BoogeymanMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 32 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 70
    L.A. Weekly | Chuck Wilson

    Unexpectedly gripping horror movie. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Joe Leydon

    Trendy influence of insidiously creepy Japanese horror pics is felt in almost every frame of Boogeyman. The effectively atmospheric and unusually involving thriller tells the story of a distraught young man's protracted duel of wits with the eponymous evildoer. Read full review

  • 60
    The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck

    It suffers from a lack of genuine chills or suspense that renders its slight virtues rather moot. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle |

    An otherwise passable horror film that delivers more than enough cheap thrills to forgive the plot holes. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    Has little to offer in the way of entertainment or originality. Read full review

  • 38
    Philadelphia Inquirer |

    While stylishly filmed and edited, Boogeyman is filled with every imaginable fright cliche... It's like a meal consisting entirely of airy hors d'oeuvres. Read full review

  • 33
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    This is strictly substandard stuff, with imitative creepy noises, vertiginous camera angles, and long pauses. Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times |

    The filmmakers are smart enough to keep the monster out of sight for a long time and then to show only glimpses, but a similar tactic of providing only glimpses of plot and character is disastrous. Read full review

  • 20
    Austin Chronicle | Marc Savlov

    Even the should-have-been-triumphant revelation of the Boogeyman arrives as a CGI letdown of epic proportions. Read full review

  • 12
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    A horror film whose only scare is that it was made at all... As with so many stupid horror movies in these post-''Scream" times, this one is at such a creative loss that all it can do is make its audience feel duped for having purchased a ticket. Read full review

View more reviews for Boogeyman on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ A bloated 86 minutes of overzealous spookiness.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie tries everything possible to be a scary horror movie but retain its PG-13 rating. Family members disappear violently, animals panic, children are strange, corpses lunge, lights frequently go out for no reason, there is an aural assault of haunting sounds, and no one believes the main character. A character watches as loved ones are tossed around and then taken from him, a child is shut in a closet as a cure for being scared, another child is separated from her family. There are references to sex and a character is naked (non-explicit). Characters drink to drunkenness at a party and there are references to drinking, as well as a jarring product placement.
  • Families can talk about the legend of the boogeyman, who appears in many cultures as a warning to misbehaving children. The psychologist discusses how children might turn to supernatural explanations as a coping mechanism for feelings of loss or powerlessness. How do modern stories use scary characters or the supernatural to guide behavior now? Urban legends often have an element of the supernatural, how might they derive from older tales, like those of the boogeyman?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Not an issue
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Near constant peril, reference to child abandonment, children threatened, adults abducted violently, death or disappearance of several characters, creepy dream/imagined sequences, supernatural threats.
  • sex false3 Sex: Sexual references, brief nudity, non-explicit bathtub scene.
  • language false0 Language: Not an issue
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Characters drink to celebrate and to escape; references to drunkenness.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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