Stephen King is one of the most prolific American writers of the 20th and 21st centuries. His writings have been adapted into nearly countless; TV shows, limited series, and movies.

We have another to hit theaters this weekend. The Boogeyman is based on King’s 1973 short story of the same name. Previously adapted into a stage play and then a 27-minute short film. This was the first attempt at a feature-length film.

Chris Messina plays Will Harper a Father of two girls and widower. He is trying his best to put their lives back together after the death of his wife, their mother.

The two girls are Sadie and Sawyer. Saide is played by Sophie Thatcher who has garnered a lot of attention in Yellowjackets where she plays young Natalie.

Sophie is one of the great young talents on that show who was primed to be a star. Unfortunately, this is not going to be the vehicle to make it happen.

All the actors come out of this unscathed. Sophie Thatcher and Chris Messina do fine jobs in the film, doing everything that is asked of them. Even Vivien Lyra Blair who plays the young Sawyer gives a good child performance.

A common thread with many adaptations of King’s work is they’re usually not good. At least, they’re not as good as his novel, novella, or short story they’re based on.

There are exceptions to the rule of course, but there are so many bad adaptions of his work, how does that happen? Maybe it has nothing to do with Stephen. Adaptations are hard and usually, they’re never as good as the source material.

It can be better to go with a new interpretation rather than taking directly from the page because you’ll always leave material out. Now, I have not read the Short Story The Boogeyman. But I can take a wild guess and say this film is not as good as the short story.

This is a story about a family grieving for a loved one. This is a common plot trope to use, especially today as more people go to therapy and there isn’t a stigma about it, filmmakers are wanting to make films about processing trauma.

It is almost a genre in itself and is becoming oversaturated. Too many movies now are trying to shoehorn the theme of trauma without really understanding what makes that story device work.

Too many better movies and horror movies have come before this one touching on the subject of grief and trauma. If you want a really good horror movie about this subject please watch The Babadook.

Lastly, this film commits the worst sin in all of film…It is dull. The audience should not be put to sleep by your film. But when you use a tired story device mixed with scares you see coming, your film becomes boring.

If this had been mildly interesting I might recommend it, but there is nothing here that sticks out or is worth recommending. Capable filmmaking leading to blandness.

2.5/5 Stars