The Bye Bye Man Creeps Toward Release
I’m beginning to wonder if all the good horror movie titles have already been taken. It would explain why we got a film in 2016 called “The Disappointments Room” and why we’re getting one in 2017 called “The Bye Bye Man.”
The Bye Bye Man is a Slenderman-type figure who has the power to possess teenagers and make them do horrible things. There are a lot of boogeymen who can be summoned by calling their names, but the Bye Bye Man takes it one step further — just thinking about him lets him creep into your head. Hence the annoying slogan, screamed over and over in promotion: “DON’T SAY IT DON’T THINK IT DON’T SAY IT DON’T THINK IT DON’T SAY IT DON’T THINK IT!!!!”
How is that fair, and how can you even fight him? The old game about trying not to think of elephants taught you it’s impossible to will yourself not to think of something without thinking of it in the first place. On top of this, how do you suspensefully depict somebody trying not to think of something? The struggle is all internal. I would say this concept is unfilmable, but I guess we’ll see, won’t we?
There are people who actively seek out bad horror movies, and The Bye Bye Man certainly looks bad. The TV spots are starting to roll out. See what you think, but I was serious about how annoying the slogan gets. The Bye Bye Man releases on the 13th of January.