The Boogey Man – Vinegar Syndrome (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1980
Director: Ulli Lommel
Writers: Ulli Lommel, Suzanna Love, David Herschel
Cast: Suzanna Love, Ron James, John Carradine, Nicholas Love, Raymond Boyden, Felicite Morgan, Bill Rayburn, Llewelyn Thomas

Release Date: May 29th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 82 Minutes 9 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $52.98

"When she was young, Lacey witnessed, by mirror reflection, the brutal murder of her stepfather at the hands of her brother, Willy. Years later, Lacey has settled into a comfortable married life, with a child of her own, while Willy has been rendered mute as a result of his childhood trauma and has taken to removing or blacking out all mirrors in the family home. When the very mirror through which Lacey and Willy viewed the murder is accidentally shattered, a dark and vengeful curse is unleashed on the family, and soon anyone unlucky enough to come into contact with shards of the mirror falls victim to heinous murder..." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative."

The Boogey Man comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 55.8 GB

Feature: 55.6 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent; it is easily the best The Boogeyman has looked to date. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated and, in some moments, vivid, contrast, black levels, image clarity, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic. That said, it is hard to imagine The Boogeyman looking any better than this transfer.

The Boogey Man comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.7 GB

Feature: 22.5 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English. The audio is in great shape; dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. Range-wise, ambient sounds are well represented, and the score sounds robust. Included are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary track with editor Terrell Tannen and an audio commentary track with film historian and author Kat Ellinger.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 7 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH), TV spot #1 (34 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH), TV spot #2 (34 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH), an archival interview with writer/director Ulli Lommel (18 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English subtitles), an interview with camera operator Jürg V. Walther titled Boogey Man as Art (15 minutes 1 second, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH), an interview with Terrell Tannen titled Cuts from the Mirror (20 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH), an interview with actress Catherine Tambini titled Pick-Up Girl (8 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH), an interview with cinematographer David Sperling titled Boogey Man, and So On (33 minutes 59 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH), an interview with actress Suzanna Love (38 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH), an audio commentary track with Terrell Tannen, and an audio commentary track with Kat Ellinger.

Other extras include reversible cover art and a spot-gloss slipcover (limited to 7,000 units).

Summary:

Directed by Ulli Lommel, whose other notable films include Tenderness of the Wolves, Olivia, and The Devonsville Terror.

The narrative revolves around two siblings, one of whom killed their mother's boyfriend, leaving them traumatized. Flash forward twenty years, and a broken mirror from their childhood home unleashes an evil spirit looking for revenge.

The premise is full of possibilities, and the execution of said premise is well executed. Also, the premise puts an interesting twist on the boogey man, a mythical creature often used by adults to frighten bad children.

From its opening moments, The Boogey Man firmly establishes a menacing tone that never lets up. The opening sequence, in which a young boy murders his mother's lover, bears a striking resemblance to a moment in John Carpenter's Halloween. Even the way the camera moves in this opening sequence has Halloween written all over it.

The most surprising aspect of The Boogey Man are the performances, which for the most part are very good. The standout performances are by Suzanna Love in the role of Lacey and Nicholas Love in the role of Willy, two siblings who were traumatized by their mother's lover's murder. In the case of the former, her character suffers from hallucinations related to that traumatic night, while in the case of the latter, he has not spoken since that night. The most notable cast member is John Carradine (The Grapes of Wrath), who plays the role of a doctor trying to help Lacey overcome the trauma of that night.

A main draw for horror fans are the kill scenes, and in this regard, The Boogey Man will not disappoint. Some of the notable kills include a scene where a woman’s hand becomes possessed and the scissors she’s holding impale her throat, and a boy whose neck gets crushed by a window frame. All of the deaths are well done and sufficiently gory.

From a production standpoint, there is not an area where The Boogey Man does not deliver and then some. The visuals and the score do a fantastic job reinforcing the foreboding mood. Also, the briskly paced narrative never feels drawn out, and there is never a dull moment as there is an ample amount of well-timed jump scares. Ultimately, The Boogey Man is a well-made supernatural horror film that is a must-see if you're a fan of 1980s horror cinema.

The Boogey Man gets a definitive release from Vinegar Syndrome; highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer