The Boogeyman (2023)
I enjoyed 2023's The Boogeyman enough that if my memories of it fade away, I won't be upset. While it shows that the film is not the nightmare-inducing, wet-your-pants-in-terror experience the people involved might have hoped for, it also means I'm likely to accidentally watch it again in the future.
Therapist Will Harper (Chris Messina) is struggling to cope with his wife’s sudden death in a car accident. One day, a man enters his home office unexpectedly, explaining that his children were all killed by an evil force that emerged from their closets. Convinced that the entity latches onto families going through dark times and that there is no escaping “The Boogeyman”, he commits suicide. Soon after, Will’s youngest daughter, Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) claims to see the creature. Her father thinks nothing of it but his eldest daughter, Sadie (Sophie Thatcher), thinks there's more to the dead man's story than delusions.
The obvious movie to compare The Boogeyman to is Lights Out. Both feature an unseen monster that lives in the darkness and can only be repelled by light. Between the two, Lights Out is more memorable, but I actually like this film better. The major difference is the monster, whose origin remains shrouded in mystery even at the end, making it much scarier. The Boogeyman is only shown in any sort of clarity during the last, final confrontation. The glimpses we catch reveal a relatively simple design but director Rob Savage and the creature artists do this thing with their monster’s mouth that’ll give you goosebumps. I admire this film for not being so in love with The Boogeyman that they "shine a light" on it, ruining its ability to scare in the process.
If you look at the plot, it isn’t anything revolutionary, with the creature incrementally terrorizing the family until they’re properly seasoned by fear to strike, or what have you. The investigation thing we’ve seen enough times that at this point, I find it more interesting when the characters are too busy dealing with the monster’s rules, what’s happening now, or their own drama to flip through microfiches at the library - I’m thinking of It Follows or Talk to Me as good examples. What we get in The Boogeyman isn’t badly done, but it’s what you expect. To that, I say "Surprises are nice but sometimes, having your expectations met is also nice". What's new are the bits of family drama. The Harpers make the film more engaging than if we were following random teens getting bumped off one by one (see Slender Man, for example). Take Will. He's a therapist but is clearly unwell psychologically. He won’t even attend the family therapy sessions. Everyone in the family is broken in one way or another, which makes you understand why it takes so long for everyone to realize what's happening. The performances from the cast, particularly the young actresses are quite good. You like the characters and sympathize for them even when they’re doing some of the “horror movie protagonist” stuff you hate, like going into the dark basement or wandering alone in the house with no lights on.
To survive, the Harpers will have to band together. In the meantime, you get some pretty good scares. We’ve seen that bit where a child hears a strange noise and decides to check under the bed to see what's happening before, but it remains effective. Watch this movie in the dark, by yourself, in bed and the next time you need to use the bathroom at night, I'm sure you'll jump as close as possible to get to the light switch for fear that something will grab your feet if they don’t land far enough.
It isn’t too hard to find ways you could improve The Boogeyman but what it does, it does well. It’s scary enough, with some good performances and a couple of neat tricks to spice things up. Perhaps most importantly, it doesn’t drop the ball when it comes to the important plays. I think the worst thing you could say about this film by Rob Savage is that it’s “workmanlike” rather than inspired but at worst, that just makes it a film you watch once and be happy to have seen. (November 25, 2023)
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Title: Trust Me.
Person: Roman reigns
Requested: |Yes|No|(part 2 was yes)
Part 1. Part. 3
★Trust Masterlist
Afab!reader
Warnings: manipulation, obsessiveness, dark!Themes, surprised ambush(only mentioned but not written as a scene), yelling, slight!abuse(a hand gets raised as if to slap but never happens and reader gets choked by Roman), angst, cussing,
description: it’s been a week after Roman said he trusted you and things are starting to go down hill..
Pairings: Romantic!roman x reader, slight!romantic!Jey x reader, slight!romantic!Jimmy x reader, slight!romantic!solo x reader, also includes a very friendly Paul heyman
Pic creds: WWE
(Pics have nothing to do with story 😋)
A/n: you’ve read the warnings so please if they make you uncomfortable do not read.
Choking will be marked with a “☹︎“ and will end at “☻︎“
Not proof read!
Roman was pissed, all he could see was red when he heard what happened, more importantly what you did
After he talked to you and poured his heart out you had gone and betrayed him
How dare you
He had got word from someone that they saw you with Sami and ko laughing and having a good time
At first he didn’t believe them
Then he saw the picture
Ko and Sami on both sides of you laughing and smiling
Oh was he furious
But from some talking with his cousins he was going to give you the benefit of the doubt and actually let you explain
That was until Jey and Jimmy got ambushed by Sami and ko themselves
Now he was livid
As soon as they got back he made solo go find you
Which is where you’re at now
Sitting in front of Roman as he quietly glared at you…
“___ do you know why I had solo bring you here?”
His tone was different then what he ever used before making you slightly uncomfortable
“No Roman, I don’t…”
You answered honestly confusion lacing your voice
“Wiseman, show her the picture”
Paul was quick to walk towards you with his phone in hand
Handing the phone to you as he quickly walked back to his original spot
You eyed the picture seeing nothing wrong with it
about to open your mouth Roman spoke
“Don’t say anything.” His tone was demanding making you shiver as you quickly shut your mouth
“Boys, come.”
watching as Jey and Jimmy stepped up until they were in front of you heads both turned down as they looked to Roman for further instruction
Roman nodded and finally they raised their heads looking everywhere but you
You couldn’t help the soft gasp that left your lips as you caught a glimpse of their faces
“Look at them ___ look at what you did..”
Your brows netted together hearing what Roman was accusing you of
But your attention was still set on the twins
They had busted lips, with bruises forming on their jaws as small cuts littered alongside their noses
“Jey, Jimmy” your voice shaky as they both locked eyes with you
“What-what happened?” You went to get up but the look solo gave you had you glued to your seat
“Who did this?”
Your voice shaky as you tried racking your brain for who had the balls to try and hurt two vital members of the bloodline
Roman stared at you in disbelief
“Who do you think did this ___ ?”
His tone was way darker than before, almost as if he was trying to intimidate you..
“Roman I-I don’t understand”
You could sense him getting angrier and it honestly scared you
“WHY DO YOU PLAY GAMES WITH ME?”
His abrupt yelling startled not only you but everyone else in the room besides solo
“I brought you into my family, I cared for you, I Trusted you.”
His palms abruptly slapping into the arms of the leather chair he was sitting in created a loud noise that echoed throughout the room making you jump slightly
“And this is how you repay me?”
He stood Making his way towards you as You looked away feeling tears prick your eyes
“Look at me”
You felt his presence in front of you but yet you still refused to look at him
Afraid that if you did you wouldn’t hold back
But He was growing impatient at your disobedience
“I said, Look. At. Me”
Slowly you turned facing him and you swear your heart stopped
He looked so intimidating
And it scared the living fuck out of you
He bent down to your level leaving almost no room between you two
“Answer me ___”
His voice gruff as his hand ran slightly along your shoulder to your jaw
He waited
And then he snapped
☹︎CHOKING BELLOW!
“NOW”
He rose to his feet pulling you with him as he hand gripped your throat
You heard Paul gasp as you were lifted off your feet by Roman’s large hand
Tears fell freely as you clawed at his hand to try and let you slightly free, but it wasn’t working and you were loosing air fast
Ears ringing as your vision began to blur
Still you could slightly hear Jey yelling at Roman to let you go as Jimmy started pulling and grabbing at him
☺︎︎CHOKING OVER!
It wasn’t until Jey said something that snapped him out of his trance that he let you go
Solo was quick to walk over and check on your choking form as you regained air into your lungs
Once you could breath again you stood with the help of solo and turned to watch Jey and Roman
Who now was yelling and shoving each other around with Jimmy trying to talk them both down
It want until Roman raised his hand towards Jey that you broke from Solo’s arms to step in
“Roman Please!” He stopped lowering his hand to glare at you
Taking a breath you finally explained
“The picture, it was three years ago..”
His eyes softened slightly but his glare never faltered
You looked towards Paul and gestured for him to give you the phone
With shaky hands he handed it to you
“Look at the picture again,look at my gear” Roman tour his eyes away from you to finally look at the phone once again
“That’s my rookie gear Roman”
Finally his eyes softened as he looked at you
He could see the yellow and purple marks in the form of fingerprints start to form around your neck
Where He grabbed you.
Then it hit him
He had put his hands on you
He hurt you
And he broke
Brows furrowed as Tears fell down his cheeks
“Oh babygirl”
Hearing his voice crack made your heart break
“I’m so sorry”
You shook your head
“I should’ve never grabbed you like that”
He was so genuine you knew he felt bad
“You have to believe me when I say I didn’t mean it”
He pleaded
“Please Trust Me and know I will never do it again”
It was silent until you took his hands in yours smiling softly..
“I know Roman, I forgive you”
A wide smile graced his lips hearing those words come out your mouth
“It was an accident it’s ok”
He nodded agreeing with you
“I Trust You”
Hearing those words he quickly brought you into a hug
“Oh thank you baby!”
He pulled back slightly and pressed a kiss to the crown of your head before pulling back again to look you in the eyes this time
I’ll make it up to you princess, I promise”
He watched as you smiled before burying your head into his neck as he placed his chin on your head…
The three brothers stood confused at what just a cured
How could you take Roman back after he literally choked you…
Then they realized.
You were Hooked
Roman had built up enough trust with you so you wouldn’t runaway
Roman knew if you were to runaway you would be a liability, you knew too much…
Now They stared at you and Roman with one shared thought
How do they get you to trust them the same as you trusted their cousin?
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In red=can not tag
Please message me to be added or taken off the taglist😋
(I honestly don’t know if I liked this because of how harsh it gets so next part won’t be so harsh I promise!)
(Also what do you guys think Jey said to Roman?)
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Can you do one where reader has an encounter with the OG Bloodline? Like when TJD and Bloodline were supposed to team up
Sorry this took so long! Trying to get back into the swing of things.
-Your were, of course, nervous to meet The Bloodline. They looked so scary on TV!
-Your caregivers assured you that it would all be okay and they won't lay a finger on you. And you believe them, because anyone who would date hurt The Judgement Day's babies were in for a world of pain!
-Still, you did feel nervous. Though those nerves calmed down when Mami found a llama toy for you and Dom to play with!
-You were having so much fun playing and cuddling up to Mami, you didn't even notice when Roman, Jimmy, Solo, and Paul Heyman entered the room.
-When you did, you instantly jumped off the couch and ran to hide behind Papi.
-Papi chuckled and ran his fingers through your hair. Comforting you gently.
-"It's okay sweetheart. You know they wouldn't dare hurt you. Right?" Damian gave them a glare at that last part.
-You slowly poke your head out to look at them. Giving them a little wave.
-Roman and Jimmy give you a smile. Paul is too busy handling business, and Solo is... Well, he's Solo.
-You're placed back on the couch with Dom while they start talking business. It sounds boring, so you time out.
-You and Dom play with the llama and some of your other toys for a while, until you see a shadow hover over the two of you. It's Jimmy.
-He starts asking you two what you're doing, and you shyly show him your toys. Luckily, he seems nice and invested!
-A little later, Mami said she wants to talk to Heyman, alone. But you wanna stay with Mami! So you whine and hug her tightly, like a koala!
-She very quickly relents and let's you sit on her lap while she talks to Paul.
-He looked confused, but Mami kept warning him to pay attention to her, not you.
-Your mostly zone out again, just happy to be with Mami. But when you hear Mami tell Paul to 'Acknowledge me' you laugh and turn to Paul to say "Acknowledge Mami!"
-Causing Mami to laugh and give you a big kiss on the cheek! Leaving a lipstick mark.
-"You heard the little one." She would say proudly.
-In the end, Mami called you her big helper! Even though things would still of gone to plan no matter what, Mami still saw you as her good luck charm!
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