The Boy: Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
Greta (Cohan) is a young American woman who takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village. She soon discovers that the family’s 8-year-old is a life-sized doll that they care for just like a real boy, as a way to cope with the death of their son 20 years prior. After violating a list of strict rules, a series of disturbing and inexplicable events bring Greta’s worst nightmare to life, leading her to believe that the doll is actually alive.
We’ve all seen the usual doll based horror movies before. I mean, I grew up on watching the Child’s Play franchise so after seeing the trailer for this film it pretty much looked like everything I’ve experienced in the past. I really like Cohan though so that in itself did make me want to check it out at least. The movie went about the whole haunted doll scenario a unique way which I thought was refreshing. The revelation that the doll was haunted came fairly early in the film and usually right after something like that then all hell breaks loose which I assumed was going to happen. Instead we got her interacting with and accepting the ghostly doll like a normal kid. It was one of those moments where I kept saying to myself “Ok but when is it going to get nuts?” then suddenly it did. There was a great twist that I didn’t see coming at all and it was in that moment that the film really set itself apart from all the other similar ones out there. It had a slow burn that, in retrospect, was perfect for the story. Cohen acted great in it BUT I do wish that it would’ve been written a with a bit more substance for her character rather than the typical female in distress. Other than that I thought it was nice surprise that had me pretty impressed at what they did with it. As far as horror movies go it isn’t the scariest but it is creepy and it is a great thriller that I suggest checking out if you get a chance. 7/10
Special Features:
I was extremely surprised and disappointed that there were no supplemental material on this blu-ray. I would’ve liked to have seen a “Making Of” feature at least.
