It may be that I'm assessing on a curve because it's January. But if you miss the slasher icons of old and have little patience for the reboot attempts they get periodically, it's nice to see at least a worthy attempt to add to that pantheon.
This shocker carries -- perhaps inevitably, post-11/8/16 -- a definite political pertinency: The hoodie-cloaked title entity owes his power to the repetition of his name (i.e., publicity) and to the fear that oppresses those obsessed with him.
To think that everyone here intended to make a movie this utterly lifeless and banal from the outset is infinitely more frightening than anything presented on screen.
This movie tries to gaslight you into thinking its central baddie is actually well-thought-out (and is, presumably, worthy of sequels that God willing won't happen), when really it's the most generic crap, both in terms of substance and character design.
There are much better alternatives to The Bye Bye Man such as The Babadook, Candyman, and even I Know What You Did Last Summer. You may want to watch those instead.
The script teems with horror clichés (scribbled drawings, a creepy kid, the skeptical protagonist looking up the demon's origins on a library computer), and everything from the acting to the makeup to the special effects is atrocious.
