Now available on DVD
Cast:
Erin Cahill as Sarah
Chuck Hittinger as David
Mimi Michaels as Lindsey
Matt Rippy as Kane
Nikki Sanderson as Audrey
Directed by Gary Jones
Review:
Boogeyman 3 picks up after the events of part two, wherein psychologist Dr. Mitchell Allen and his patients were supposedly murdered by a “boogeyman” killer. Now his daughter Audrey, after reading the doctor’s journal, is being stalked by the same menace in her dorm. She asks for help, but nobody believes her until it is too late. After witnessing the creature kill Audrey, psychology student Sarah (Erin Cahill) tries to convince everyone that the boogeyman legend is true. Of course, everybody thinks she is crazy at first. Then, as students start disappearing, Sarah’s friends start to listen. Unfortunately, the more people that believe her, the stronger the Boogeyman becomes.
For a franchise of films with such a ridiculous premise to begin with, this sequel has a halfway decent story. It is your typical nobody-believes-the-protagonist-until-it-is-too-late formula, but I like that the Boogeyman can only attack if you believe, and so fear itself directly contributes to a victim’s demise. Knowing this, the creature deliberately keeps Sarah alive, in order to perpetuate his legend â much like a virus keeping its host alive. Sure, it has been done before, but it works well for this movie. Furthermore, having not seen the previous Boogeyman films, I can confidently say this one stands alone. It heavily references the other two movies, but only summarizes their events as needed. In doing so, Boogeyman 3 does not simply ride the coat-tails of its predecessors like many horror sequels.
Sarah and her friends are your run-of-the-mill horror clichés â good girl, slut, jock, token black guy, etc. The actors are not terrible, just very one-dimensional. That fact is often forgiven in this genre because the monster/villain is so badass. Sadly, that is not the case here. The Boogeyman is literally a big Bulgarian dude in witch make-up. Anyone could re-create the look with Party City Halloween make-up and white contact lenses. Then there is that choppy, strobe effect used so predominantly in films like The Ring, The Grudge etc. which is just lame. And if you are smart enough to stick with a group or not walk into a dark closet, you are relatively safe from this oversized ghost-witch-thing. He is not scary in the least.
On the plus side, there are a few decent gore scenes – nothing terribly fancy, but not totally boring, either. The film does attempt to make each character’s death unique. Most take on a familiar Freddy Krueger quality, but it beats repetitive stabbing and strangling. There is certainly no shortage of blood, including one creepy Shining-esque hallway scene. My big complaint is a CGI-enhanced blood flood that takes place in the dorm’s laundry room. It is great idea, but there is no excuse for the computer enhancement. They should have taken a cue from Boogeyman producer Sam Raimi â he knows a thing or two about creating a proper blood flood.
Finally, I almost loved this film’s ending. It has an unconventional climax that I refer to as “the Dark Knight ending.” It is followed by a cool, slow-motion tracking shot upon which the film rightfully should have ended. Unfortunately, the movie then goes on for another two scenes and completely bungles the conclusion. These final scenes were clearly included as a means to a sequel. If the film had just ended two scenes earlier, it would have been a lot better off.
Boogeyman 3 is edgier than most teen-targeted supernatural thrillers, but not quite bloody enough to be a decent slasher film. By hovering in that safe territory, it fails to be anything better than another mediocre horror sequel. A few inspired moments cannot save it from dull characters, a lame monster, and a lack of genuine scares. Like Nightmare on Elm Street – which the film rips off more than once – the plot is based around fear. After all, the Boogeyman, by the film’s definition, is the physical manifestation of fear. And yet the movie fails to deliver any real scares. It satisfies as a cheap and simple direct-to-DVD sequel, but die-hard genre fans looking for a little extra should turn their attention elsewhere.
