Initial release 5 April 2011 (Ireland) Screenplay Gerard Lough | Director Gerard Lough Music director Cian Furlong | |
Cast Michael Parle, Simon Fogarty, Natasha O'Brien, Joanne Cullen, Martin Neely, Sasha Phillips, Ben Furlong Producers Gerard Lough, Martin Neely Similar Boogeyman 3, Night People, Boogeyman, Boogeyman 2, Carrie | ||
The Boogeyman is a short horror film directed by Gerard Lough and starring Simon Fogarty, Michael Parle and Joanne Cullen. It is based on the short story of the same name by Stephen King and was made using the "Dollar Baby" deal he set up in the '80s. It is the first Irish film to be based on a King story and would go on to attract extensive publicity and critical acclaim. The film centers around a troubled man named Andrew Billings who goes to see psychiatrist Dr. Harper to explain his theory that a "boogeyman" is responsible for the deaths of his three children.
Contents
Development
Looking for a short film project with a commercial edge, Lough embarked on the adaptation after learning about the Dollar Baby Deal which Stephen King set up to allow up and coming film-makers the option to adapt certain short stories of his as long as they honoured certain rules such as allowing the film only to be screened at film festivals or Arts events. Lough choose The Boogeyman, taken from King's first short story anthology Night Shift. In an interview with Horror News. Net he explained "I saw the potential for it to be a film where the line between reality and fantasy gets more & more blurred as it reaches it’s ambiguous conclusion." He also though its themes of "parental neglect & the guilt that comes with it" were as relevant now as they ever were. The screenplay by Lough would remain very faithful to the short story with the only major changes being a new scene where Billings lays booby traps for the titular creature, the lead character's first name being changed from Lester to Andrew and a brief scene implying the character of Rita Billings has had some kind of breakdown and leads a life devoted to God. The screenplay employed the use of a non linear narrative which allowed the story to jump back and forth in time using flashbacks and voice over narration. In the short story we never leave the psychiatrist's office.
Production
Principal photography began on March 2010 in Donegal, Ireland on a shoe string budget. The ambitious visual effect ranged from CGI to stop motion and the elaborate make-up effects were created by Julie-Ann Ryan, one of the most experienced make-up artists in the country. Major production problems included the difficult task of finding parents who would allow their children to appear in a creepy film about a child killing supernatural creature. For this reason alone, the production moved to Wexford for its final leg so several of Michael Parle's extended family could briefly appear as the younger characters and locations such as Fethard Beach were used.
Critical reception and publicity
The Boogeyman premiered at the Underground Cinema Film Festival in Dublin on 6 August 2010. Since then it has been screened at festivals in America, Australia, Netherlands and the UK. It received extensive press coverage with articles and reviews in publications such as The Irish Independent, SFX, Film Ireland, Little White Lies, as well as making the front page of the Donegal News. The film's trailer has taken over 70,000 hits and was preceded by an eye catching poster designed by Emmet Griffin who also worked on the visual effects.
The film's reviews were mostly positive with a general consensus being that it was an ambitious adaptation that stayed true to the spirit of King's story. Horror Cult Films gave it 7 out of 10 and said "There are moments that are pure horror greatness." 2 or 3 Things I Know About Film praised the film's striking visuals and atmosphere; "the perfect platform for a series of both beautiful and startling imagery." A sentiment echoed by Battle Royale With Cheese with their review; "more chills and visual flourishes than most of the horror dreck that Hollywood churns out." However The Movie Bit were left unimpressed with a review that wondered "Why someone would decide to make this awful story into a short film is beyond me". As were The Stop Button who stated "The Boogeyman seems like it should be better, but maybe only because the short’s deficiencies are so obvious and director Lough’s ambitions so clear."