New Stephen King adaptation had to be re-edited because it was too scary

Based on a Stephen King short story, the author is apparently a big fan of the upcoming movie.

Rob Savage, the director of the upcoming horror movie The Boogeyman, has revealed that the film had to be re-edited because its scares were too effective. Based on the 1973 short story of the same name by Stephen King, the movie centres around high school student Sadie Harper (Sophie Thatcher, Yellowjackets) and her younger sister Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair, Obi-Wan Kenobi) as they grieve the recent death of their mother. Meanwhile, their father Will (Chris Messina, Air) is a therapist and one day a desperate patient shows up unexpectedly at the family's house asking for help. However, the patient winds up unleashing a terrifying entity on the Harpers, one that preys on families - feeding on their greatest suffering. In an interview with Empire ahead of The Boogeyman's release, Savage - best known for the low-budget horrors Dashcam and Host - revealed that there were such visceral reactions from test screening audiences for the new horror that it wound up needing to be re-edited. “The first time you see the creature, the audience screamed so loud, and then immediately started talking with their neighbours and chattering, that they completely missed the next lines,” the director told the outlet.

“So we had to recut it and build in 45 seconds of padding, just so they didn’t miss any vital information."

Speaking about his general approach to horror filmmaking, Savage added: “I’m a huge jump-scare guy. That’s the most gratifying part, when you see that play with an audience and you can feel them taking the bait, and then you feel the jump land.”

Chris Messina in The Boogeyman

While The Boogeyman is not out in Irish cinemas until 2 June, it already appears to have one big fan in Stephen King, whose writing it brings to the cinema. Savage admitted that when his King adaptation was screened for the legendary horror author, he was worried the writer was "going to do a Shining on it and absolutely hate it". However, the director need not have been so anxious, telling Empire:

"Apparently he [King] jumped on numerous occasions, and then sent this lovely, lovely message to everyone who worked on the movie. And the next morning I get an email saying: ‘From Stephen King’. And he says [in it], ‘Robert, I’m still thinking about your movie the next morning.’”

The Boogeyman was written by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (A Quiet Place, 65) and Mark Heyman (Black Swan) and co-stars David Dastmalchian, LisaGay Hamilton, Madison Hu and Marin Ireland. You can check out its latest trailer right here: Related articles:

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