Boogeyman 2 (DVD)

When you're really, really scared of something — like, say, the Boogeyman — it's always a great idea to tell everyone within earshot, and then say it repeatedly. It's also kind of fun to put a neon target on yourself with a big arrow on it that proclaims, "Hey, Boogeyman. I'm over here!" While you're at it, check yourself into a mental help facility, so that no one will believe you when the Boogeyman really is after you.

That's basically what Laura (Danielle Savre) does, after struggling with her lifelong phobia of the ultimate thing that goes bump in the night. To makes matters even worse, once at the hospital and all checked in, Laura finds that her assigned therapist is none other than the psychopathic serial killer, Jigsaw! (Well, OK… it's not really him. It's the actor who plays him, Tobin Bell. But let's face it, the dude's demeanor doesn't exactly instill medical confidence once you've seen him doing wet work in the Saw movies.) Our frightened young femme does, however, find some solace with the female Ph.D. on staff, played by a sympathetic Renee O'Connor.

As the story slowly unfolds we meet a bunch of other mental patients, each of whom are struggling with various phobias and fears. And (this will really surprise you) lo and behold, they each start dying off in the manner in which they most dreaded. Some of the death scenes are alright, but there is little-to-no suspense leading up to them. At least the casting is pretty good: Mae Whitman as a "cutter" (didn't that go out of style, like, 10 years ago?) is a standout.

While I gave the first Boogeyman a pass for being reasonably PG-13 scary (if you were indeed under 13 when you saw it), Boogeyman 2 is less than forgettable. It's not altogether bad, it's just a waste of space — yet another unneeded body-count sequel, doing nothing to help or hinder the horror genre.

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