The Boogeyman Director Rob Savage Wants To Continue Making Horror Movies [Exclusive]
British filmmaker Rob Savage, who previously directed an entire movie over Zoom with "Host" before overseeing the unfortunately grating horror effort "Dashcam" in 2021, is back. And this time he's helmed yet another Stephen King adaptation with "The Boogeyman."
Set free from the confines of the global pandemic and the lockdown-themed movies it inspired, Savage has proven he's perfectly capable of making a more traditional horror movie. "The Boogeyman" uses King's 1973 short story of the same name as the inciting incident for its narrative, which centers on widowed therapist Will (Chris Messina) and his two daughters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair). As if losing their mother and seeing their father struggle to hold things together wasn't bad enough, Sadie and Sawyer then have to contend with a malicious entity that's unleashed on their home by one of Will's patients.
After seeing success with sleeper hit "Barbarian" in 2022, Disney is once again trying their luck with this latest horror offering, which started life under 20th Century Fox prior to Disney's acquisition of the studio. Then, "The Boogeyman" was rescued from a direct-to-streaming fate by Stephen King himself (and a positive test screening). And now, the movie is set to debut in theaters, with Disney no doubt hoping for more "Barbarian"-esque success. Which would work out great for Savage, who evidently wants to make horror movies for as long as he's allowed.
'I think horror's beautiful'
There's no doubt Rob Savage has a knack for horror. As /Film's Ben Pearson pointed out in his review of "The Boogeyman," the man "knows exactly how to push all the right buttons and pull all the right levers to engineer maximum potency, utilizing classical set-ups and pay-offs in entertaining, satisfying ways." Which, alongside Stephen King's endorsement and the fact he's getting a theatrical release for his Disney debut, bodes well for the director's future.
And if you ask the man himself, he's more than happy with the trajectory he's on, especially if it allows him to keep making horror films. Ben spoke to Savage about his future ambitions, with the director saying, "I love horror. I'm happy to stay in horror as long as they keep letting me make great horror movies. I think horror's beautiful because you can kind of do anything within the horror space."
Interestingly enough, Savage went on to provide some insight into the genesis of "The Boogeyman," which was apparently "pitched as 'Ordinary People' meets 'Poltergeist.'" The filmmaker added:
"The idea there was that we'd really attack these family scenes as though we were making a real drama, and they wanted to feel meaty. The performances were so important to me, and some of the scenes that I'm proudest of were just between the characters. Being able to do that while also getting to make a squishy monster movie is the dream, so I'm going to keep on trucking as long as I can."
Savage has a promising career ahead
Having graduated from his smaller pandemic projects to a mid-budget studio movie, Rob Savage has proven his filmmaking abilities extend beyond crafting compelling computer screen-based horror. It's also nice to see the director find his footing after "Dashcam" proved slightly less effective than his debut effort "Host."
With "The Boogeyman," Savage looks to have melded the emotional and intellectual depth of a film like "The Babadook," which similarly uses a creature to symbolize repressed feelings, with elements of modern horror aesthetics. The scenes where Sawyer uses her moon ball to explore her home, and especially the scene where she plays video games alone in a living room illuminated solely by the light of the TV, recall a vague "Skinamarink"-esque aesthetic.
But Savage clearly isn't just borrowing elements of other films. His work on "The Boogeyman" shows he has a solid grasp of how to use standard horror movie tropes and setups in novel ways, and suggests he'll only improve with time. Which is why it's a good thing he's up for the challenge.
"The Boogeyman" crawls from the shadows and into theaters on June 2, 2023.