as blood drips down his face it was one of the first real titles to jump out at me from the shelves of my local rental palace. It was also one of those titles that were branded at one point to be a Video Nasty during the political witch-hunt that saw many such titles re-cut or banned outright at the time.
The Boogeyman opens with a young brother Willy and his sister Lacey peeking through their living window watching their mother drink as her fellow dons tights over his head. Noticing the children at the window the man ties Willy to his bed only for Lacey to soon cut his binds and hand him the knife by which he stabs his tormentor.
Twenty years later Lacey (Suzanna Love) is trying to put the horrors of her past behind her with the aid of John Carradine’s shrink Dr. Warren. Brother Willy has become mute. Lacey receives a letter from her mother saying she would like to see them before she dies. Back in the old area Lacey visits her old home and in doing so sees in the bedroom mirror – which just happens to be the same one that was on the wall the night Willy (Nicholas Love) killed his mum’s fella – and the evil contained within. She smashes the mirror and in doing so unleashes its evil.
Sometimes revisiting an old favourite can be a disappointing experience but in this case no. Sure The Boogeyman is threadbare and completely rips off aspects of both John Carpenter’s Halloween and The Exorcist however unlike most low budget shockers it’s not about the gore – there is a story and there’s also John Carradine to give it some leverage.
The humming synth score adds to the unease during the earlier childhood scene and the pacing ensures that it doesn’t outstay its welcome. People new to it may not be quite so taken with this flick however it has far more on offer than a million Saw movies and is certainly much better than a lot of what followed in the genre from the States in the Eighties.
Writer/director Ulli Lommel’s film has its faults. It’s rough around the edges and has the odd intentional laugh – witness how perfectly the family manage to put back the broken mirror – and talking about family you may be interested to know that onscreen elder brother and sister are played by real-life brother and sister Nicholas and Suzanne Love. The Boogeyman is not to be confused with the dire franchise wannabe that came some twenty odd years later; Lommel’s film is much better than that.