SPECTRE

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the bloodiest of them all?

In the Chesapeake Bay region, a brother & sister try to overcome their childhood trauma living on their aunt & uncle’s ranch. The sister is married with a kid while the brother is mute, working the farm. A missive from their dying mother brings buried memories to the fore while a mysterious old mirror unleashes a deadly… boogey man.

“The Boogey Man” (1980) is a psychological slasher that borrows from “The Exorcist,” “Halloween” and “The Amityville Horror,” although it had the smallest of budgets of these, only costing $300,000 with John Carradine as Dr. Warren being the greatest expense (all of his scenes were shot in a day).

There are similarities to soon-to-come flicks like "Nightmare" (1981) and "Luther the Geek" (1989). If you like those and the tone of, say, "Silent Night, Bloody Night" (1972) and "Don't Go in the House" (1979), check it out. The Chesapeake Bay area is a highlight, as is the realism and mood, but the story is kinda tedious, not to mention a little baffling. It doesn’t help that the female cast is subpar compared to any of the Friday the 13th films.

The film runs 1 hour, 22 minutes, and was shot in Maryland, as follows: Bel Alton (brick house with the well), La Plata (Lacey & Willie’s childhood home), Port Tobacco (cemetery and church) and Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The barn interior scenes were done at Paramount Ranch, Agoura, California.

GRADE: B-