As one of the first productions for Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert's Ghost House Pictures, 2005's Boogeyman was a mediocre flick aimed at an easy-to-please teenage crowd. Two years later, and free from the shackles of watered-down PG-13 rating, along comes this direct-to-DVD follow-up, which actually improves upon the first movie in many ways. It's a decidedly bloodier, R-rated sequel that merely takes the basics of the first film and throws them into a story that reminded me a lot of the third Nightmare on Elm Street entry while having a tone more attuned with slasher movies - which might be because the title creature is a masked killer posing as the "Boogeyman" rather than the oft-CGI otherworldly creature of before.

Our opening set piece introduces us to youngster Henry whose sister is having a birthday party. It's a fun time with the family but due to him being deathly afraid of the dark, he's hesitant to take a trip down a darkened hallway to the bathroom. Which might've been a smart move since dad ends-up being gutted by a shrouded figure.

Flash-forward to ten-years-later and Henry's now grown-up sibling, Laura (Danielle Savre) has checked herself into a local clinic to try and fight off the bad dreams she's been having since that childhood trauma. Said clinic specializes in fear and is run by the always calm Dr. Allen (Tobin Bell) but things are about to change for the good doctor, Laura, and all the other patients there when people start dying at the hands of an all-new boogeyman that's using their specific fears against them.

This gives scripter Brian Sieve and director Jeff Betancourt lots of opportunity to pile on various shock moments as the cast of stereotypical characters are knocked-off in, usually gruesome, ways. They've given the proceedings a more streamlined, and more enjoyable, feel than the original and have thankfully tossed out all the mystical mumbo jumbo of that one in the process. Boogeyman 2 walks the fine line between being a supernatural horror and a slasher flick but comes across more as the latter due to a fairly draggy finale that has Laura being chased through various pitch-black areas in the bowels of the clinic by our masked killer (which is fairly weak with its silver sheen and scraggly hair). It also sports some fairly impressive effects work including a bit of nastiness involving maggots and a surprisingly cool moment with some hedge clippers.

In the lead role, Savre pretty much goes through the motions looking scared and that rings true for the performances of most of the young cast. In fact, only Mae Whitman makes that much of an impression playing "cutter" Alison. She's surprisingly likeable and even gets the most memorable death. Meanwhile, Bell continues to prove to me that, after the success of the Saw movies, he's willing to take a role in almost anything adding yet another DTV sequel to his resume - he also appeared in Decoys 2: Alien Seduction.

While Boogeyman 2 isn't going to wash the bad taste of the original out of your mouth, it turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining time and was a smart move on behalf of the franchise to spin it into a new, more explicit, direction. After having absolutely no interest in seeing the series continue, I'm now curious to see how the third entry will turn out. What's on display here isn't breaking any new ground, and it does get a little tiring in the final third, but it also trots out enough death scenes and over-the-top moments to make it much better than it had any right to be. (Chris Hartley, 10/4/09)

Directed By: Jeff Betancourt.
Written By: Brian Sieve.

Starring: Danielle Savre, Matthew Cohen, David Gallagher, Mae Whitman.