Hype is starting to go into overdrive for the upcoming Stephen King movie The Boogeyman, which is due to be released in June. It stars Chris Messina and David Dastmalchian, as well as young Yellowjackets cast member Sophie Thatcher and Obi-Wan Kenobi cast member Vivien Lyra Blair (young Princess Leia). The Boogeyman is directed by Rob Savage, who had a breakthrough horror movie hit with 2020’s zoom-based Host.
Rob Savage has told Empire magazine about a surprising influence on The Boogeyman. Robert Redford’s directorial debut in 1980 was a heart-wrenching drama movie starring Judd Hirsch as a psychiatrist to a young, troubled teen (Timothy Hutton) who is struggling to cope with the death of his brother. In The Boogeyman, Messina plays a therapist who struggles to support his own children through their grief after their mother dies.
Savage says; “Ordinary People was one of our big references. That was one of the movies we were going back to, as much as any horror movie, for just the authenticity and the way they deal with grief, and the performances. We said this was like Ordinary People meets Poltergeist.”
Savage even got everyone on the cast and crew a specially designed Boogeyman poster which parodied the Ordinary People one as a wrap gift. Ordinary People is mainly known for the performances of Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore as the parents of Timothy Hutton’s character, as they both struggle with their own grief and trying to support their surviving son. It won four Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director for Redford and Best Supporting Actor for Timothy Hutton (who was only 20 at the time).
The Boogeyman is based on a short story by Stephen King, which was published in the Night Shift collection in 1978. Dastmalchian plays Lester Billings, the narrator of the tale in King’s work.
While we wait for the release of The Boogeyman in June, check out our guide to the best monster movies and the best ghost movies.