Mr. Movie review: ‘Bye Bye Man’ the most boring of horror films ever
The Bye Bye Man is modeled after I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream, The Nightmare on Elm Street and other shadowy and soulless horror character movies. The premise of this one: Whisper the Bye Bye Man’s name and you die and anyone you give his name to dies as well.
The four main characters are — typical of the genre — played by actors you’ve never heard of. The known actors are Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), who has a small role and so does former box-office biggie Fay Dunaway.
It’s directed by Stacy Title, who has directed films with titles you’ve never heard, and it’s written by also unknown Jonathan Penner and is based on a book you’ve never heard of.
Gratuitous gore and violence, things jumping out at you from offscreen and darkly lit, creepy rooms with the villain lurking in the dark, that make films like this appealing to fans. This one — gratefully for a critic who hates the genre — doesn’t have much of either.
When word gets around that this lacks anything scary, or creepy, instead of hello, fans will quickly say bye-bye to The Bye Bye Man. It is definitely the worst of this genre — ever.
The Bye Bye Man
Director: Stacy Title
Stars: Douglas Smith, Lucien Laviscount, Cressida Bonas, Doug Jones, Carrie-Anne Moss, Faye Dunaway
Mr. Movie rating: 1/2 star
Rated R for violence, language, mature themes. It’s playing at the Carmike 12, the Fairchild Cinemas Pasco & Queensgate 12s, Walla Walla Grand Cinemas.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen.
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it’s your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on DVD.
2 stars to 1 star: Don’t bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
This story was originally published January 12, 2017 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie review: ‘Bye Bye Man’ the most boring of horror films ever."