Movie Review by Neils Hesse
Starring: Barry Watson, Emily Deschanel, Skye McCole Bartusiak, Tory Mussett
Director: Stephen Kay
Have you ever felt that there was someone or something in your bedroom closet waiting till it was dark to come out and grab you? Well Young Tim Jensen has. He’s certain that there is someone in his bedroom closet, so his dad has to reassure him that there is definitely nobody there and to prove it he walks into the closet himself. Suffice to say that those words prove to be the last words he ever utters.
Cutting to about 15 years later, Tim (Barry Watson) is now grown up and lives in the city. Everyone around him convinced him as a child that nothing happened to his father, he just simply abandoned him and his mother, no more no less. Tim still has many doubts about what actually happened that night when his father disappeared. Then after having a particularly scary nightmare Tim decides to go back to his old home to try and perhaps find out what exactly happened. However as it becomes clear to him that what he saw all those years ago was true he realises that the wise move would be to leave. When people close to him start disappearing he realises that he can’t run anymore and he must face it before it’s too late.
The first one hour of this film is a bit slow but still quite interesting as the main character’s story is built up during this time. In between there are a few jumpy scenes but the two main things that let the film down are the lack of any explanation about the villain of the film and the closing heavily CGI induced finale. The slow pace of the film gives it a fairly realistic feel and for most people the scariest horrors are those that appear they could actually happen. Director Stephen Kay does a decent job right up until the moment that the Boogeyman is revealed, compliments of some very dodgy CGI.
The ensemble cast turn in adequate performances but Skye McCole Bartusiak excels in her role as a little girl with a little too much knowledge on the Boogeyman and she is definitely an intriguing talent to look out for.
Also even though Sam Raimi is one of the producers on the film the end result is disappointingly only a ‘bit’ thrilling and a ‘bit’ scary, so unfortunately all those ‘bits’ add up to only an average horror movie that for devoted horror fans is all a bit too predictable.
Still if you’ve always wondered what might have gone bump in the night in your closet then by all means give it a shot.
