Boogeyman (film)

Boogeyman
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stephen T. Kay
Produced by	Sam Raimi Rob Tapert Joe Drake Steve Hein Gary Bryman
Screenplay by	Eric Kripke Juliet Snowden Stiles White
Story by	Eric Kripke
Starring	Barry Watson Emily Deschanel Skye McCole Bartusiak Lucy Lawless
Music by	Joseph LoDuca
Cinematography	Bobby Bukowski
Edited by	John Axelrad
Production company	Senator International Pacific Renaissance Pictures Ltd.
Distributed by	Screen Gems Universal Studios Ghost House Pictures Rose & Ruby (NZ)
Release date	February 4, 2005
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States New Zealand
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$67 million

Boogeyman is a 2005 New Zealand-American supernatural horror film, directed by Stephen T. Kay and starring Barry Watson, Emily Deschanel, Skye McCole Bartusiak, and Lucy Lawless. The film is a take on the classic "boogeyman", or monster in the closet, who is the main antagonist of the film. The plot concerns a young man, Tim Jensen, who must confront the childhood terror that has affected his life.

The film was generally panned by critics, often citing a generic and unoriginal plot as the main criticism. Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, the film was a financial success, and was followed by two direct-to-video sequels, Boogeyman 2 (2007) and Boogeyman 3 (2008).

During his childhood, Tim Jensen witnesses his father be taken by the Boogeyman, an evil creature which lives in all closets worldwide. Since then, he has taken precautions to ensure that the Boogeyman cannot get to him, such as sleeping on a mattress on the floor, and removing all closets from his home, and keeping all his clothes in a dresser drawer.

After a Thanksgiving trip with Jessica (his girlfriend) to her parents' house, Tim has a premonition in which his mother tells him to return to the family home. When he phones the hospital, he discovers his mother has died. Upon returning to the psychiatric ward where he grew up after his father died, he discovers that one of the patients, a young girl, is being threatened by the Boogeyman, which lives in the ceiling of her room.

Upon a suggestion by his psychiatrist that returning to his family home to spend the night in that house would be a good idea, Tim returns to his old Victorian style house in the open country, where he relives memories of his mother telling his father that the Boogeyman does not exist and therefore cannot possibly harm Tim. Tim is briefly attacked by the Boogeyman when he enters the downstairs closet. Tim meets a young girl in his woodshed, named Franny, who wants to know if it's true that the Boogeyman murdered Tim's father. Searching the woodshed he discovers a disturbing file of Missing Person lists and documents left by Franny, and upon flicking through them, he discovers a collection of missing children whom were all taken by the Boogeyman.