For what it’s worth, which is very little, I was an extra in a very bad movie called Monster in the Closet.
Beat me to it. The Boogeyman is revealed to be real. He lives in a dimension connected to some of the world’s closets. If the right kind of kid (or an adult very much like one) sleeps in a room with such a closet, the Boogeyman comes to feed on their fear. Generally, the change from kid to adult renders the victim unsuitable. “I rememBer youuuuuuhhh, Egon.”
While not spefically focused on closets, the cartoon Aaah! Real Monsters is all about monsters who scare humans. Our fear and belief in them fuels their existence. But they avoid showing themselves to any human more than once, or leaving any evidence of their existence.
The film The Monster Squad is about the Universal Studios Monsters (Dracula, Mummy, Wolman, Frankenstein, Creature from the black lagoon. Other than the Creature they’re all public domain, but their make up designs<Dracula’s widow’s peak, Frankenstein’s stitched wrists and neckbolts, etc> are the exclusive property of Universal. For some reason which I cannot fathom, Universal refused to allow their designs to be used in the film). In one scene a father is responding to tot’s complaint ‘the Mummy is in my closet’. He gives a speech on how he needs to sleep and there are no monsters in the closet. Dad opens the closet, but keeps looking at his son rather than checking inside. ‘See? No monster’ As the Mummy silently stares directly at the terrified boy.
Folks may also want to see the film Monster In The Closet. It’s a comedy. IMO The monster is still too scary for kids though.
BTW- Of course the monsters in your closet are real. But, reality is an odd thing. They need your belief in them in order to manifest. I found a perfect quote on this in the unrelated The Open Doors " ‘Something about the different way they view reality means that, in our world, they literally are not real and must use our belief in them in the bridge. For this reason, offical denial must be absolute and aggressive. The public must not know that they are here.’ " Streiber is speaking of demons, horrors both infernal and extradimensional set loose by the unholy pyres of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But, he has stumbled upon the truth. The monsters of childhood wait, intangible and invisible, but no less real. We grow older and become blind and deaf to them, and they to us. But, they know and they wait. Crouched amongst forgotten shirts and scuffed shoes, they wait. The time approaches when we shall grow old and weak. Our ears shall fail, as shall our eyes. Then shall we turn to the bright images and sounds of our memories. We will savour the lost friends and joys of childhood. But with those shall come our fears. Weak again, dependent again, helpless again the fear will return to us. Then shall the monsters return to us. They will not have aged. They will surrond us, glorying in our fear. They need only wait. Their eyes gleam. They drool and run great bovine tongues over teeth like shattered glass as they anticipate the coming terrors. Their razored nails click as their hands dance with glee at thoughts of the coming feast. Unseen, unheard, and flawlessly patient, they wait. Your body will fail. Haze and silence will cover your world until they are the only things you can see and hear clearly. Then the closet door shall open and they will come. Ravenous from decades of fasts.