Boogeyman

 Boogeyman

"Did you hear the one about the tall, dark man, who comes out of your bedroom closet at night? Or was it from under your bed? No one know's for sure. But one thing's for sure, "If you misbehave, the Boogeyman will get you!" 

Imagine this. You’re eight years old. Lying in bed, but you can’t get to sleep. It’s a windy night, and shadows dance across every wall and corner of your room. Your little eyes dart from left to right, reacting to every movement, flinch or sound. The floorboards creak, the windows shake, and you have this awful, sinking feeling that you’re not alone. This is the experience for most kids at some point, scared of the dark and terrified of the sounds in the black of night. And where does this primal fear come from? 

Almost every country in the world has a version of The Boogeyman. Thought to have originated from bedtime stories parents told their children, along the lines of “If you misbehave, the Boogeyman will get you”. Those foolish parents, believing they could use the invoking of fear to get their kids to behave, would have walked off and chuckled to themselves, as their young ones then lay in bed, terrified of the very thought of the Boogeyman. He could leap out of the closet, climb out from under the bed, and as you hide under your sheets, closing your eyes and hoping he’ll go away, a cold, bony hand gently strokes your face. 

This sense of ominous dread and pure fear is captured well in the opening scene of “Boogeyman”. Surprisingly, there were only two films carrying the title of the most worldly urban legend of them all, however the myth of the Boogeyman, has left much open to interpretation, and is the symbolic meaning behind most scary monsters and ghosts depicted in horror movies of the past forty years. 

The original “Halloween” from 1978, was about a masked serial killer stalking babysitters. But the children in the film referred to him as the Boogeyman. In the 1980’s, Freddy and Jason were the Boogeymen of the Box Office, as both were unstoppable, unkillable monsters, that appeared from the dark and chased you down. Then in the 1990’s, it was “Scream”, with the ghost face killer jumping out of a closest and chasing teens upstairs. These icons of horror wouldn’t exist without the myth of the Boogeyman. 

In 2005, along came this small and underrated horror film, about a young man called Tim (Barry “7^th Heaven” Watson), who experiences the presence of the Boogeyman in the creepy opening scene of the film. So traumatised he was by what he witnessed, he continues to be haunted by his childhood nightmare come to life, fifteen years later. Leading an ordinary life for a twenty something, he works as an editor for a successful magazine, has a beautiful girlfriend, and an awesome loft apartment. But there are no separate rooms in his apartment, hence no wardrobes, and he’s removed all the doors from the kitchen cupboards. Clearly, any door is a gateway for the monster of his youth, and he’s not taking any chances. 

As Tim is called back to his childhood home to deal with some family issues, the memories of his past resurface. Already a haunted guy carrying a secret no one would possibly believe, Tim unravels the mysteries of the past, and recalls on his strongest memories. He has flashbacks of his father, who tried to tell him again and again, “There’s no such thing as the Boogeyman”, and to teach his son not to be afraid, locks him in a closest, and tells him off for being scared in his room at night. But the memories are so real, they start to materialise as apparitions to Tim, causing him to start losing his grip on reality, confusing make believe with real life. 

The movie is well shot, with many ominous scenes and a sense of malice hanging over proceedings. Barry Watson carries the film just fine, and manages to distract you from his smouldering good looks that stood out in “7^th Heaven”, and convince you he is a troubled guy, with haunted eyes. Although set in Pennsylvania, the film was shot in New Zealand, and uses several settings well to establish eerie environments of misty roads with ancient trees, shedding autumn leaves from the constant cold winds. 

Although the Bogeyman’s true appearance is not revealed to the end here, however you decide to envision this urban legend is up to you. If you look on line, you will find several sites that describe the many different forms this entity takes on from it’s various origins around the world. The power and fear of the Boogeyman legend, is that he is shapeless, faceless and mysterious. He hides in the shadows of the corner of your room, and is more of a presence than any kind of person. The legend is most prominent with children, who fear the Boogeyman, hoping they never get to meet him. 

But fortunately, we grownups soon learn there’s no such thing as the Boogeyman that hides under the bed and sneaks out of your closet at night. But, there’s no point denying that even as we age, we all still have a Boogeyman of our own, and if we’re home alone, with the silence of the night settling in, our imaginations are prone to run away from us, conjuring up images that go with the creaks and bumps in the dark. 

If you still need to check your closet or under your bed before going to sleep, don’t be ashamed. Apparently, even the Boogeyman has fears, checking his closet for Chuck Norris before going to bed.

Sleep tight 😉

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