The Bye- Bye Man features a story about three college students who decide to live off campus in your typical, haunted, run-down horror movie setting. The lead character, Elliot, (Douglas Smith), his girlfriend, Sasha (Cressida Bonas), and best friend, John (Lucien Laviscount) soon have spooky encounters inside their new home, and later find a supernatural force called the Bye-Bye Man who has wreaked havoc in the past. It brings chaos and trouble when its victims think or calls out its name. However, once the victim is aware of this being, it is impossible not to think of him, and therefore summon him- thus the movie’s motto, “Don’t think it. Don’t say it.” Upon the students’ discovery, their minds begin playing tricks on them using unusual and gory hallucinations. Not before long, the scene turns into a bloodbath.

Directed by Stacy Title and written by Jonathan Penner,The Bye- Bye Man is not a horror jewel. While the idea of evil being summoned from the uncontrollable thoughts of a victim’s mind is interesting, this film could have done a better job at executing the latter. The plot takes the audience from one scene to the other, lacking the twists and turns that may invoke thrill. Furthermore, it builds up anxiety in the cliche night scenes with spooky music in the background but hardly uses these scenes to truly frighten the audience. While most horror movies take advantage of the time and setting to sprinkle in a couple of jump scares, The Bye -Bye Man fails to do even that.

Suggested by the film, victims can expect the arrival of the Bye-Bye Man from mysterious coins that roll out of nowhere and a poorly animated hound that compares more to a lump of bloody flesh than a dog. While it is explained that the Bye-Bye Man gains power from the knowledge of its existence, the audience is left wondering, “Why coins? What’s up with that dog…thing?”

One if this film’s largest flaws was its messy, underdeveloped ending. The film builds up a conflict concerning Elliot’s desperate attempts to find a way out of this situation safely. The audience witnesses him coming close to a resolution in order to save him and his friends. However, The Bye-Bye Man fails to create an original- or at least interesting- conclusion. Instead, it takes the easy and lazy way out by killing all of its characters, including the beloved protagonist. This underwhelming and predictable resolution left the film ending on an unsatisfactory note.

When looking for a quality horror film, it is highly suggested that one says “goodbye” to The Bye-Bye Man.