Horror Movie Review: Boogeyman 3 (2008)

The third and final instalment of the Boogeyman series was released in 2008, one year after the second film. It was directed by Gary Jones and stars Erin Cahill and Chuck Hittinger.

Going into this third film, expectations where low. The original Boogeyman movie is considered here on GBHBL as one of the worst horror movies ever made. We hated every minute of it and you can read our scathing review here or watch the horror quickie video review below.

Boogeyman 2 was better but not by a huge margin. Dropping the supernatural angle was a surprise and the practical effects were very welcome. You can read our review here.

So, there was no real reason to have high expectations but in a surprising turn of events Boogeyman 3 is actually a decent movie! Too little, too late to revive the ailing franchise though.

Returning to the supernatural style of the original, Sarah (Cahill) is a student at a college where she also does a radio show. When on the air she is an agony aunt of sorts, helping with breakups etc. Her job is easy until she takes a call from her friend, Audrey (Nikki Sanderson) who talks about the Boogeyman being real. Worried that she might be about to take her own life she rushes over to help only to find the Boogeyman strangling Audrey.

Unfortunately for Sarah, when others arrive it just looks like Audrey hung herself.

After reading Audrey’s diary, Sarah becomes convinced that the Boogeyman is real but no-one including her boyfriend, David (Hittinger) believe her. Obviously.

When others in her college dorm begin to disappear, Sarah’s dealings with the Boogeyman get more and more intense. She begins to have visions of everyone in the dorm being killed by the supernatural being. Unsure of how to stop it, she comes to realise that the legend of the monster is spreading and feeding its power. She has to stop people believing in it but is she already too late?

A solid story is one thing and Boogeyman 3 has that. However, where it really excels, where it really makes its mark is with its effects. Mostly practical, the blood and gore that is thrown around here is thrilling stuff and the eventual bloody payoff makes the slow start worthwhile. One particular scene sees a washroom flooded with blood that pours from the washing machines. It looks great.

Credit where credit is due, it doesn’t paper over the problems that the movie does have. Namely the forgettable characters and some of the dodgy acting. Erin Cahill isn’t the problem, she’s decent and her character believable but she is about it. Others seem to be sleep-walking through their roles delivering boring dialogue in a monotone fashion. The worst culprit being Tobin Bell, who has only a minor role but threatens to put viewers to sleep when he speaks.

The final scenes are also disappointing. While the finale is fairly predictable, how the story wraps up is perfectly fine. Then it refuses to end, instead going for one last scare moment that falls very flat.

Then there is the Boogeyman himself. Kept mostly in the shadows, thankfully it is still an improvement over the original CGI mess but really isn’t much of a scary demonic creature.

Faults aside, when compared to the first two films, Boogeyman 3 is an excellent horror movie on the gory visuals alone. When held up against other horrors in a similar genre, it does seem a bit ordinary.

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