SPOILER ALERT!!! `A grisly post-'Exorcist' shocker long overdue for re-release.' Dave Hughes - Samhain
`The Bogeyman raises way above the usual level of 'Halloween' clones.' The Aurum Film Encyclopedia of Horror
The Bogeyman is a welcome combination of two genres; the slasher and the supernatural. Released in the early eighties when the former of the two subgenres were produced by the dozens, this brave twist on the slasher flick was original even though the actual film is not. Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder protégé, and former actor, Ulli Lommel, who had previously show his capabilities with his film 'Tenderness of the Wolves', The Bogeyman is an effective, interesting, if somewhat cheap horror film.
A young boy named Willy is tormented by his mother's hulking lover. He is tied to his bed but is cut free by his younger sister, Lacy. Overcome with fury, Willy takes the kitchen knife from his sister and wanders to his mother's room seeking revenge on his tormentor. What follows is a scene reminiscent, but not nearly as gruesome to one in Roman Scavolini's Nightmare. The mirror remains the only witness to this murder besides the children and their mother and too keeps the secret hidden, until twenty years later.
Willy and Lacy have grown up on a farm with some relatives, he has not said a word since the night of the murder and Lacy feels guilt for having cut him free all those years before. The day they receive a letter from their mother, who is apparently at Death's door, Lacy begins to suffer from horrific nightmares, being tied to a bed half naked then stabbed by an unseen figure. Her husband takes her back to the old house and whilst he discusses matters with the new residence of the house Lacy wanders into the bedroom where the incident took place. The startling reflection of her mother's lover stairs at her from the mirror, a stocking over his head, his muscles prominent beneath his tight vest. Lacy smashes the mirror in a fit of hysteria, unleashing the evil spirit from the mirror his twenty years of imprisonment. Needles to say, the ghost therefore is not in the best of moods.
Now the freed spirit can penetrate our reality wherever a shard of the mirror maybe. Lacy's husband, disbelieving his wives story - `This is nothing but a bunch of fantasies going on only in your head!' decides to bag the pieces of the mirror and take it back to the farm. The true nightmare then begins to unfold as the angry ghost uses a variety of instruments (scissors, cutlery, pitchfork and a garden hose (?)) to kill off most of the secondary cast, cue lots of POV shots and heavy breathing on the soundtrack.
There are two sequels with great originality in their titles, Revenge of the Bogeyman & Return of the Bogeyman. I've only seen the first sequel which, like this film, also appeared on the Video Nasties list in the UK. Revenge of the Bogeyman had the potential to be a great sequel, using the 'Hollywood on Hollywood' background where Ulli Lommel plays Mickey the film director, being pressured to make a film about the events that occur in The Bogeyman. Unfortunately half of its running time is wasted recapping footage from the first film as Lacy (played once again by Lommel's then wife, Suzanna Love) relates her story. The deaths scenes in this sequel are asinine to the point of parody, featuring murders via corkscrew, barbecue tongs, garden hose (again), ladder, shaving foam (I s*** you not) and an electric toothbrush (!).
Lommel was also responsible for 'Brainwaves' (again starring Suzanna and Nicholas Love, with Hollywood veterans Tony Curtis and Vera Miles) and 'The Devonsville Horror', which featured on a double bill with The Bogeyman, released by Anchor Bay. It was also re-released by VIPCO in an 'uncut', dodgily widescreened version.
`The Bogeyman raises way above the usual level of 'Halloween' clones.' The Aurum Film Encyclopedia of Horror
The Bogeyman is a welcome combination of two genres; the slasher and the supernatural. Released in the early eighties when the former of the two subgenres were produced by the dozens, this brave twist on the slasher flick was original even though the actual film is not. Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder protégé, and former actor, Ulli Lommel, who had previously show his capabilities with his film 'Tenderness of the Wolves', The Bogeyman is an effective, interesting, if somewhat cheap horror film.
A young boy named Willy is tormented by his mother's hulking lover. He is tied to his bed but is cut free by his younger sister, Lacy. Overcome with fury, Willy takes the kitchen knife from his sister and wanders to his mother's room seeking revenge on his tormentor. What follows is a scene reminiscent, but not nearly as gruesome to one in Roman Scavolini's Nightmare. The mirror remains the only witness to this murder besides the children and their mother and too keeps the secret hidden, until twenty years later.
Willy and Lacy have grown up on a farm with some relatives, he has not said a word since the night of the murder and Lacy feels guilt for having cut him free all those years before. The day they receive a letter from their mother, who is apparently at Death's door, Lacy begins to suffer from horrific nightmares, being tied to a bed half naked then stabbed by an unseen figure. Her husband takes her back to the old house and whilst he discusses matters with the new residence of the house Lacy wanders into the bedroom where the incident took place. The startling reflection of her mother's lover stairs at her from the mirror, a stocking over his head, his muscles prominent beneath his tight vest. Lacy smashes the mirror in a fit of hysteria, unleashing the evil spirit from the mirror his twenty years of imprisonment. Needles to say, the ghost therefore is not in the best of moods.
Now the freed spirit can penetrate our reality wherever a shard of the mirror maybe. Lacy's husband, disbelieving his wives story - `This is nothing but a bunch of fantasies going on only in your head!' decides to bag the pieces of the mirror and take it back to the farm. The true nightmare then begins to unfold as the angry ghost uses a variety of instruments (scissors, cutlery, pitchfork and a garden hose (?)) to kill off most of the secondary cast, cue lots of POV shots and heavy breathing on the soundtrack.
There are two sequels with great originality in their titles, Revenge of the Bogeyman & Return of the Bogeyman. I've only seen the first sequel which, like this film, also appeared on the Video Nasties list in the UK. Revenge of the Bogeyman had the potential to be a great sequel, using the 'Hollywood on Hollywood' background where Ulli Lommel plays Mickey the film director, being pressured to make a film about the events that occur in The Bogeyman. Unfortunately half of its running time is wasted recapping footage from the first film as Lacy (played once again by Lommel's then wife, Suzanna Love) relates her story. The deaths scenes in this sequel are asinine to the point of parody, featuring murders via corkscrew, barbecue tongs, garden hose (again), ladder, shaving foam (I s*** you not) and an electric toothbrush (!).
Lommel was also responsible for 'Brainwaves' (again starring Suzanna and Nicholas Love, with Hollywood veterans Tony Curtis and Vera Miles) and 'The Devonsville Horror', which featured on a double bill with The Bogeyman, released by Anchor Bay. It was also re-released by VIPCO in an 'uncut', dodgily widescreened version.