The Bye Bye Man review

Though The Bye Bye Man lifts a number of familiar elements from superior films (The Amityville Horror, A Nightmare On Elm Street, etc.), Director Stacy Title manages to mesh those elements together to shape an intriguing mythology that attempts to explain why sometimes seemingly normal people snap and commit awful atrocities. The film's captivating first scene proves that the Bye Bye Man is a horror flick with franchise potential; unfortunately, this first entry is severely restricted by its PG-13 rating and struggles to overcome subpar acting and cheap special effects.

There were many points in The Bye Bye Man where I was taken out of the film because of a lack of basic realism. For example, the lack of blood during the more brutal moments kept reminding me that I was watching a movie. Obviously the film is intended to be PG-13 but the story calls for a more mature rating.

The performances from the two supporting actors is also distracting. Douglas Smith does a fine job as the lead teenager who stumbles upon a long-suppressed, evil secret in his new house; however, Cressida Bonas is bland as his girlfriend and Lucien Laviscount is annoying as their live-in friend. Though the psychological torment that develops among the trio is truly horrifying, the obvious acting made it difficult for me to truly immerse myself into the world of these characters.

The cheap special effects also made it difficult for me to get immersed. In particular, the Bye Bye Man's C.G. dog-creature-sidekick-thing is so cartoon-ish looking that when I first saw it, I laughed out loud in my seat. Judging by the pup's poor production and laughably short screen time, I got the impression that nobody working on this film wanted viewers to even take notice of it.

Had the studio allowed The Bye Bye Man to be the film it obviously wants to be, it could have been something much more memorable. As it stands, the film merely serves as a potential step in the right direction: bright ideas blackened by the typical flaws of a January horror flick.

Grade: C-