I'm on the final film in this damn 'series,' so let me do my best to get through this. After the snooze-fest that was the first film and the shit-storm that was the second film, what could this film end up like? Will it be good? The second we start off with the title
Boogeyman 3, we know that can't happen. This is made out to be a direct sequel to the second film...sort of. They address that film, but don't exactly know what to do with the idea. Instead of really following up on the story, however, we get some sort of side-plot that barely relates. It's slightly more connected than
Halloween 3 is to
Halloween- you know, the one where you see
Halloween playing on a TV in the background of one shot. Oh and they try to make more use out of Tobin Bell's sudden notoriety, despite his character being thoroughly-killed in Boogeyman 2. The biggest thing about the film is that finally lives up to what the title promises. Is it a change for the better or just more crap? Find out in my review of...
The film begins with a young woman coming home after the death of her father. Her dad is Tobin Bell's character from the last movie, a fact proven by a shitty Photoshop job of a picture featuring the two of them. Seriously, those generic birthday cards with pictures of politicians on them are more convincing. She finds a diary left by her father, which is read aloud to us by...someone who's not even trying to sound like Bell. Apparently, the man believed that the Boogeyman was real...even though he treated two patients for their 'irrational fear' of the creature and was killed by a human. Oh, and just to piss me off further, they show a newspaper referring to the brother as being 'the Boogeyman killer' despite the ending where he gets away without being caught! Trying to get past all of these gaping plot holes, we get a scene where the young woman tries to relax with a bath, but hears a noise. She goes to bed, only to get pulled under it by a phantom. We are introduced to a second heroine, a young psychology student who co-hosts a college radio call-in show with her professor. Yeah...alright. She has a bunch of friends, including an anorexic girl, a black guy and a British man. The girl from earlier shows up...not dead, but sees a freaky ghost. Okay then.
Not surprisingly, people are not very quick to believe the tale of a Boogeyman haunting a young woman. Why would he again? Mind you, this thing also kills parents, but leaves the kids alone for about twenty years, so his motivations are kind of random. The girl doesn't take too kindly to being treated like a crazy person and calls in to the show one night. While on the air, she acts a little crazy and talks about the Boogeyman (who looks more like that chick from
The Ring) trying to kill her. Our heroine rushes over to the dorm to save her, only to show up in time to open the door and see her being choked by the phantom. When other people show up, she appears to have hung herself...but our heroine still believes what she saw. This sets up a long, boring story-arc where they tip-toe around some sort of vague mental trauma she once had. It has something to do with her mother committing suicide by hanging and her blaming herself. It adds nothing to story, save for some padding and some 'emo moments.' By the way, I like the Psychology Professor who not only has a student host a talk-show with him, but one that had a mental break only a year before. FINALLY, some more stuff happens as The Boogeyman picks off some students. First on the list, the pot-smoking black guy. Hurray?
After too long of an intro, the murders come pretty quick and suddenly. After the death of that random, uninteresting character, we get a second one when The Boogeyman kills the British guy by pulling him into a crate. In addition to that, the fraternity pledge guy gets killed by a giant fan in the impossibly-large ventilation ducts while trying to install web-cams in the women's bathroom. Oh thank God, you didn't forget about the 'web-cams in the womens' restroom' sub-plot! Our heroine continues to act a little crazy and random, culminating in a bit where she takes over a radio show to warn the residents of her dorm hall of the Boogeyman threat. This comes from a dream/vision she has of everyone lying dead in the hallway. Naturally, the best way to avoid that is to have everyone run flee into the hallways- you idiot! She gets locked up, but the cop leaves to investigate a call, leaving her with the Professor. He gets killed when he acknowledges the idea of The Boogeyman. You see, the idea is that The Boogeyman gains power when people believe in him, which is why he commits a few murders. Yeah, that all ties together. The heroine's best friend is killed in the laundry room and the boyfriend is killed in the room, which leads our heroine to confess to the murders in order to not give The Boogeyman more powers. This plan falls apart when he simply kills her and the legend lives on. Boo!
This movie sucks, but for different reasons than the last two movies. Unlike those films, we get actual supernatural action...but it's just stupid. The Boogeyman can appear anywhere- even in a bong- and kill people who believe that he's real. His ability to kill and interact with the world is never that consistent, much like in
Prom Night 3. Why the elaborate visions before some kills and just grabbing people with others? Were they not good enough to warrant the extra effort? The acting, as a whole, is not that good. Our lead actress tries, but only has a handful of Final Girl cliches to work with. The character is about as deep as that little pool of sweat that ends up right above your ass when it's hot outside. To the film's credit, they don't cheat too much, which is nice when compared to
Boogeyman 2. However, the whole thing is just ridiculous and blatantly steals the entire premise behind Freddy's powers in
Freddy vs. Jason. You have about 100 years of horror films to steal from and you pick that one?!? Some of the special effects are pretty good, but this movie was made in 2009, so you should expect that much. Ultimately, this movie fails as it finally delivers the promise of the series. It's amazing how you can finally deliver on what you're supposed and sign your own death warrant at the same time, isn't it?
Up next, I celebrate Father's Day with a weird film that is important to me. What's new though? Stay tuned...
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