Newcomer Barry Watson stars in Boogeyman, the latest in a long line of schlock horrors that have proved wildly successful in recent years. That's in spite of dodgy production values and flimsy plotting, which in this case amount to a "humourless trudge through haunted house clichés". Yes, those aren't the floorboards you hear creaking...
Boogey All Night
Despite all evidence to the contrary, producer Rob Tapert insists that Boogeyman will "refresh the genre" with its psychological approach in a half-hour batch of cast and crew interviews. "We've lost the monster edge," he says, "It plays more to overcoming fears that are created as a child." In fact what's said here is more intriguing than the film itself. Tapert, and director Stephen Kay trace the evolution of horror films and attempt to explain the lure of ghost stories with some amusing childhood anecdotes. Kay swears that when he was a boy a dastardly "ice princess" dragged him from his bed and left him hanging on a tree outside his window! But outdoing the director in the crazy stakes is Watson who claims to have had a close encounter with the mythical Bigfoot. "It wasn't my imagination," he insists, "I saw it. I really did." Okaaay...
An alternative ending plays up the Freudian angle in a section of seven deleted scenes. As well as confronting the dreaded Boogeyman, Watson's character comes face-to-face with his younger self. (Sadly no cameo by Bigfoot.) Even more frightening is the iffy use of CGI that has Watson floating just above the floor in eerie David Blaine fashion. Naturally the bits that are actually meant to be scary wind up falling flat.
Dispelling The Demons
In case you're wondering how (rather than why) they did that, there's a demo of visual effects that peels away the layers of CGI for a handful of pivotal scenes. But for a genuine sense of the otherworldly, check out a gallery of storyboards, which comes complete with dialogue and sound effects - it plays like Jackanory by David Fincher. (Again, the raw footage is more effective than the final cut.)
If Boogeyman grabbed you the first time around, this DVD is worth looking into, but we suspect most of you will want to block the bad memories.
EXTRA FEATURES
