For many, including in America, there is fun to be had in the name.
It’s what we conjure up for misbehaving kids.
“Be good, or the boogeyman is gonna get you.”
Image by Jefferson Chacon
It’s what our easily frightened childhood imaginations obsess over at night as well.
Why Is Michael Myers Called “The Boogeyman” in ‘Halloween’?
In 1978, directorJohn Carpenterchanged horror forever with his filmHalloween.
Image via Compass International Pictures
The ’80s were all aboutHalloweenclones, Jason Voorhees in theFriday the 13thfranchise being the most notable one.
All of those clone slashers were made out of men with motives.
Minus two seconds at the end ofHalloween, we never see his face.
Image via Touchstone
The word “boogeyman” is used several times throughoutHalloween’s runtime.
“It’s the boogeyman!”
No matter what she does to him, he keeps getting back up.
Image via 20th Century Studios
“Was it the boogeyman?”
Tommy asks when Laurie thinks she has killed him.
Laurie cries, and like a child asks, “Was it the boogeyman?”
The film ends by showing that Michael Myers has survived yet again and wandered off into the darkness.
The boogeyman is no longer a myth.
He is now flesh and bone.
It even shows us a boogeyman.
He tries to take out not just Santa Claus, but Sally and Jack as well.
What they forget though is that they needed way more than a clever title.
Spoiler alert: it didn’t.
It rips off better films likeHalloweenandThe Amityville Horrorwhile not doing much to create anything memorable on its own.
Still, withBoogeymanbeing an easy attention-getting title, two direct-to-DVD sequels were made, 2007’sBoogeyman 2and 2008’sBoogeyman 3.
This year sees the arrival of another horror film calledThe Boogeyman.