The Boogeyman: release date, plot, cast, trailer and all we know (2025)

The Boogeyman: release date, plot, cast, trailer and all we know (1)

The Boogeyman has long been a terrifying concept, with children afraid of things that go bump in the night or might be hiding under their bed.

Stephen King wrote a short story about this mythic creature(we hope it's mythic anyway!) and it's getting a new adaptation with Rob Savage at the helm of the project.

Fans will no doubt recognize Rob from his critically acclaimed Zoom-style horror movie Host in 2020, in the height of lockdown, which terrified audiences as it felt a bit too real. Is anyone else still recovering?

Now he's back to do it all over again and said of his new movie: "The Boogeyman is a classic horror movie in the mold of Poltergeist that has scares and heart in equal measure.

"I vividly remember the terror I felt reading King’s short story as a kid, and it’s this feeling of childhood fear that I wanted to inspire in cinema audiences around the world."

He added: "This film was made in collaboration with an incredibly talented team of creatives, and is anchored by wonderful, soulful performances from our incredible cast - I'm in awe of them, truly. We’re incredibly proud of this movie."

Here's everything you need to know about The Boogeyman.

The Boogeyman release date

The movie is released in cinemas globally on Friday, June 2. We don't have word on a potential streaming release yet, but if that changes we will keep you updated.

The Boogeyman plot

Stephen King's story has been adapted for the screen by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods who worked on A Quiet Place and Mark Heyman, known for his work on Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.

According to 20th Century Studios, the plot for The Boogeyman is: "High school student Sadie Harper and her younger sister Sawyer are reeling from the recent death of their mother and aren’t getting much support from their father, Will, a therapist who is dealing with his own pain.

"When a desperate patient unexpectedly shows up at their home seeking help, he leaves behind a terrifying supernatural entity that preys on families and feeds on the suffering of its victims."

The Boogeyman cast

There's a great line-up attached to The Boogeyman with Yellowjackets star Sophie Thatcher leading the cast as Sadie Harper and Obi-Wan Kenobi's Vivien Lyra Blair playing the role of her sister, Sawyer.

Sadie and Sawyer's father, Will, is played by Julie & Julia star Chris Messina and The Practice's LisaGay Hamilton plays the role of Dr. Weller, who works with the family after they start experiencing strange occurrences.

Meanwhile, Boston Strangler star David Dastmalchian stars as the unexpected arrival Lester.

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, David Dastmalchian said: "With Lester comes a story that's not only going to change this family's life but is going to introduce a materialized horror the likes of which the people in this film — and I think audiences — have really never seen before."

Is there a trailer?

Yes and it's as terrifying as you might expect, giving us a glimpse into how a family's life changes rapidly after the titular Boogeyman is released.

The less said the better, see for yourself...

A second trailer has also been shared on social media, with the lead character telling us to "relax". Somehow, we don't think that's going to happen!

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The Boogeyman: release date, plot, cast, trailer and all we know (3)

Lucy Buglass

Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress!

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The Boogeyman: release date, plot, cast, trailer and all we know (2025)

FAQs

The Boogeyman: release date, plot, cast, trailer and all we know? ›

While the film was expected to debut exclusively on Hulu, we now have information that The Boogeyman will instead be hitting theaters on June 2, 2023, after positive test screenings. This has become increasingly common for films initially meant for streaming releases.

Is The Boogeyman based on a true story? ›

Interestingly, while The Boogeyman isn't based on a true experience, Savage has been influenced by another horror movie and how it used the night as a cover to kill.

Why is The Boogeyman rated R? ›

The film contains scary elements centered around the terrifying nature of the titular creature, including stalking, attacking, and killing its prey. While the film's language is relatively tame, it includes scenes with violence and intense brutality that are not suitable for younger children.

Is The Boogeyman still alive at the end of the movie? ›

The Boogeyman's ending teases that the creature is not actually dead, and that it could come back to attack Sadie and Sawyer. The Boogeyman is relentless in preying on its victims, and there's no way to determine whether the monster is permanently dead or if setting it on fire was just a temporary setback.

Does The Boogeyman have a happy ending? ›

Eventually, the monster is defeated, and Will, Sadie and Sawyer escape their house, which is now engulfed by flames. We next see the family at the office of psychiatrist Dr Weller, who Sadie and Sawyer had been meeting throughout the movie to help with the loss of their mother.

Who killed Boogeyman? ›

Boogeyman (2005)
NameCause of deathKiller
CrowCrashed into windshieldTim Jensen
JessicaDragged down bathtub/drownedBoogeyman
Ome MikeWrapped in plastic sheet, dragged into closet, killed (off-screen)
BoogeymanFall back into closet into ethereal pitTim Jensen
2 more rows

Who is the real bogeyman? ›

Albert Fish
Span of crimes1924–1932
CountryUnited States
State(s)New York
Date apprehendedDecember 13, 1934
12 more rows

Can a 13 year old watch The Boogeyman? ›

The Boogeyman is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for terror, violent content, teen drug use and some strong language. Violence: There are references to death and suicide. A child is killed just out of frame. A man is seen hanging from the back of a door.

Why is The Boogeyman bad? ›

The production design and special effects in The Boogeyman are decent but cannot salvage the movie's overall poor quality. The editing suffers from sloppiness, resulting in disjointed and poorly paced scenes.

Should I let my 12 year old watch John Wick? ›

Most kills come down to a gunshot and some blood-mist, but since the action is so fast, the camera often just moves off the body. Language wise, a fair amount of f-bombs, but nothing your kids haven't heard before. I would say that John Wick is appropriate for kids 14 and up.

What was in the closet at the end of The Boogeyman? ›

There's only a closet partially open, from where the voice called Sadie. Since the Boogeyman can mimic other people's voices, Sadie understands the monster is still alive and reaching out to her. However, when the actual therapist shows up, Sadie faces her fears and closes the closet door.

What happened to the mom in The Boogeyman? ›

Plot. Therapist Will Harper is struggling to overcome the death of his wife, who died suddenly in a car crash. His daughters, Sadie and Sawyer, are likewise struggling to deal with their mother's passing. One day, a disturbed man named Lester Billings visits Will's office.

What is The Boogeyman's weakness? ›

- The Boogeyman's weaknesses are destroying the childhood fears that haunts the victim. (Destroying 5 items the child fears.) This will defeat the boogeyman.

How much of Boogeyman is true? ›

The boogeyman is not real, but most cultures have some version of the boogeyman myth, although they go by many, many different names. The actual "boogeyman" name most likely originated sometime in the 19th century, but the mythology of these kinds of "monsters" have been around for much longer than that.

What story is The Boogeyman based on? ›

It is, we learn in the credits, indeed based on the King story of the same name, from his 1978 collection “Night Shift.” Sort of. A couple of the characters in the film share names with characters from the book, and one of them does similar things.

What is Boogeyman age? ›

Martin (Marty) Wright (July 15, 1964) is an American professional wrestler known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring name The Boogeyman.

What short story is Boogeyman based on? ›

"The Boogeyman" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1973 issue of the magazine Cavalier and later included in King's 1978 collection, Night Shift.

Is Boogeyman 2005 based on Stephen King? ›

It is, we learn in the credits, indeed based on the King story of the same name, from his 1978 collection “Night Shift.” Sort of. A couple of the characters in the film share names with characters from the book, and one of them does similar things.

What is The Boogeyman legend story? ›

In America, Bogeyman urban legends describe him as a scary figure with no consistent shape or form. He hides under the bed, in dark corners, or in a child's closet waiting for his prey. In other countries, he's a man who wears all black with a sack and kidnaps bad children to either keep them or eat them.

Who is the real Boogeyman in John Wick? ›

In the montage showing him preparing to enact his violent revenge against the Russian gangsters who murdered his dog, mob boss Viggo Tarasov ominously calls him "Baba Yaga." The name is a reference to a creature from Russian folklore, reflecting John's history with the mob, although it's often misinterpreted as a " ...

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