"The Bye Bye Man" misses its opportunity to create a truly frightening monster.

What makes a great movie monster? "The Bye Bye Man" thinks it's a villain that combines the ghoulish look of Lord Voldemort, the haunting presence of "Candy Man", and the ability to create psychological terror a la Freddy Krueger. Unfortunately, those pieces don't make for much of a whole here. Thus, this first-out-of-the gate horror movie for 2017 is mostly derivative and a great disappointment.

Sure, this haunted house story conjures a few good scares, jolting its three innocent college student tenants, but then the script takes too many turns for the worse. Smart characters suddenly act stupid, internal logic flies out the window, and worst of all, the "Bye Bye Man" isn't given a backstory. We don't know who he is or why he's there doing what he's doing. He may be a demon, but he's a ghost of an idea really, one not nearly developed enough to cause chills or thrills.