The Boogeyman Has Screened, Here's What People Are Saying About The New Stephen King Movie

There are a ton of upcoming Stephen King movies, TV shows and miniseries on the way, but the next one creeping our way is The Boogeyman, about which we know quite a few things. Ahead of the latest adaptation hitting theaters this summer, the movie found its first audiences at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Wednesday, and the early buzz sounds like good news for horror fans. 

First off, CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg, who is also our site’s Stephen King expert, was among the audience and shared his reaction, via Twitter. Here’s what he thought about The Boogeyman: 

The Boogeyman is based on a 1973 short story from Stephen King of the same name about two sisters and their father who are dealing with the recent death of their mother/his wife when an entity begins haunting their home. As Eisenberg shared in his first reaction, the movie is also a “simple horror tale” but also one that is super effective as a horror movie, between some “monster-centric scares” and its “see it with a crowd” appeal. Check out this reaction coming out of CinemaCon: 

Another journalist was happy to report there are tons of great scares for fans of the spooky genre to appreciate, especially when enjoying it in a big theater with an audience. Rob Keyes also said it's “very well shot” and “creepy as hell,” but did knock it a bit for some plot choices. The Boogeyman was initially going to go straight to Hulu, but has since moved to theaters thanks to the movie playing “through the roof” in test screenings. That certainly seems to check out given the first reactions. 

Sophie Thatcher in particular is getting a lot of early praise for her role as high school student Sadie Harper, who is the eldest child in the family dealing with the rough loss. Thatcher has found herself a few high-profile roles in the past few years between her role in 2019’s The Tomorrow War, the critically-acclaimed series Yellowjackets and her 2022 guest role on The Book of Boba Fett. The Boogeyman will mark her first leading role in a major studio film. It sounds like she killed it! 

There’s also quite a bit of love for Vivien Lyra Blair as well who you might have seen in the 2018 Netflix hit Bird Box and as a young Leia Organa in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Also among the cast is Chris Messina as their father, along with Marin Ireland, Madison Hu, LisaGay Hamilton and David Dastmalchian, the latter of whom previously told CinemaBlend The Boogeyman is “one of the scariest movies” he’d seen in a long time. 

The upcoming horror movie is set to hit theaters on June 2. As we wait for its release to have us on the edge of our seats, you can check out The Boogeyman trailer and revisit some of Stephen King's best movies.