© 2026 The Couch Critic
Boogeyman is a 2005 New Zealand-American supernatural horror film directed by Stephen 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).
Every culture has one – the horrible monster fueling young children's nightmares. But for Tim, the Boogeyman still lives in his memories as a creature that devoured his father 16 years ago. Is the Boogeyman real, or did Tim make it up to explain why his father abandoned his family?
A young woman attempts to cure her phobia of the boogeyman by checking herself into a mental health facility, only to realize too late that she is now helplessly trapped with her own greatest fear.
When a college student witnesses the alleged suicide of her roommate, it sets into motion a series of horrific events that cause her to fear the supernatural entity. As she tries to convince the rest of her dorm that the Boogeyman does exist, the evil force grows stronger and her friends begin to pay the price. Now she must stop this ultimate evil before the entire campus falls prey.