The Boogeyman Uses Stephen King's Original Short Story As The Inciting Incident
One day in the distant future, horror fans are going to have a rude awakening. Eventually, every single idea that Stephen King has ever committed to the page is going to be adapted into a film or television series; it's inevitable. But until that sad day comes, let's all continue to focus on what spooky King property is coming down the pipeline next.
The sparse but undeniably creepy short story "The Boogeyman" from the "Night Shift" collection is being adapted by director Rob Savage from a script by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, scribes for "A Quiet Place". Originally, the movie was set to premiere on Hulu this year until a well-received test screening and a winning endorsement from King himself convinced Disney's 20th Century Studios to release the film theatrically.
The risk of releasing new genre films in movie theaters instead of going directly to streaming has been paying off big time for Warner Bros. Discovery after the overperformance of Lee Cronin's "Evil Dead Rise" and, judging by the trailer, there's no reason to think that "The Boogeyman" won't benefit from that same strategy. (It would have been fascinating to see how David Bruckner's "Hellraiser" and Dan Trachtenberg's "Prey" would have performed at the box office instead of premiering on Hulu, but that's a question for another day.)
Savage exploded onto the scene with the pandemic smash "Host" that's largely regarded as one of the best horror movies of the decade. His follow-up found footage film "Dashcam" hit a little bit of a landmine due to its controversial star, Annie Hardy, so adapting a lesser-known Stephen King short story is a smart move into more mainstream fare.
A new take on the Boogeyman
Rob Savage and screenwriter Mark Heyman ("The Black Swan") were savvy enough to use King's story and the screenplay by Beck and Woods as more of a jumping-off point to explore some bigger ideas. "The short story is the inciting incident," Savage says in the latest issue of Total Film magazine. Just like a lot of us, Savage read the story as a kid and was scarred for life. Centering around an evil entity that keeps killing children left alone in their bedrooms, it's no wonder that the story left its mark on scared children everywhere. Savage goes on to explain that King's original version works like a film within a film, saying:
"It's retained within the movie almost like a short film in itself. So the Lester Billings character [played by David Dastmalchian] initiates the horror, bringing the demonic force into the characters' home and setting off our movie. We knew that scene had to be special, and it was literally tingles on the set when we played through the first rehearsal."
Actor and real-life genre lover David Dastmalchian playing the character Lester Billings should be a welcome site for horror fans in "The Boogeyman." Dastmalchian continues to make a name for himself, and his recent star turn as a tormented late-night talk show host in "Late Night With the Devil" should raise his profile even more. When he utters the ominous line, "It's the thing that comes for your kids when you're not paying attention" in the trailer, it's deeply goosebump-inducing.
Expanding upon the original twist from King's short story
Another actor that's become an absolute joy to watch is Chris Messina, who is set to play Will Harper — a deeply troubled father coming to grips with raising his two daughters alone after losing his wife. Savage will get into the deeper themes brewing underneath the surface when the Boogeyman isn't terrorizing us from under the bed. "It's really a story about a family experiencing grief and trying to overcome that," Savage tells Total Film. Savage continued:
"Will's struggling with his own emotions while still taking on the burdens of his clientele, and working as a therapist within the family home. Then Lester Billings comes and the Boogeyman finds that this grieving, fractured family is the perfect nesting ground for its evil."
That setup is definitely a departure from King's original tale where Billings is the main protagonist. In a twist that's probably a better fit for a short story than a feature film, Billings is talking with a therapist about sacrificing his children to rid himself of the Boogeyman curse. Once he's unburdened himself, the therapist rips off his mask to reveal that Lester has been regaling his story to the actual Boogeyman the entire time. CREEPY!
Based on Savage's comments, it's pretty clear that this version of "The Boogeyman" will veer off in an entirely different direction. One thing that Savage has proven is his ability to deliver shocking scares in new and unexpected ways. Admittedly, "The Boogeyman" doesn't look all that original, but expect Savage to upend the usual tropes and deliver at least a few surprises when the movie arrives in theaters during the prime summer season on June 2, 2023.