10 More Horror Movies Everyone Wished Were Way Crazier

9. The Bye Bye Man

The Happening Mark Wahlberg
STX Films

Based on a chapter from the book The President's Vampire by Robert Damon Schneck, 2017's The Bye Bye Man was full of potential based on its supporting cast alone. Where else are you going to find Doug Jones, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Faye Dunaway all on the same bill?

The titular character hangs heavy over this movie as a spectre who infects people's minds with thoughts of violence when they think or say his name. And if you think that sounds familiar to how the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was created in Ghostbusters, then you'd be right.

The premise of a group of protagonists having to fight off both a mysterious spirit and their own thoughts is strong, but The Bye Bye Man does nothing to expand upon it. The characters all succumb to the curse fairly easily, with no solution to their plight ever truly present. Whilst many are killed, the deaths are all pretty tame.

Other movies have definitely done this concept better, which is a real shame, as The Bye Bye Man had the potential to be really good. Well, maybe not with that name. It's pretty dumb.

 
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Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.