Truly a PG-13 flick. Not exactly scary if you're over the age of 13 but I can see people not into horror finding it a decent watch. With that in mind I won't exactly be harsh on the movie it had it's good and bad ideas. I think what it suffered from the most is that the Bye Bye Man wasn't exactly scary because you never knew what he'd do once he got you and it's never really explained. He's just like a guy with a dog that rides a train and leaves coins or something. I dunno he's just not a scary enough character.
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mochteam1 December 2019
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bobjohnson99426 May 2017Like some other reviewers said, I could not understand how the IMDb score at this time is 4.3. but there were so many 1 star ratings in the written reviews. This horror movie deserves 5 stars, which makes it worth watching if you are a horror fan. IMDb users note, horror movies rarely get above 6 stars, its just how people vote in this entire genre. A 7 in a real horror movie, is like "gone with the wind" or "citizen kane" level classic (lol). Anyways, back to the review.
This movie has a good premise, good rules for the supernatural critter to follow, real unease and dread, even among the "authority" support characters, and a few good scares. The CGI budget is low, and it DOESN'T MATTER, as it might in some other movie.
And I don't just mean it is good for an indie, it is just plain good (if you are a horror fan). -
The Bye Bye Man is an evil reaper who haunts those who say his name, plaguing them with visions, feeding off their fear, getting closer and closer until they can bear it no more. So, part Freddy Krueger, part Bloody Mary, part The Babadook, and part Candyman, with that entity from It Follows thrown into the mix for good measure. Clearly, there's very little originality on offer here. This probably wouldn't be such a big issue if director Stacy Title had managed to conjure up lots of effective scares or deliver some gross out gore, but her film is light on fright and strictly PG-13 when it comes to content.
The plot is also very sketchy in terms of exposition: who is the Bye Bye man? Where does he come from? What is his purpose? Why does he hang around with a poorly rendered CGI dog? Is he a metaphor for mental illness or the product of mass hysteria? (or is that expecting too much from a popcorn horror aimed at a teen audience?). Just a few of the questions that the film fails to answer. Perhaps these issues will be dealt with in a sequel, but I won't be in a hurry to find out. I'm happy to say 'bye bye' to The Bye Bye man. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. -
denesn17 April 2017Let's just all hope, the girl who played the girlfriend never gets a movie role ever again. The whole film felt like a joke and the acting was awful but that girl..i was laughing out loud and calling out for Jesus anytime she was on screen. Probably the worst 'acting' I have ever seen. About the story. There's really no story. There's this man who shows up when you say his name and makes you see and do things. For what reason tho? No clue. Where did he come from? No clue. Why? No clue. What's with his dog? No clue.
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Neon_Gold20 May 2020I found this movie a chore to watch. It was just so boring and drawn out.
Nothing really made sense, even beyond the lore of the monster. Like why did they take a 4 year old to a college house party. Why does the man character constantly say the name that he shouldn't be saying. It felt slapdash.
The acting is pretty awful and one of the actors is clearly English doing a horrible American accent. It makes the film slightly entertaining as it enters into like disaster territory but I was just so bored that I struggled to actually focus enough to pick up on things.
Also this movie is not scary in the slightest. It has terrible CGI and it's just bad.
Don't waste your time with it. -
JontheLobsterLover23 January 2017There are moments when you watch a trailer for a movie and think to yourself "Well, the trailer is pretty bad, but maybe the movie is better." And, sometimes the movie does actually turn out to be better, making you pleasantly surprised. I did not have that feeling as I watched the trailer for the Bye Bye Man. After the trailer ended, there was not one ounce of me that thought "OK, maybe I should give it a shot.".
I watched this movie with my best friend, who also happens to be a horror fan, only because we have literally seen everything else that was out. I personally found three major issues with the movie.
1. The characters: Not one of the characters were particularly likable, so who really cares if any or all of them get hacked to bits? They don't really have any back story. The only one you feel any emotion towards at all is Elliot, and even those moments of emotion are sparse. Of course, he's the only one who has somewhat of a history to him.
2. The acting: To put it simply, the acting is horrendous. It's downright laughable. The writing can only be blamed for so long. It felt more like a high school stage production (and a bad one at that), than an actual movie. The women who played Kim, and Elliot's girlfriend, are by far the worst out of the whole movie, the latter being slightly worse than the former.
3. The worst thing about this movie is there is no mythology about the Bye Bye Man. There is zero backstory into who or what this creature is. All we know is that he is a creepy man with a creepy dog, and that's it. We don't know why he's terrorizing and killing these people, other than the fact that they say his name. WHY?! Where did that lore come from? Even the most psychotic icons of horror have some backstory into why they are that way. This movie offers you none of that.
I wouldn't recommend seeing this movie; I wouldn't recommend renting this movie; I wouldn't even recommend watching this movie for free on Netflix. This is one of the worst horror movies I have ever seen, and I've seen some very bad horror movies. -
Sleepin_Dragon11 February 2019What has happened to this genre? Years ago it seemed a similar type of film would be hitting the big screen on an almost bimonthly basis, now when we get a horror, it always feels as if something is missing somehow.
The Bye Bye Man begins well enough, and has a fairly interesting concept, trouble is the direction is so poor, it fails almost entirely to so the basic premise of a film, and tell a story, it's lazy somehow, we get no backstory, no real conclusion, and certainly no real tension.
The acting was fair I guess, but none of the cast were treated well in terms of script.
Overall, a total disappointment, some wonderful ideas, just badly realised, and way too predictable, you always seem to know what's coming next. 4/10 -
eabsler-3304530 January 2017I'm so serious when I say this: I made an IMDb account just to rate this movie. If you are considering watching this, you shouldn't. I guarantee you, you will hate it! I felt like I was watching a comedy when I was in the theater, I even laughed a few times. The "villain" was a poorly computer animated joke. I didn't feel scared or even remotely nervous. Every single person who was involved in the making of this movie should feel extremely awful lmao. I actually think this is in the top ten worst movies I've ever seen. I wish there was an option to rate it zero. Please don't watch this movie. I'm making this review to save your time!! This has been my good deed for the day... sorry excuse for a movie in general
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baunacholi-861595 July 2020I didn't mind this movie. Yes there are more original and more scary ones in this genre but it definitely had its moments. Overall eerie with a few unpredictable scenes, enough to keep me interested. I would have loved to learn more about the actual urban legend and story itself but hey, i found it entertaining for sure.
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I've just been to see The Bye Bye Man and i can honestly say it isn't that bad. OK so it isn't going to win any awards and its unlikely to be a horror classic. But if you go in expecting little then its a pretty decent horror film. Its pitched somewhere between Sinister and it follows.
Pros
Its quite easy to watch. Fairly decent story
Cons The acting is below average. The story had potential to be really good but seemed to lack in a proper back story and the main characters were lacking any real personality.
Overall If you are looking for an amazing horror film then this probably isn't for you. If you want something fairly enjoyable for 90 minutes i can think of worse films to watch. -
jturner-8476517 January 2017First thing you need to know is the acting is bad. At times it's alright, at times it's awful, and at times I cringed. The plot of the movie is not bad, no one really has addressed this but this is easily the only thing that kept my interested throughout. Not a new idea by any means, but the psychological aspect of the movie kept me entertained. The directing was good. Some shots were pretty cool and some jump scares were actually clever. Depending on how you look at it, one of the jump scares was either a rip off or was inspired by a James Wan jump scare. The movie had the potential to be good and they just dropped the ball. Some people have mentioned how the shot gun deaths were one of the reasons it was a "bad" movie. These people are over dramatic. That scene, while head scratching is not going to ruin the movie. Though, it's what they had to do it seems to keep a PG-13 rating based off rumors I'm seeing/reading. If you are a fan horror, go into this movie with low expectations. If you are not a fan of horror, don't watch this movie.
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FJWWindsor24 June 2017First of all, anyone reading this review should know I'm EXTREMELY forgiving with horror films. If you have half-decent character development, a semi-plausible plot line, average actors or better, good FX and AT LEAST one or two "gotcha" moments, or some combination thereof, I'll give it a good recommendation.
Sadly, The Bye Bye Man has none of it.
Let's start with back story - there is NONE! (apart from some journalist encountering BBM 30 years before the story takes place). We do not know who BBM is, where he came from, how he came into existence, or why he terrorizes people. This is the biggest flaw that sinks the movie. Perhaps the filmmakers thought if they tell you NOTHING about the boogieman, it will make him more scary. It doesn't - it's disingenuous, at best.
Half of the actors give wooden performances, and the other half overact grandiosely. I was particularly distressed to see Carrie Ann Moss and - GASP! - Academy Award winner Faye Dunaway, as they are so much better than this material. I got the impression the producers wanted big names to attract an audience (and maybe Ms. Dunaway really, really needs the money). It was difficult to care for any of these characters.
The plot is ludicrous and revolves around the single notion "don't think it, don't say it" which, if you analyze it, is antithetical to how people behave. You've got a supernatural boogieman after you, intending to kill you, and you're not going to think about him?!?! C'mon...
I did not have one single, solitary moment when I felt tense or ill at ease. There were NO "gotcha" moments for me throughout the entire picture, which I found all too predictable. For example, the filmmakers conspicuously place a robe in the bedroom of the two central characters and make it the main focus of the camera angles in several scenes, so that when it comes alive as the BBM, it's simply a yawning moment. In fact, the few times BBM was presented, I was appalled at the lack of creativity in trying to make him anything close to menacing. Makeup and costumes were extremely lacking, as if the filmmakers chose to chop those expenses to meet budget.
The only injustice I can think of would be to make a sequel of this mess. -
bibliophilia13 January 2017I will admit that there are some very creepy parts to this film, yet watching this film I kept getting flashbacks on better horror movies that presented bogeymen way better than this one did. I felt like I was watching a movie that decided to reanact scenes from other movies.
I'm just going to come out and say it: The acting is HORRIBLE. This movies presents us with stilted, horrendous caricatures of what I think is supposed to be acting, but overall it's some of the worst I've seen in a while. The character's dialogue is so clumsy it gets awkward after a while. This is seriously worse than what college kids fresh out of film school can do!
Another error with this film is the characters describing the plot of this movie repeatedly to us OVER AND OVER AGAIN. This movie could have been about 20 minutes long! This may just be one of the most incomplete films I think I've seen in a while.
I didn't have very high expectations for this movie when it came out, but my god is it a lot worse than I had imagined it could ever be! -
rockman18228 March 2017Don't think it. Don't say it. Don't say it, don't think it. DON'T WATCH IT. What an awful awful film. This is a movie that you would see on the Chiller network (not a knock on the network). Its a completely generic, non-entertaining, ridiculously stupid waste of time. I went in with a clean slate (apart from thinking the title of the film was laughably dumb) and came out feeling like I really should have known better.
The film is about a group of friends that seem to be haunted by a presence known as The Bye Bye Man. This monstrous being has history connected to previous grizzly murders and now this group need to end the Bye Bye Man. Sounds dumb enough, and it is. The three lead characters are terrible. You want them to die. There are shallow, generic, infuriatingly boring and bland. Sometimes you get that with horror films, but I at least want to get behind the characters. Some of the characters and actions are so stupid that I was praying for their characters death. And when it came it was well deserved because of how dumb they are. I'm talking about a specific scene with a train at a railway crossing.
The film has nothing amazing going for it visually. The scares (if you can call it that) are so manufactured and tried that even if this was your first horror movie, you still would see it all coming. You want to laugh at how stupid the concept, name, and presence of the being is. Its not even in the so bad its good territory which is a shame because with something with a title like this it should have gone all out in the cheese department.
I've been very hard on this film. Its a January release, which is basically the graveyard of Hollywood films. Pretty certain that no one had any faith in this film, and I can see why. You can give me a pen and a pad and a camera and I can write you a more convincing horror film that this. At the very least we have memes of the catchphrase for this film. if anything, its going to go down as a giant joke. Its what it deserves.
4/10 -
avalonjoyous18 July 2017Started out intriguing ended with a ridiculous thud .
The acting was absolutely horrible especially the main characters girlfriend no actor in this movie stood out not even Faye Dunaway in her small role.
The suspense was lame and only one part involving a train was remotely suspenseful.
Everything else was cliché the darkness,the thing appearing in the corner of the room,horrible cgi,etc...
This movie was a true travesty and the ending ?
Well suffice it to say...don't expect one because THERE ISN'T ONE IN THIS MOVIE.
Don't expect a sequel either this one did horribly in theaters .
The movie is a complete disaster it's confusing as hell,not very interesting,the villain is laughable,and the plot is nonexistent.
Even the ending is predictable and other movies have done it much better then this one did. -
jordyreviewsit23 February 2017OVERVIEW "Don't say it. Don't think it." But of course a group of college students do and then find themselves dealing with a foreboding curse. The problem is, The Bye Bye Man never quite develops itself nor does it explain a lot of avoidable mistakes. It's one of those films that is so painful to watch that you wonder, did they make it this bad on purpose? The film with the unfortunate name, is just as unfortunate plot- wise.
After moving into an off-campus house with his best friend John (Lucien Laviscount) and girlfriend Sasha (Cressida Bonas), Elliot (Douglas Smith) finds bizarre writing on the inside of a drawer. Etched beneath the lining is "The Bye Bye Man". When Sasha expresses her concern that a presence may be in the house, they perform a seance with the help of her psychic friend. It is during the seance that Elliot speaks the entities name out loud, thus unleashing the curse among those who hear it.
The supernatural creature quickly gets into their heads, making them see things that increase their paranoia, jealousy and fear. Possessing them in a way that encourages them to commit acts of murder. Which seems to be the only way of stopping others from saying The Bye Bye Man to anyone else.
THOUHGTS One of the most prominent flaws with this film was apparent from the start. That is the very unassuming name for this terrifying monster, The Bye Bye Man. It's not frightening at all and it frankly is so ridiculous, it's hard to take the characters seriously when they're saying it with fear in their voice. The character is portrayed by the excellent Doug Jones (Hellboy, Crimson Peak), who is an amazing creature actor. So while his efforts could have potential to create a spooky demonic ghoul, the rest of the film completely ruins all hope.
The plot of the film moves fairly quickly. A little too quickly. The characters are so self-aware in an instant. It makes you wonder if they only moved into this creepy old house so one of them could claim it's haunted. Which in itself makes no sense because the house itself is not haunted. It's only by saying "The Bye Bye Man" out loud that he gains any power, yet the characters experience a couple supernatural occurrences before anyone sees or mentions the name.
Another thing that was so painful with this film was its inability to be serious. One of those rare films you see where you're confused if you're not in on the joke or not. The script is disastrous for a studio film. The amount of cheesy lines, or just set-ups that make no sense was something the entire audience seemed to not be able to get over. It's also very poorly acted, the actress portraying Sasha appeared to be in more of C- student film, rather than a film with a $7.4 million budget.
It's hard to be so harsh to a film that tried to be original, but it's flaws were just so glaringly apparent that it's difficult to understand how anyone would give the okay. The very few jump scares this film had, were instantly negated by something ridiculous and comedic. It never quite found it's footing, which could entirely be blamed on a poor script and terribly set up scenes.
Don't say it. Don't think it. Don't see this movie. -
skylerisaac28 January 2017The Bye Bye Man is a master class in ineptitude.
Poor writing leaves us with under-developed characters whom it's impossible to care about, which waters down the already contrived and predictable "scares".
With the exception of one particular scene involving Carre-Anne Moss and an interrogation room, the acting is pretty awful, actually causing me to laugh out loud on several occasions.
And let's not forget about how bland and unoriginal this thing is, either. The Bye Bye Man himself is a guy in a hood and....that's it. Sometimes he'll point at one of the annoying characters. I'm almost insulted at the fact that director Stacy Title thinks that this will scare audience members.
I suppose it's not all bad, though. The film is at its best during the third act, when it goes into full-on thriller mode, and actually kind of works...until the credits roll and you realize how many lapses in logic and the sheer amount of plot holes that exist in this film.
I could probably go on a lot more about how terrible this was, but I think you get the point.
All I can say is, Don't see this film. Not even die-hard horror fans like myself will find anything to enjoy here.
2/10 -
TuesdayThe17th8 April 2017I actually liked this movie. It has some good scares and in my opinion it is fairly creepy. I am an avid horror collector, mostly indie horror, and indie horrors almost always out do Hollywood made horror movies. The bye bye man, though, is one of the better recently made big budget movies. It is pg13 so i don't know what all these negative review people were expecting. I was able to get a copy of the unrated version on blu ray a week before it is actually released in stores. I have not seen the original theatrical version, but oh my was the unrated version good. It had genuinely R rated feeling scenes. It made for quite a surprising experience for me, as i was expecting the typical teenage ghost story where nothing is showed and nothing is scary. The bye bye man has a similar set up to the newer movie "Satanic". Although bye bye man is much better on many levels, both movies kind of deal with the whole aspect of finding out about the entity or whatever the antagonist may be. There's no big filler or after sequences of action in this movie. It was devoted to the set up and creepiness of the huge house the college friends buy, and just the idea of the bye bye man with out ever reealllly exploring his origin. Its fast paced, douglas smith is a good actor and is actually in his early thirties!! Lol. AND there's a special guest appearance by Leigh Whannell, who is a horror maestro himself. Personally i am impressed and pleased with this movie. The setting was really creepy and the movie was overall refreshing. It really freaked me out When eliot's neiss wanders up into his bedroom while at his party. When she opens the door in the wall, what happens behind her is super scary. The synchronization of it all is terrifying. I give it a 7. Trust my review. Not the fakes
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barbagvido20 April 2017The Bye Bye Man is a horror movie released in January. I think that already says enough. But it actually has a nice premise. It's about this creature (or whatever it is, it's never explained) called The Bye Bye Man who plays with your mind when you think of him and gives you all kinds of hallucinations and makes you go crazy. That's why you mustn't even say his name so it doesn't spread.
Now the main characters are, obviously, not very smart teens. The acting is one of the worst I've seen lately. Porn actors deliver Oscar-worthy acting compared to the actors in this movie. The lead actor was the only one who looked like he was trying and deliver some more emotion, but then in the second half he just goes full Nicolas Cage and it starts to feel like an overacting contest. At least it will give you plenty of unintended laughs, so if you're going into this movie just for that, you picked the right movie.
Now, back to the beginning. The movie opens a bit clichéd, but actually pretty well done. The opening is surprisingly very atmospheric and intense. But then it all just goes worse, and worse, and worse. The premise is really not bad. This really could have been good. But the writers made zero effort in explaining the story and ignored the logic or sense. Also, they pretty much copied The Ring in some moments and seems like enough horror movies these days already do that.
I hate seeing good ideas wasted on terrible movies, this is obviously one of those cases. But, fortunately, that doesn't mean the movie is boring. Actually, it's hilarious when you watch it with someone. So, if you want to see something bad and unintentionally funny, I say go for it. In any other case, avoid this. -
BatsyCharky29 March 2017I just finished watching this movie. I don't understand all the bad reviews I thought it was pretty good. I'm very particular on my horror especially these days. I found it to be rather eerie and a creepy atmosphere. It has a nightmare on elm street kind of vibe but more stranger. It's not a serial killer rip off and far from boring.
Perhaps people are just obsessed with the lousy "found footage" atmosphere or the Ouija boards possessions. I thought it was a rather refreshing considering all the other flicks these days. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it I just put it on for background noise and I thought it was going to be a random crazy fellow killing random people.
I highly suggest it I'm shocked about all the bad reviews I'm wondering if we watched the same movie. If you're not the type to listen to bad reviews I say take a chance for it. -
new-york-11 April 2017Im very picky when it comes to horror movies... I hate movies like paranormal activity and Annabelle. This movie was just fine to watch at home. The acting is off yes but its more realistic to how real people act than how most movies portray. Needless to say real people don't behave like they do in movies so this one is a nice change.
I also loved the fact that this movie was about teenagers but didn't include them having sex, getting drunk or party all the time... It was a pleasant change to watch a movie about decent teens. -
dinomightstudios31 March 2017I'm sorry but, what?
Okay, the film had potential...LOTS OF IT! A story about this "thing" called, The Bye Bye Man, that whenever you think or say it's name it gets closer and closer to you to kill you, and the fact that it's hard to not think about something you already know of, that can be pretty scary. HOWEVER, this movie did not execute it well!
My first issue was, THE ACTING!!!!!! The only person I could stand was Elliot. Elliot's girlfriend was too much...like it felt like she thought she was in like a high school play or something. It just got to the point where I literally said to myself, "Can they please stop giving this girl lines..." Everyone else is tolerable. Just...that girl...
The writing was pretty awful too! Where's the back story of The Bye Bye Man??? Why whenever he's near you hear coins dropping and hear a train coming...who is this dude? What is he? Where did he come from? Who, what, when, where, and how...nothing made sense. The only "back story" we actually got was of a writer who really was of no real importance at all...
Now, did this movie have scary parts, I mean...sure. But every time something scary would happen, you're pulled back out with either bad acting or bad direction. I hate seeing movies with potential, go to waste...like this movie was just so bad...
Should you watch this, I mean...yes/no. If you're like SUPER BORED, on a road trip trying to pass time, or something along those lines, sure watch this. If you want a film you can enjoy and be scared by, just ignore this movie.. -
austinleeheimbach24 February 2018Very poorly acted, edited, and directed horror movie that has more funny parts then scary.
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janne-bunkholdt27 February 2017Incredibly bad movie. Bad acting and the story could have been so much better than it was. I thought it was a bit messy. The lines were too unnatural. When someone breaks into your home, the question is not "who are you?" in a calm way, but "get the hell out !!" . Was also a lot of mistakes in the movie... it's simply a low budget movie... The only reason I went to so this film in theaters was due to the good feedback some people on IMDb had written. If you are in doubt then wait until it comes out on DVD / Netflix. it's not worth seeing it in theaters, select a different movie.
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pal0505200312 April 2017Following the unwritten rule of horror movies, which states that those with one word are usually good, this movie had 3 words for its title so that was fairly obvious. However, it is a decent horror movie with a good mystery story. The plot is formulaic, and predictable. The acting was decent, the main disappointment was the Carrie Ann Moss as the detective; who looked weak compared to her role as Trinity in the Matrix. The Bye Bye Man looked fake, and so was the hound. Yet, the scenes with the Bye Bye man are the best parts of the movie, and you can overlook the fakeness. This may be due to poor direction. The premise seemed to focus on the actors going mad, but is poorly executed. In fact, Bye Bye Man has a promising premise but ruined by poor direction. The best part was Doug Jones as the titular character was the best part.