The Boy could have really thrilled

Movie Title:     The Boy

Grade:  C

Rating:   PG-13, 1 hour 37 minutes

In a Nutshell:    Creepy.  Directed by William Brent Bell, this suspense horror could have gone in a much more interesting direction. Oh well.

Uplifting theme: 

•  Ummm.....don't be a nanny for people who pay you to babysit their weird doll?

Things I liked:

• Walking Dead fans will enjoy watching Lauren Cohan. 
• Creepy music and sound effects.
• You’ll never listen to the Brahms Lullaby the same way again. 
• There is a twist at the end, but nothing we haven't actually seen before.  I saw a movie with a similar ending many years ago.  For what it's worth, I haven't forgotten that movie because it disturbed me so much.  This one isn't done as well though.

Things I didn’t like:

• Full of plenty clichéd jump scares.
• Come on!  Turn the lights on!  Much of the movie is in the dark.
• OF COURSE there is a storm.  OF COURSE the telephone doesn’t work when you need it to. 
• SPOILER ALERT: Lots of running around in the dark.  (yawn)
• It leaves an opening for a sequel.  No thank you.
• Like the movie “The Sixth Sense”, the color red is used a lot, although I didn't catch any great symbolism in this film.
• Once you get to the end of the movie, you realize that a lot of things that happened simply didn't make sense.

Funny lines:

• “It’s something out of a story book, isn’t it?” – Greta     Yeah, like a horror story.  Hasn’t she learned to never go inside creepy looking houses?  Actually, I stayed in a home in England that looked a lot like that.  I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
• “You could have warned me you know?” – Greta        “And ruin the surprise?” – Rupert Evans (Malcolm)

Creepy lines:

•  “Be good to him and he’ll be good to you.  Be bad to him…” – Mr. Heelshire (Jim Norton)
• “Music gives him so much joy.  It’s his world.”  - Mrs. Heelshire (Diana Hardcastle)
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• Tips for parents:   
• For a horror movie, there is no blood and gore.  Yay.
• There is some fighting & stabbing, mostly bloodless.
• You could talk about healthy and unhealthy relationships with your kids.