Utilizing two of the most common scare tactics — creepy children and creepy dolls — “The Boy” had the potential to be a decent horror flick. But due to absolutely no character development, an incredibly cliché and almost plagiaristic script, and very questionable acting the film fell completely flat and probably provided more laughs than screams.

Greta, played by Lauren Cohan of “The Walking Dead,” was a young American woman looking to get away from her past, so she applied to nanny an 8-year-old boy in a remote part of England. When she arrived at the typical, gothic-style mansion, complete with long corridors, dark staircases and ghastly family portraits, she is surprised to learn the boy she is supposed to be watching for the next two months is actually a doll. She soon finds out that the doll represents a boy named Brahms whose parents just couldn’t let go of his memory when he died and now they treat the doll like a real child.

Thinking that the next couple months of her life will be a breeze, she promptly throws the doll aside and covers it up when his parents leave. Neglecting a list of required activities for Brahms, she drinks wine, reads and hangs out with the grocery delivery man, Malcolm, played by Rupert Evans. Brahms, who wasn’t as lifeless as Greta thought, didn’t take kindly to this and began to wreak havoc throughout the house.

Upon realizing Brahms was alive, Greta began to treat him like he was her own. Completing all the requirements, she made sure the doll was happy. But when Greta’s past catches up to her and unexpected visitors come over, the doll becomes livid and hell is unleashed upon the house and its residents.

The overall premise of the movie was pretty good. A destructive soul captured in a doll is the basis for several famous horror movies like, “Child’s Play,” “Dead Silence” and “The Conjuring,” but, unlike those, “The Boy” isn’t any good. Lacking any character development, the movie gives no backstory on anyone — causing viewers to lose any connection they might have had with the characters. Because the audience was given nothing to build on, the climactic scenes were nowhere near as intense as they could have been.

What also brought this movie down was how similar some of the scenes were to other famous movies of the genre. For instance, the resemblance a scene where a door is being broken down has to that same kind of scene from “The Shining” is uncanny. Though Jack Nicholson isn’t saying “Here’s Johnny,” the similarities are obvious. Another scene where a wall gets broken through during a chase is definitely comparable to a scene in the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” With these not being the only two scenes that seemingly came from another script, “The Boy” really lacks originality.

Lastly, the acting wasn’t up to par. Cohan wasn’t convincing in her role at all. Evans was somewhat funny, but in the end was overshadowed by the poor acting around him.

Despite scary elements, the film didn’t live up to its full potential. It was very cliché when it came to the setting and the script. The acting was weak and so were the scares. Even the plot twists were lacking in excitement. With the title foreshadowing the outcome, “The Boy” ended up being more childish than scary.