The Boogeyman Pushes The Limits Of Its PG-13 Rating

Contains spoilers for "The Boogeyman"

"The Boogeyman," based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, continues a trend of strong horror outings in 2023. In his review of the film, Looper's Alistair Ryder states, "It's to the credit of the screenwriters that they have found an ingenious way to weave in the brilliantly unnerving original short story narrative into this newly invented one, rather than building out an even looser adaptation from the ground up." It's not an entirely surprising development, as King is the master of horror, but it's natural if some fans were trepidatious considering the movie's PG-13 rating. 

At PG-13, "The Boogeyman" can't get as gory as something like "Evil Dead Rise." However, upon watching the movie, it's obvious this film manages to squeeze every last ounce of terror out of its rating, occasionally pushing the boundaries of what one would expect out of a PG-13 horror movie. This is one film that doesn't pull any punches, as the opening scene sets the tone. 

"The Boogeyman" opens with a scene of a baby in a crib. The camera pans around the room, and we see the closet door seemingly open on its own. We don't see the titular monster, but it's obvious what's going on as the child cries out. As the monster gets closer, the camera pans over to a family photo that's promptly splattered with blood, and the crying stops. Killing a baby is hardcore for even an R-rated horror flick, so for this film to kick off with such a scene is pretty ambitious. 

In most genres, one wouldn't expect any kids to die, especially in such a violent fashion (even though the audience doesn't technically see anything). However, horror has always remained its own beast. After all, earlier this year, people saw "M3GAN," which has a scene of the homicidal AI doll luring a young boy to his death, and that was also in the PG-13 cut.

The rest of the movie remains firmly in the PG-13 camp. There are plenty of moments when someone hears or sees something slightly off, like a closet door gradually becoming ajar. While the audience doesn't see much of the monster until the very end, there's a ton of implied violence, often at the expense of children. There's also a pretty grisly scene where Lester (David Dastmalchian) hangs himself in the Harper home, discovered by Sadie (Sophie Thatcher), which may be tough for some people to watch.

"The Boogeyman" pulls out every trick in the horror handbook to terrify the audience. There are jump scares, but the film also knows when to push an immediate gratification of terror to the side in order to build suspense. And then there are the scenes that are only spooky after the fact, like when Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) believes she's talking to her older sister only to discover she was in a different room (with the implication being that the monster replicated Sadie's voice).

Plenty of PG-13 movies are fine for kids as young as 10 to watch. But parents should definitely think twice before letting their children see "The Boogeyman," which is playing in theaters now.