Boogeyman DVD Review

Presented in anamorphic 1.85:1. this is not a bad transfer. Suffice to say the print doesn't suffer from dust or scratches, but then it was only in the cinema about 3 months ago. Most of the movie either takes part at night or in the dark, so we're not exactly talking a vivid image. However, blacks are deep and dark, although it does lose some detail along the way, while the colours are fine, although muted to a degree, but I'm chalking that up to the style of the movie. I didn't notice any edge enhancement, but as the edges would be black and the movie is pretty dark, on my LCD it's going to be a tough one. Overall, as I said, it's not a bad transfer, but with the loss of detail present, it needed to be a bit better.

Having only a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, this isn't too shabby. Dialogue is a tad quiet in comparison to the rest of the soundtrack, especially when the “stingers” hit. In fact, when the soundtrack does liven up during the spooky moments, the soundstage really does come alive, with a fair bit of LFE booming as well as nice use of the rears. However, the problem is, stingers aside, that these moments are few and far between and do tend to drown out any dialogue as well. If it were just a little more balanced and less sporadic, this would have got an extra point.

Starting the extras, we have the “Cast and Crew Interviews” - this menu option gives you access to a 15 minute documentary called “Evolution of the Horror movie”, which is effectively a behind the scenes EPK with the director, producer and stars. It's unintentionally funny when the lead star describes this movie as “exciting” in comparison to the 80's slasher movies. Maybe he hadn't seen it? The “Crew, Characters and Cast” feature lasts for 20 minutes and, to me anyway, is pretty much an extension of the one before it, where the focus is more on the crew than the movie. It's definitely the same kind of EPK you've seen before, where everyone is positive about their supporting crew and fellow actors. Just once, can it be different! The Deleted Scenes comprise of 6 scenes and an alternate ending. Although the deleted scenes can be easily seen why they were removed, the alternate ending is lame beyond belief. The storyboards show comparisons to 3 scenes - “Opening” “Missing Children” and “Alternate Ending” and finally, the Visual Effects progression, shows how certain effects were blended into the actual footage. The main problem here is you have to watch all 4 minutes, as opposed to just choosing which sequence you wish to view. Overall it's not bad, but nothing you've not seen elsewhere and in some cases, much better.
Not sure which movie is currently responsible for the upsurge of horrors (although my money is on The Ring), this is another example of a potentially good premise, a bad script, C list actors and no real clue all thrust together to make a bad movie. If the premise interests you, I'd suggest checking out “They!” as it's significantly better than this outing, but having said that, it still isn't the worst movie I've ever seen (or in fact the last year).