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The Bye Bye Man

Play trailer 0:42 Poster for The Bye Bye Man PG-13 Released Jan 13, 2017 1h 36m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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18% Tomatometer 92 Reviews 22% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
People commit unthinkable acts every day. Time and again, we grapple to understand what drives a person to do such terrible things. But what if all of the questions we're asking are wrong? What if the cause of all evil is not a matter of what, but who? When three college friends stumble upon the horrific origins of the Bye Bye Man, they discover that there is only one way to avoid his curse: don't think it, don't say it. But once the Bye Bye Man gets inside your head, he takes control.
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The Bye Bye Man

The Bye Bye Man

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Critics Consensus

The Bye Bye Man clumsily mashes together elements from better horror films, adding up to a derivative effort as short on originality as it is on narrative coherency or satisfying scares.

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Critics Reviews

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K. Austin Collins The Ringer There's an art to being bad. The Bye Bye Man hasn't studied that art - but it's good enough to get you going. Aug 10, 2017 Full Review Leah Pickett Chicago Reader The script teems with horror clichs (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. Jan 19, 2017 Full Review Clark Collis Entertainment Weekly Maybe all will be explained in the sequel. If so, your writer is happy to remain uneducated. Rated: C Jan 14, 2017 Full Review Bill Chambers Film Freak Central Is it possible The Bye Bye Man is actually a genre spoof? Rated: 1/4 Mar 3, 2022 Full Review David Gonzalez The Cinematic Reel The Bye Bye Man is one of the worst horror films I've ever seen and the best advice I can give any cinephile thinking about watching this film is, "Don't think it. Don't Say it. Don't See it." Rated: 0.5/4 Feb 18, 2022 Full Review Jordy Sirkin Jordy Reviews It It never quite develops itself nor does it explain a lot of avoidable mistakes. It's one of those films that is so painful to watch that you wonder, did they make it this bad on purpose? Jan 2, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Stephen C None of the elements of the film cohere into anything remotely believable. What do the mysterious coins signify? The cubbyholes? Is this film a study in group insanity? Who knows! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/21/25 Full Review Igotboomed O This film is why people hate horror today The acting in this film is shockingly bad. Reactions to such things that would take you back, were like they’d already had already seen it to not be that shocked. Elliot says if you don’t fear him, he can’t hurt you. This is literally next to ripping off A nightmare on elm street. The make up and design of the bye bye man, it was like a decently made Halloween costume you’d do at home than a horror film. The cgi in some scenes... yep. Douglas smith as Elliot was probably the worst actor, especially one certain scene. There’s a shot gun scene, two people shot, zero blood, or even good acting as the victims were shot. Kim’s big scene (you’ll see it when it happens) sort of made me giggle! It was like a genuine comedy scene and I did that tired slow laugh at it. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 04/13/25 Full Review D P If you take too long to write a review after seeing this movie, you might have a hard time recalling the story. That is its main sin here. It tries to make a valiant entry into the haunted creature feature genre. But alas, this one was not for the history books. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 04/04/25 Full Review Daniel C This was a pretty solid movie that I quite enjoyed. I liked the whole concept of the movie a lot. Just by knowing a name can haunt you. When we know we shouldn't think about something for some reason we can't help but think about it. Thinking of saying the name The Bye Bye Man will come to haunt you in many ways. I thought this movie was executed well and I would like for a sequel. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/08/25 Full Review Chris B Boring and rubbish. This movie was not scary at all. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/06/25 Full Review Dad Does Movies ? This movie hits an arc and then plummets to the ground like a Temu RC plane and buries its nose in Old Man Crenshaw’s spice garden. Opens up with a great flashback and sets the table for the plot and you’re already wondering where this story is headed. The phrase “Don’t say it. Don’t think it.” permeates through the movie and adds more tension but round about 30 minutes in, it all starts to smell bad like a Jason Voorhies victim. It’s hard to say which is worse: the plot, the CGI, or the female lead’s acting. Nothing makes sense. We never find out who or what the Bye Bye Man is except I CAN tell you he does look like Voldemort’s slow thinking cousin. And his dog/hellhound looks like something a 12 year old scrawled on the back of his notebook with his eyes closed. Jonathan Prenner should never write another horror script or should be forced to watch this flick everyday. Surprisingly Faye Dunaway and Carrie-Anne Moss have small roles and most likely they’re thankful they weren’t on screen for a long period of time. Been a long time since I watched a movie with a great start and then turn into hot garbage. The Bye Bye Man is a No No Movie. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/25 Full Review Read all reviews
The Bye Bye Man

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Movie Info

Synopsis People commit unthinkable acts every day. Time and again, we grapple to understand what drives a person to do such terrible things. But what if all of the questions we're asking are wrong? What if the cause of all evil is not a matter of what, but who? When three college friends stumble upon the horrific origins of the Bye Bye Man, they discover that there is only one way to avoid his curse: don't think it, don't say it. But once the Bye Bye Man gets inside your head, he takes control.
Director
Stacy Title
Producer
Trevor Macy, Jeffrey Soros, Simon Horsman
Screenwriter
Jonathan Penner
Distributor
STX Entertainment
Production Co
Huayi Brothers, Los Angeles Media Fund, Intrepid Pictures
Rating
PG-13 (Terror|Horror Violence|Bloody Images|Teen Drinking|Partial Nudity|Thematic Elements|Sexual Content|Some Language)
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 13, 2017, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 28, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$22.4M
Runtime
1h 36m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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