This Stephen King Adaptation Scared Test Audiences So Much It Had to Be Edited
If Stephen King liked your movie based on his book, then you won this life.
In the world of movie making, Stephen King is the ultimate judge and jury when it comes to the adaptation of one of his stories. For a long time now, filmmakers have been trying to win his approval, and the rising star in the horror genre, Rob Savage, has recently done just that.
Savage took a risk by adapting King's classic tale, The Boogeyman, which was written in 1973 and tells the story of a creepy creature that hides in shadows and under beds, waiting to prey on misbehaving children.
Savage's version of the Boogeyman gives the story a new life, shifting the focus from the original protagonist, the tormented Lester Billings, to the Harper sisters, Sadie and Sawyer, and their therapist father. As this malevolent entity begins to haunt their lives, the psychological terror escalates, and the lines between reality and nightmare become blurred.
In the 2023 film version, it is the creature itself that steals the show, waiting with malevolent pleasure to prey on children who stray from the path of obedience. The creature's design, a meticulous blend of the macabre, is inspired by the darkest corners of nature — a nightmarish collage of reflective cat-like eyes, creepy spider-like movements, and an eerie, insect-like skeleton.
Its long, twisted arms reach out to grab its victims, and it's particularly good at lurking in the shadows to scare the living daylights out of everyone.
The monster proved to be good enough to make the test audience react so intensely that extra care was taken to make sure no dialog was drowned out by their screams. As the director and nearly a newcomer to the genre, Rob Savage was thrilled to see the audience fall victim to the creature's terrifying charm, their jumps and shocked faces proof of its impact.
In a surprising turn of events, Stephen King himself endorsed the film, as the King of Horror not only shared screening feedback, but wrote a positive essay and personally emailed Savage expressing his fascination with the film.
He even expressed a desire to collaborate with Rob Savage on future projects, cementing the film's status as a rare gem in the cinematic universe of Stephen King adaptations, where the Boogeyman is truly brought to life in all its terrifying glory (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Source: The Hollywood Reporter