The Boogey Man (1980)
Genre: Horror
Duration: 82 minuten
Alternative title: Spiegel der Angsten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Ulli Lommel
Stars: John Carradine, Ron James and Suzanna Love
IMDb score:
4,7 (5.754)
Releasedate: 7 November 1980
The Boogey Man plot
"The most terrifying nightmare of childhood is about to return!"
Lacey and Willy were still children when they killed their mother's abusive boyfriend. They are already grown and Willy, who no longer speaks, is terrified of mirrors. An evil spirit occasionally takes hold of Lacey, and the psychotherapy she's on doesn't seem to help. She decides to visit the house where she used to live and smashes the mirror. What she doesn't know is that she is releasing an evil spirit...
Actors and actresses
Lacey
Jake
Dr. Warren
Willy
Kevin
Helen Edwards
Ernest Edwards
Father Reilly
Lacey and Willy's Mother
Young Willy
Reviews & comments
Shadowed
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- 11421 messages
- 6719 votes
First Lommel.
This director has meanwhile acquired quite a creditable status, but that is not because of his talent, more because of his style, which is quite questionable to say the least. The Boogey Man belongs to his more famous and commercial work, but whether it deserves that is unfortunately another matter.
In any case, The Boogey Man is characterized by scenes that are supported by a very strange, almost electronic soundtrack. Nice to listen to on its own, but it never fits in the film. The scenes don't get any more exciting, especially more unusual. Since the style of the film is otherwise fairly straightforward, it can never really fit in, and that creates discomfort.
Furthermore, the acting can also be called sad and even the bigger names manage to achieve little, such as Carradine in this case. Not exactly the most unknown name, but his role is mainly silly and he can't do much with that. Also, every crew member lacks the charisma and they mainly stick to standard characters that never rise above mediocrity.
Despite the fact that the pace is still reasonable and the horror sometimes wants to go rough, the story and its course hits like a pincer on a pig. Logic is sometimes hard to find and certainly the finale includes a rather special solution to get rid of a powerful demon. For example, the film is full of strange ideas that actually only have the opposite effect.
The intention and intention was good, but the way it comes out is mainly a mess. The Boogey Man has become a fairly messy mess that does have some good points, but in its sense it completely falls into horror that wants too much and therefore mainly comes out as silly. A lesser horror film that, in my opinion, has undeservedly acquired a reasonable status among the horror audience.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Woland
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- 4809 messages
- 3825 votes
Separate video. And whether I like it, I also have varying feelings about it. The film starts off as a kind of standard slasher, with a Halloween-like atmosphere and a large knife. But the tone soon becomes supernatural, and a lot of people die in all sorts of vague ways. To be honest, the story is just muddled and that doesn't help to enjoy the movie. A possessed mirror whose shards sow death and destruction I didn't find very convincing. The cast and dialogues are also pretty bad, but on the other hand there are occasionally quite nice kills and it had a nice atmosphere at times. In the end it also goes wild for a while, and that only benefited the film. All in all not great, but I certainly managed to enjoy myself in the second half.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Bobbejaantje
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- 2301 messages
- 2092 votes
A follower of everything that was successful horror in the seventies. Contains elements of Halloween, The Exorcistand Amityville Horror. Glorious names but this work is a mixed bag, although it is not unentertaining. Production-wise, it is striking that the balance is not always there. Some scenes contain shots with a different kind of lighting that makes those scenes appear discontinuous and amateurish (the scenes on the beach). Unless I've seen a movie version that was cut and pasted from different sources. At other times I see masterful cinematography. Certain shots from the opening scene play with light and shadow like the best film noir.
The story is also a bit unbalanced. But at the same time it is also refreshing to see something that is not a direct copy of an expected (Hollywood) pattern. Overall, a film with a bizarre atmosphere. With exciting moments and clumsy moments. And then say this went on the list of Video Nasties in the '80s. Seems very exaggerated also compared to other nasties of the time.
Mixed experience but good to see once. If this is to represent the better work of Ulli Lommel, I'll leave it at that.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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