Two stars

PG-13, 86 minutes, Southwinds 12

A boy witnesses the death of his father by an unknown phantom in his closet, and now 15 years later returns to the house where it happened. What should be the creepy tale of the famed Boogeyman, is just another stylish Hollywood horror.

The idea isn't bad, but when a film is more about how it looks than telling a story, it falls flat. The first half the movie feels as though we are following the character around with some interesting shots and effects, which eventually gets a bit boring. Some sequences look like a music video, and it seems that the filmmakers think the way to scare an audience is just to have a loud noise and some quick editing. This becomes predictable; you know when you're about to jump. In all fairness, there are some scary bits, reminiscent of Village of The Damned, which reminds you that little children can be very scary. The ending is more interesting than the rest, but perhaps that’s because something is actually happening.

The relatively unknown cast doesn't do a bad job, especially with the material they’re working with. Some of it is just confusing while trying to be clever, and if there had been less talking and more observing and hinting, it would have kept the audience more on edge. Also, the film could have been condensed by almost a third.

A disappointing horror that doesn't live up to the 'true' Boogeyman idea. Go and see Hide and Seek instead.