Sean Marshall In a somewhat surprise twist, studios are releasing a number of horror films in January. With films like Underworld: Blood Wars & Resident Evil: The Final Chapter releasing in January, moviegoers are tiptoeing around which movie will give them chills this winter. The Bye Bye Man, directed by Stacy Title, is a horror film that flew under the radar & landed on the horror runway in a fiery explosion.
The story for The Bye Bye Man is nothing new or special. The film revolves around three friends/college students that live off-campus in a house that houses the entity known as The Bye Bye Man. Like most typical horror movies, the friends perform a séance, which kickstarts the series of events that center on lame murders & a transparent plot.
From the start of the movie until the end, the story & its characters were uninteresting & dull. Even with solid talent like Doug Jones, who played The Bye Bye Man & Carrie-Anne Moss, who played the Detective Shaw. At times, it was very clear that Moss seemed to be phoning it in, while the rest of the actors, besides Jones, were 
trying their best but failing. Douglas Smith, Lucien Laviscount, & Cressida Bonas‘ were an eye sore. This isn’t to say that the film would’ve been any better with a more well-known cast, but the acting from these three made the film that much more torturous. If you’re coming here to see because you’re a Doug Jones fan & think he’s going to steal the show, you’re going to be let down. Jones didn’t appear in a lot of scenes, but when he did, it was either a glimpse or a minor flashback. He does have a big monstrous dog that looked creepy from afar, but when it got close, it looked like bad CGI & a lack effort.
Director Stacy Title & writer Johnathan Penner are a duo that’s worked together on a number of under the radar films like: Hood of Horror & The Last Supper. Being that this is Title’s first time on the big screen as a director, it’s likely that moviegoers will forgive the bad acting & directing & push this towards a cult classic in the horror genre. Title did pull off some interesting shots, which tied together with an eerie & sometimes chilling feeling to the viewers. Despite Title’s effort to make this a solid film, the story had too many holes, uneven pacing, bad dialogue & dusty acting.
The film left viewers with many questions, especially with the out of nowhere event that took place at the climax of the film. Yes, they did leave it open for a sequel, but with films like Sinister & Paranormal Activity getting sequels, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we saw this sequel hit the big screen sometime next year or at least get a straight to DVD/Blu-ray release.
The Bye Bye Man could’ve put a new spin on the very much familiar & dry mainstream horror genre. The film started off on a good foot, but it quickly jumped the rail into familiar territory & tumbled down into the infamous pit of forgettable movies.
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