Movie Review: Cucuy: The Boogeyman (2018)

Synopsis: After being placed under house arrest for protecting her deaf sister, Sofia begins to suspect recent child abductions might be related to her new next-door neighbor. However, she soon realizes the abductions are instead being orchestrated by Cucuy, a Mexican legend known for punishing wicked children. Things go from bad to worse when her sister is snatched by the demon.

Who's in it? The movie stars Jearnest Corchado, Bella Stine, Brian Krause, Marisol Nichols and Morgana Ignis.

Review: My wife and I were able to settle down on the couch early enough to watch a movie last night and, since it has been a while since I've checked out some of the films on SyFy, I went through that list. This one seemed interesting, so we gave it a try. Overall, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be.

I think the thing I liked best about this movie was the mystery surrounding the Cucuy (Ignis). In particular, there was a mystery about who summoned the creature (and it turns out I was wrong with my guess). Plus, there was also the possibility it wasn't a supernatural being at all and, instead, just someone dressed as the legend to hide their identity when they abducted children. 

I also liked the added complication of the movie's main protagonist, Sofia (Corchado) having an ankle monitor that prevented her from leaving her property for more than three minutes. This meant she had to worry about being arrested, even as she was trying to do something heroic though, admittedly, that problem was ultimately solved a little too easily (and without any real explanation).

I think my biggest problem with this movie is there aren't a whole lot of likable characters. The kids the Cucuy was abducting were psychopaths that frankly were scarier than the monster itself. I mean, seriously, who bullies a deaf kid and mocks someone who killed herself? I'm also still a little confused about why Sofia's sister, Amelia (Stine) got caught up in it. I know the movie sort of explains it, but she was probably the furthest from being a bad kid as you're going to find in a movie like this, especially compared to her classmates. 

Oh, and don't get me wrong, it wasn't just the kids that were terrible, the entire town seemed to be a bit unfriendly. Plus, don't get me started on that police department. As I said, Sofia's house arrest added an interesting element. Her both being arrested and convicted in the first place was kind of ridiculous given the circumstances.

This is also a movie that also could have used a bit of a twist at the end because the finale was both a little predictable and a bit too easy for the protagonist. I would have loved to see some sort of secret bad guy or something.

Final Opinion: It's a low budget, made-for-TV horror flick, so it's a movie you shouldn't expect too much from. However, despite some clear plot flaws, we still were reasonably entertained by it.

My Grade: C+