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Wednesday, April 19, 2017

The Bye Bye Man Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Allie Schembra
From the producer of Oculus and The Strangers comes The Bye Bye Man.  When three college friends stumble upon the horrific origins of the Bye Bye Man, they discover that there is only one way to avoid his curse: don’t think it, don’t say it. But once the Bye Bye Man gets inside your head, he takes control, making you see and do the most unspeakable acts committed by man. Is there a way to survive his possession?  

Film (3 out of 5 stars)
Don’t think it. Don’t say it. With these words, the viewer enters a world where the Bye Bye Man takes over your thoughts and actions. And the only way to rid the world of him is to eliminate everyone who knows about him. In 1969 Wisconsin, a man murders his neighbors after asking them if they’ve spoken the name to anyone else. In 2017, three friends move into a creepy house in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, a suburb of Madison. From the first night, weird things start occurring and Elliot, Sasha, and John begin feeling sick, Sasha most of all. When Elliot finds a night table in the basement with strange writing in it, he delves more into the words and comes across the name scratched into the wood under the lining.

After the roommates throw a party, Sasha’s friend Kim stays over and conducts a séance, which is the first time the Bye Bye Man’s name is spoken out loud. Shortly after, Kim kills her roommate and is then killed by a train. Elliot begins suspecting that John and Sasha are sleeping together and unable to discern fact from fiction, he heads to the library to research the story. With help from the school librarian, Elliot finds the research of the reporter from 1969, who is the one who murdered his neighbors.

Elliot visits the man’s widow, who is brilliantly played by Faye Dunaway, who explains to him the gravity of the situation, and tells him that she only survived because she didn’t let anyone speak the name in her presence. While Elliot is away from home, the librarian heads there to kill him, Sasha, and John, but is accidentally killed by Elliot on the way on his way home. Elliot returns home and hallucinates that John is stabbing Sasha, so he shoots him. Unfortunately, the hallucination is just that and Elliot kills Sasha, who was actually the one doing the stabbing. 

When Elliot’s brother and young niece arrive concerned about Elliot’s welfare, Elliot keeps them out of the house long enough to kill himself as the house burns to the ground. As they drive away from the house, his niece tells her father she found some coins and writing in a table near the trash. As the house burns, John is found alive and as he is placed into the ambulance, he whispers the name into the ear of the investigating officer.

I am a fan of horror movies. There are few movies that really scare me. The Bye Bye Man freaked me out enough to think that maybe I should sleep with the lights on, and I definitely should not think it or say it. The story was good and based off a story in a collection of short stories. If enjoyed is the proper word to use, I really enjoyed the psychological aspect of the movie; that’s what made it so creepy. The acting was good; I thought each character was well-developed and the actors good in their roles. I was pleasantly surprised to see Faye Dunaway as the lonely widow, and she did a great job in her role. I do think that at times, it may have been a little clunky, I disagree with other reviews that sad it was bad. You don’t watch a horror movie thinking it’s going to be a perfect story, great acting, and an award-winning film. You watch it to be freaked out, scared, grossed out, and uncomfortable. The Bye Bye Man did most of that, and it succeeded in being entertaining.
Video (3 out of 5 stars)
The widescreen presentation of The Bye Bye Man was good. It has a dark palette that is done well. The screen is dark enough to make you really look at it and figure out what you are seeing, but not enough to take away from the movie. Shadows are done well, and day time shots are bright enough. The Blu-ray picture is better than the DVD picture, it’s sharper and clearer.
Audio (3 out of 5 stars)
The English 5.1 DTS-HD master audio was good. The sound was clear and volume even and background sounds blended well. The rated version of the movie has descriptive video service, but the unrated version does not. The audio really adds to the creepiness of the movie, especially when you hear the tell-tale sounds of the Bye Bye Man approaching.
Extras (0 out of 5 stars)
There are no extras included on the disc.
Summary (2 out of 5 stars)

If I only had to rate the disc based on the movie, the video, and the audio, it would be a solid three stars. However, because there are no special features, the score is brought down to 2 stars. I was surprised at how disappointed I was that there were no special features, but overall, I enjoyed the movie. It freaked me out and made me consider sleeping with a light on. I recommend the movie for anyone who doesn’t take movies too seriously or who will over analyze every detail.

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