Will The Bye Bye Man go down as the dumbest film title of 2017? Probably. Does the stupid moniker automatically make it a bad movie? No, so I decided to give the horror flick a look.

Three college friends – Elliot (Douglas Smith), his girlfriend Sasha (Cressida Bonas) and his best buddy John (Lucien Laviscount) – move into a house together. As soon as this happens, they encounter weird events like coins that appear and disappear out of nowhere.

Elliot discovers weird writing that states “don’t think it, don’t say it” along with the name “Bye Bye Man”. It turns out that this represents a malevolent spirit who can dominate those who encounter it. We follow events as Elliot and company battle the Bye Bye Man. More “seasoned” movie buffs will also find it difficult to ignore the ways newer flicks hearken back to prior tales, and that turns into a drawback for Man. Often little more than a collection of allusions to earlier movies, this one wears its influences on its sleeve.

The film’s basic concept offers a clear debt to 1992’s Candyman, but the references don’t end there. You’ll find reflections of other flicks like Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, The Shining and about 1200 other flicks.

These leave Man without much originality, but a well-executed movie can still entertain even when derivative. Unfortunately, Man fails to do anything other than throw out the usual generic scares.

This means we get next to no actual terror here. The movie packs in one cheap jolt after another and can’t manifest any form of basic creepiness. It wants to provide an eerie feel, but the vibe remains flat and free from tension.

If we cared about the characters, the story might offer some impact, but the personalities seem generic and flat, and the actors fail to bring life to them. Honestly, the performances tend to be borderline amateurish.

The same goes for much of Man, as its low budget shows. With cheap visual effects and a general “bargain basement” feel, the movie lacks enough polish to allow it to seem like a professional effort.

Though even $100 million wouldn’t elevate the pedestrian material. Slow and meandering, Bye Bye Man turns into a tired rehash of better movies.

The Bye Bye Man appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a largely positive presentation.

Overall sharpness seemed good, though inconsistencies occurred, mainly during low-light shots. Those could be a little soft, and since the film came with many of these dim interiors, the movie showed mild drops in delineation.

Jagged edges and moiré effects didn’t mar the presentation, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to appear.

In terms of palette, Man went with a heavily teal and orange orientation. Splashes of other hues appeared on occasion, but they remained in a distinct minority in this strong blue affair. Within stylistic choices, the hues seemed well-depicted.

Blacks were dark and dense, but shadows seemed a little inconsistent. As noted, low-light shots could be a bit on the dense side. Otherwise, this became a well-rendered affair.

As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, it offered a fairly typical horror movie soundscape. This meant a lot of creepy atmosphere and occasional “jolt moments”.

Along with good stereo music, the soundfield was able to open things up in a satisfying manner that embellished the story. A few vehicle pieces – a train, cars – added the most pizzazz. The mix didn’t dazzle, but it worked fine.

Audio quality was always good. Music appeared full and rich, while effects demonstrated nice clarity and accuracy. Speech was natural and distinctive throughout the film. Again, this wasn’t a heavily active track, but it made sense for the story.

The Blu-ray presents both the film’s “PG-13” theatrical cut (1:36:18) as well as an unrated version (1:39:48). What does the extras three and a half minutes buy us?

Most of the added footage comes from extra violence, especially related to the flashbacks to 1969. Those become more graphic, as the film expands these to provide more gore and nastiness.

In terms of more tame footage, the scene in which the friends inspect their new house gets some minor additions – like comments about a naughty shower curtain – and another sequence shows Sasha as she hears strange noises.

Still, the biggest changes go back to those that add graphic material, and even when these don’t extend the film, they alter it. We see more blood and a little nudity, and we get more profanity.

Some editing changes result as well. For the unrated cut, we see violence in scenes where the theatrical shows a train, and different music plays over the opening credits.

All of these alterations make the unrated version the superior rendition, but they don’t turn Man into a good movie. While the extended cut feels more honest and becomes the preferred take, it’s still a limp attempt at horror.

The disc opens with ads for The Space Between Us, Cult of Chucky, Split, Incarnate and Sleepless. No trailer for Bye Bye Man appears here.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of Bye Bye Man. It includes none of the Blu-ray’s extras and also features only the theatrical cut of the film.

Little more than a collection of references to other films, The Bye Bye Man never makes an identity for itself. The movie drags and fails to engage or scare. The Blu-ray offers mostly positive picture and audio as well as two cuts of the flick. This isn’t the worst horror tale I’ve seen, but it lacks impact.