The Boogeyman
20th Century Studios | Release Date: June 2, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
19
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
85
Paste MagazineMatthew JacksonMay 30, 2023
Even when you might want more from its plot, and even when it’s sticking to quiet character drama over all-out monster assaults, The Boogeyman thrives on the implied thing that’s lurking in every corner, which makes it a very effective, intimate creepshow. Read full review
80
SlashfilmBen PearsonMay 25, 2023
The Boogeyman doesn't set out to reinvent the wheel, but thankfully, it doesn't need to. Savage knows exactly how to push all the right buttons and pull all the right levers to engineer maximum potency, utilizing classical set-ups and pay-offs in entertaining, satisfying ways. Read full review
80
EmpireKim NewmanMay 25, 2023
Some Host or DASHCAM fans might be disappointed that Rob Savage has opted for something ostensibly more conventional — but The Boogeyman shows he can also make an involving, ungimmicky ghost story with perfectly constructed menace and mayhem. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAdam GrahamJun 2, 2023
While it plays with familiar themes, The Boogeyman is a step up from many modern mainstream horror titles. It’s a thoughtful, organic piece of filmmaking that just happens to have a monster in the middle. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMay 30, 2023
Infused with a stylish and shadowy style courtesy of director Rob Savage (“Host,” “Dashcam”), with a sharp screenplay by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods and Mark Heyman, The Boogeyman is a familiar but still effectively unsettling variation on the time-honored story of the terrifying entity who’s in the closet or under the bed or maybe just down the hall, waiting to pounce on you and your loved ones, even as everyone around thinks you’re nutso for insisting there’s a Boogeyman living rent-free in your house. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubLeigh MonsonMay 26, 2023
These are jump scares done right, where the struggle to see what’s there is much more effective than any cheap lurch into frame. Read full review
70
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiJun 9, 2023
Directed by Rob Savage, The Boogeyman does an outstanding job of terrifying without forgetting about the very human emotions and relationships that anchor and elevate the story. Read full review
70
IGNMatt DonatoJun 1, 2023
The Boogeyman is a capable creepshow built for mass appeal that gets the job done because at the end of the day, scary is as scary does. Read full review
70
Little White LiesAnton BitelMay 30, 2023
The Boogeyman is deftly done, its child-focused stakes are never less than alarming, and its ending, ambiguous and closeted, rings true. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd GilchristMay 26, 2023
Savage’s confidence behind the camera sustains the film’s intensity even when the connective tissue between plot and theme, logic and tone is tenuous at best. But even working alongside sturdy collaborators like Messina and young Blair, it’s Thatcher who sells the improbable reality of an old-as-time spirit preying upon the frightened and grieving. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMay 25, 2023
The Boogeyman, in both its literary and cinematic forms, is undoubtedly relatively minor King. But when it’s done this well, even minor King is major scary. Read full review
67
ColliderChase HutchinsonMay 25, 2023
The Boogeyman is at its best when it strips away all the excess to draw us deeper into darkness. Read full review
65
CNNBrian LowryMay 31, 2023
As is so often the case with these movies, the buildup is generally more terrifying than the payoff, and Savage doesn’t scrimp when it comes to jump-at-you scares. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJun 2, 2023
There are jump-scares aplenty, and a great deal of barely visible shots of its monster, culminating in a full-on creature reveal that’s nicely gross. The characters are sketched out just enough to make you care whether they live or die, with solid performances from all involved, including a rare star turn from Messina. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMay 30, 2023
On one level, it can be read as a metaphor for grief, kind of like “The Babadook,” which covered the same ground, albeit to greater effect. But by choosing literalness over ambiguity, The Boogeyman doesn’t quite stick the landing like that richly allusive 2014 Australian film did. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 25, 2023
The story here didn’t do much for me and seems like a rickety, illogically-pieced-together structure to hang this narrative on. But the players and the craftsmanship — the lighting, editing, silences and loud noises, they make up for that and deliver those frights we ordered the moment we bought a ticket. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comNick AllenMay 25, 2023
Primed to be this June’s Horror Movie of the Month, The Boogeyman is packed with familiar beats and little personality, the horror equivalent of a rising music star making a fan-friendly Christmas album as their biggest project yet. Read full review
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