The Boogeyman (1980)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Ulli Lommel

Writers:

David Herschel (writer)
Ulli Lommel (writer)

Release Date:

7 November 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The most terrifying nightmare of childhood is about to return!

Plot:

Through the reflection in the mirror, a girl witnesses her mother's boyfriend's murder.

Plot Keywords:

Mirror | Murder | Girl | Reflection | Revenge

Cast

Suzanna Love	...	Lacey
Ron James	...	Jake
John Carradine	...	Dr. Warren
Nicholas Love	...	Willy
Raymond Boyden	...	Kevin
Felicite Morgan	...	Aunt Helen
Bill Rayburn	...	Uncle Ernest
Llewelyn Thomas	...	Father Reilly
Jay Wright	...	Young Willy
Natasha Schiano	...	Young Lacey
Gillian Gordon	...	Lacey and Willy's Mother
Howard Grant	...	The Lover
Jane Pratt	...	Jane
Lucinda Ziesing	...	Susan
David Swim	...	Timmy

Also Known As:

The Bogey Man (UK) (video title)

Runtime:

82 min | UK:85 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (re-rating: 1992) (cut) (re-rating: 2000) (uncut) | UK:(Banned) (1984-1992) | UK:X (original rating: 1980) | Finland:(Banned) (heavily cut) (1981) | Finland:K-18 (heavily cut) (1981) (re-rating) | Italy:VM14 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:R | France:-16 | Norway:(Banned) (video version) (1983) | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA

Company:

Jerry Gross Organization, The

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Lacey and Kevin are at the lake and Kevin says, "Mommy, mommy, I caught a fish, I caught a fish!" He is shouting, yet it is clearly Lacey doing the reeling in - you can see her shirtsleeves and it is a female adults arms and hands. Even more obviously, little Kevin is wearing a long-sleeved jacket.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Zombie Nation (2004)

Soundtrack:

Not From Her World

Probably Lommel's best effort...

"The Boogeyman", directed by Ulli Lommel, is quite a unique and strange 'slasher' film if you will. The story of a brother and a sister named Willy and Lacey (who are actually in real life both brother and sister as well ironically) who are traumatized by witnessing a murder that happened during their childhood, Lommel takes us as the viewer all the way to their adulthood for the most part of the film where their past still seems to haunt the both of them. The acting is very campy, although Suzanna Love's screen presence is always nice. John Carradine makes a brief but good performance as Lacey's psychologist, there are some interesting death scenes. Both the beginning and the end of the film are direct homages to two previous horror classics, the beginning is a direct "Halloween" homage and the ending resembles an homage to "The Exorcist". Overall I feel Lommel did a nice job for only working on a shoe-string budget in the first place. I would have to say that by far this is Lommel's best film. 8/10 stars.