Don't say it, don't think it…
The Bye Bye Man is a 2017 supernatural horror film which was based on the chapter in the horror novel The President’s Vampire entitled "The Bridge to Body Island" by Robert Damon Schneck. In the film, three college students rent a house on campus that seems to contain a dark secret. When one of the protagonists discovers writing underneath a nightstand, it releases a great evil who drives people to madness by the mere utterance of his name.The film provides examples of:
- Abled in the Adaptation: In the original short story, the Bye Bye Man was stated to be blind, relying on his Hellhound to act as a seeing eye dog for him.
- Adaptation Explanation Extrication: The Bye Bye Man's backstory is completely excised in the movie while it was heavily detailed in the short story:
- The Bye Bye Man was once an Albino living in 1920s who became a serial killer after years of torment for his pale skin, over the years he went blind an created a seeing eye dog, named Gloomsinger, out of the corpses of his victims and eventually he developed a psychic power to tell when someone was talking/thinking about him which he used to target new victims.
- Ate His Gun: Redmon attempts this at the end of his rampage, but he's used up all the shells in his shotgun. Undaunted, he chugs some cleaning solution from under the sink.
- Animalistic Abomination: The Bye Bye Man's dog who appears to be a demonic canine monster.
- Antagonist Title: The titular Bye Bye Man is the film's main antagonist.
- Bait-and-Switch: Done twice near the end of the film:
- As Elliot has been cornered by the Bye Bye Man in the house's entrance, he has been putting some effort to resist saying the name of the horror in front of him (because in doing so, Virgil and Alice would be the next victims if they hear it from outside). The Bye Bye Man then uses his power to influence Elliot into saying the name and almost succeeds... but Elliot managed to resist it at the last second, before he tragically shot himself in the head.
- When Virgil and Alice are driving away from the house, Alice reveals that she found the writing with the Bye Bye Man's name on it, seemingly setting up that she and her dad would be his next victims...only to reveal that she has no idea what it said because she couldn't read it in the dark.
- Bald of Evil: The Bye Bye Man is totally hairless under the hood and he's very evil.
- Black Dude Dies First: Subverted. John is the only protagonist alive towards the end.
- Chekhov's Gun: Elliot pitches the nightstand into the nearby creek in anger. At the end of the film, his niece tells her father that she found it and saw some writing in it. It's then subverted when she laughs and says it was too dark for her to read.
- The Dragon: The Bye Bye Man is constantly accompanied by a hellhound that helps him attack his victims.
- The Dreaded: The Bye Bye Man is so feared in fact, that people try to avoid using his name in conversation. This is because (as the Madness Mantra implies) his name attracts him.
- Downer Ending: The film ends with Detective Shaw pressing a delirious John to tell her the BBM's name, thus implying that the horror will start all over again.
- Driven to Suicide: The fate of most of the Bye Bye Man's victims, who choose to die rather than suffer his tricks and/or risk spreading his name further.
- Flat Character: The Bye Bye Man never speaks, and shows very little in the way of personality. We never lean what exactly he is either. He's more a force of evil than a character.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Even when it's becoming painfully clear that something supernatural is afoot, Elliot still believes that there has to be a logical explanation.
- Fluffy the Terrible: The evil entity in this movie is called "The Bye Bye Man".
- For the Evulz: The Bye Bye Man's apparently only reason d'etre as he's always seen smiling sadistically as he watches his victims going crazy.
- Hellhound: The Bye Bye Man's dog, an extremely heavy-muscled and hairless, hulking beast.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Elliot kills himself in order to save his older brother and niece from the horror.
- Humanoid Abomination: The Bye Bye Man looks like a man in a hood, but his name will turn you into an Ax-Crazy maniac just from hearing it, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
- Icy Blue Eyes: The Bye Bye Man's eyes occasionally glow like this.
- It's A Small Net After All: A Google search for "Bye Bye Man" gets zero results. A search of the local library database only nets a result when Elliot types in the Madness Mantra.
- Kill the Host Body: Because the Bye Bye Man only exists as an idea in the minds of those who know him, the only way to get rid of him is to kill everyone who knows his name. Redmon came pretty close to succeeding, but he botched it by writing the name in a nightstand which ended up as furniture in Elliot's new home.
- Lean and Mean: The Bye Bye Man is quite tall and thin and very evil.
- Madness Mantra: "Don't think it, don't say it…"
- Mind Rape: The BBM's specialty; he attacks his victims with hallucinations that drive them to insanity.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Bye Bye Man's name is meant to be this In-Universe, as knowing it or saying it attracts or summons the titular horror. It's the reason behind the Madness Mantra "Don't think it, don't say it."
- Never Trust a Trailer: Elliot's eyes rolling back as he says the Bye Bye Man's name in the trailer is not in the actual film.
- No Ending: It literally ends mid-scene with various threads left entirely unresolved.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: Elliot thinks this is the key to beating the Bye Bye Man, since his illusions are designed to make people scared and angry. It's ultimately pointless; even if Elliot doesn't fear the Bye Bye Man, it doesn't make him any less vulnerable to being tricked.
- The Oner: The entire opening sequence where a reporter murders a bunch of people in a neighborhood is all done in one take.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Sasha's actor, Cressida Bonas, frequently slips into her British accent even though she's supposed to play an American college student.
- Psychic-Assisted Suicide: The Bye Bye Man can use his powers to trick people into killing themselves or others.
- Psychotic Smirk: The Bye Bye Man occasionaly has this expression when he watches his victims suffering.
- Railroad Tracks of Doom: Kim is killed when the Bye Bye Man lures her into the path of an oncoming train.
- Right-Hand Attack Dog: The Bye Bye Man's dog who assists his master in all his atrocities.
- Sadist: The Bye Bye Man doesn't kill his victims immediatly. He loves to psychologically torture them first with horrid visions and slowly drive them to madness. When finally some of them decide to kill themselves, he's always present to watch the scene for his own satisfaction.
- The Scottish Trope: Don't say "The Bye Bye Man" or think it, or else he will appear.
- Silent Antagonist: The Bye Bye Man, though his facial expressions make it obvious what he's thinking about.
- Silent Snarker: The Bye Bye Man in one scene swings his finger at Elliot in a cruel mocking way.
- Speak of the Devil: Saying or even thinking of the Bye Bye Man's name gives him the power to affect your perception of reality. His name being written in the drawer of a nightstand seems to be sufficient for him to cause small disturbances to get Elliot to find and read his name hidden within. He can also force those that know him to speak his name, with Elliot having to put serious effort into not saying it, ultimately killing himself because he knows the Bye Bye Man will get the better of him otherwise.
- The Spook: Who is the Bye Bye Man? Where did he come from? Why does he have a hellish hound that follows him? How did he get his powers? None of these questions are ever answered.
- Spooky Photographs: The Bye Bye Man does this to John while he's in class.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: It can be hard to tell at times whether the Bye Bye Man is making illusions or something is actually real, which Elliot gets wise to near the end of the film.
- Trailers Always Spoil:
- Subverted in the scene where Elliot first sees the Bye Bye Man standing in the corner then walk towards him when he points it out to Sasha. This scene happens much later.
- Played straight with Kim's death.
- Subverted again when the officer asks Elliot to tell her what's going on and his eyes roll back while he says Bye Bye Man. This scene was cut from the final film.
- Would Hurt a Child: Mrs. Watkins murders her own children due to the Bye Bye Man's influence. Also at the climax The Bye Bye Man shows Elliot an image where it's implied he'll go after his brother's family as well, his little niece included.
