The Boogey Man (1980)

Directed by some weird German guy, this movie is all over the place. It feels like it's trying to rip-off a lot of things, but it doesn't know quite which one to focus on. I thought it was Italian at first, but it wasn't dubbed enough.

There's some backstory that traumatizes two kids, who resume the rest of the movie as young adults in the "present". Basically, there's a slasher who appears through reflective surfaces. However, John Carradine advises the heroine on how to progress this story, while at the same time telling her it's all in her head. They put that old fart in there to make it a credible horror film, but it doesn't matter. This film would have been awesome with or without him.

Awesome is a strong word. I was invested enough, not to the characters and plot, but to the vibes and weirdness of it. Like how they keep showing you the mirrors over and over again as if reminding you that the killer is using mirrors to do his thing. In case the viewer didn't catch that the other dozen times it happens in the movie. This movie thinks its audience is dumb, and I am.

This movie is shallow. It thinks it's original, but it's really just... an Amityville clone! That's the twist ending, because it turned out the house was a rip-off of the Amityville, with its glowing eyes. Remember in the first Amityville when he window comes down on the kid's fingers? Well, in this movie, the window comes down on some dickhole kid's neck. That scene right there really brought this movie up from a 2/5 to a 4/5. It added depth and meaningful social commentary.

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