Boogeyman 3
BY Ryan LaMarca / 2009-02-23
Remember the first "Boogeyman" movie from 2005 that starred Barry Watson from "7th Heaven" and Emily Deschanel from "Bones"? How could I ever forget? Apparently, after the booming success of that first movie, we have already made our way to "Boogeyman 3." What happened to "Boogeyman 2," I do not know, but after hearing praise about the rising quality of this franchise, I went in with significantly higher expectations than I had originally planned to, and although it is nowhere as bad as its predecessor, "Boogeyman 3" is still an awful movie.
College student Sarah Morris (Erin Cahill) has just witnessed her best friend die. Although the police list it as a suicide, Sarah knows the truth, but no one believes her story that the mythological Boogeyman was responsible. But in finding the journal belonging to her friend's dad, a doctor studying the Boogeyman phenomena, Sarah tries to piece together the puzzle and avert the deaths of everyone living in her dorm at the hands of the Boogeyman.
"Boogeyman 3" does not help the cause of the direct-to-video horror market, something that I have treasured since as long as I can remember. When you see these movies, you expect them to be bad, but the "Boogeyman" series has always just been especially rotten. That first movie alone stands out above the worst of the worst of the entire decade in terms of horror movies, and considering that, "Boogeyman 3" is a better movie, but not by too much.
As I said before, the third installment of the "Boogeyman" franchise is nowhere near as insipid as the first movie, and while I have yet to see "Boogeyman 2" and have no desire to do so, I cannot place the entire series in perspective. However, I can say that the movie falls prey to the same kinds of pitfalls so many other direct-to-video horror movies do, like its extremely low budget and its amateur acting. I understand that it's direct-to-video, but I've seen better special effects on a television budget.
The characters in "Boogeyman 3" are the usual band of pot smoking, beer drinking imbeciles you'd find in just about any other bad horror movie that doesn't know what its doing. And they are as per mandate, as annoying and frustrating as ever. Of course, there is one girl who is pure and chaste, and she is the heroine. But after she sees the Boogeyman and tries to warn her friends, no one believes her. That angle has been played to death in these movies that it's beginning to become a pathetic excuse for lack of creativity. Why can't they just think of something a little bit original to do with these movies to make them a bit more interesting?
It's when "Boogeyman 3" becomes the typical boring "pick 'em off" horror movie that it started degenerating at an alarming rate. That's not to say there aren't good horror movies with that plot line, but the key word is "boring," and that's what "Boogeyman 3" is. How many times are the lights going to flicker? How many times are people going to get trapped in the closet or pulled under the bed? It just becomes stale. There are one or two actual good moments in the film but they are completely overshadowed by its overall incompetence.
Granted, the setting has been changed from the first two movies. The original "Boogeyman" was set in a rural town somewhere and according to the Internet, the sequel took place in a mental hospital. "Boogeyman 3" takes its location to a college dorm just so we can have the pleasure of seeing all of these fresh college kids working hard. The only connection to the previous film is that one of the characters is the daughter of Tobin Bell's character from "Boogeyman 2," but not understanding this does not take away from understanding the movie as a whole. There's plenty of other material to do that just fine.
Marred with primitive special effects to create the Boogeyman and extensive and detailed sequences of marijuana smoking, "Boogeyman 3" is another is a long line of direct-to-video horror sequels to skip. The series lost all viability to me after the first movie left such a lasting impression. And while I was willing to give the movie a fighting chance, it succumbed to the same failings so many other similar movies have. I think it's about time to retire this aging franchise for good and put the Boogeyman to rest.
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