Search - Boo! The Movie on DVD

The Little Movie that Couldn't

A viewer | IL | 08/10/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes films with small budgets and first time directors can be really exceptionally great and make heads turn in Hollywood. Unfortunately, Boo! The Movie is not one of these movies and what can you expect from a movie that is titled, Boo! The Movie. If you read nothing more of this review, understand that this movie is not worth 18 hard earned dollars. Made in the suburbs of Chicago Boo! desperately tries to put a new spin on the tried and true horror genre but instead comes up with a milquetoast "scary" movie that has a ghost.

The story of Boo! is about a group of twenty something pranksters from the town of Rankin who find themselves embroiled in a mystery about a local woman who drowned herself 20 years ago. With an "amazing" story like that you'd wonder how the film got so muddled with bad acting, writing and direction.

The acting in this movie has two basic extremes - horrible emotionless acting usually done by Will, Jason, Sheriff Newman and Keira's Mom and on the opposite end outright overacting performed by Keira, Stacy and Eddie. Perhaps the director was inept at detecting these polar opposite performances or attempting to pioneer a new form of acting by having characters speak lines in monotone while others squeeze out annoying, theater-like performances. I can't tell you how many times Will desperately calls out using the same monotone voice, "Keira! Keira! Keira!" In this reviewer's opinion the best acting in the whole movie was from the guy getting a sponge bath in the hospital, at least he looked the part unlike "the gang" who all looked like 35 year olds playing twenty something's.

The writing, also done by the director, is shoddy work filled with loopy plot holes, generic scares, cheap dialogue and unrealistic character conflicts. Does he honestly expect the audience to believe that in this day and age somewhere in America there would be a deep running social conflict between college and town kids? Maybe late one night while watching the movie Breaking Away he was inspired to write Boo! The Movie believing he'd capture the pulse of American college towns everywhere with the theme of privileged vs. unprivileged. Another theme that touches the heartbeat of today's young adults is the hidden angst among friends that want go to college and pursue higher education. Lansu must have thoroughly researched this growing stigma as the movie shows time and again Keira being berated and disowned by her friends because of her dreams of singing and attending music lessons at the local college.

Cheap, zingy one liners spouted by the shrimpy Eddie become crass ear noise as he chatters off to different characters like some cartoon sidekick. Terribly written scenes like Keira discussing whether her parents still have sex seem like the director became so desperate for dialogue that he tape recorded overheard conversations from high schoolers. Other times the dialogue slips even further down the maturity scale when Jack reminisces to Eddie about playing "truth or dare under the dock" with the girls when they were kids. The "heartfelt" interactions between Keira and Will amount to two people smothering themselves in cheesy, corny dialogue like, "When you sing like that I can't take my eyes off you" or "Keira, you have something special inside you that no one can take away." How many movies have I heard those lines in? Maybe Lansu got a hold of the tape recorder again while watching some Channel 9 movies.

The scares in this movie amount to a bunch of cheap "got-ya" shots with characters accidentally bumping into each other or pranking one another in a weak attempt to generate a scare that will jolt the audience. Couple these with dull "got-ya" moments with a loud cymbal crash sound effect and maybe someone might break sweat. But some things in Boo! like the idea of a woman walking around randomly wearing a white nightgown and humming "Hush little Baby" aren't even scary. It just completely fails to scare, frighten, terrify or shock anyone watching. I'm sure you'd find a more frightening sense of imagination at the local haunted house at Halloween. Another problem that contributed to the movie generating no tension whatsoever was inserting imitation 90's rock music which would blare on all during would-be scary scenes.

But some things in this movie are completely explainable like the futuristic hologram projector which characters can power by plugging the cord into the nearest tree trunk. Or weird scene where the audience is left to wonder what is happening such as the scene when the fat security guard stuffs donuts in his face or Stacy spills water(?) over herself only to go downstairs and wash out the spilled water with water. The film also breaks ground delivering the first ass-rubbing shot and the longest coffee making scene in cinematic history. What an accomplishment.

When it comes down to the raw, hard facts this movie is rental quality but unfortunately you can't rent it. Boo! - The little movie that couldn't. Lackluster writing, amateur directing, terrible acting and pathetic scares make this movie completely forgettable. The only thing probably scary about Boo! The Movie is paying 18.00 dollars for it. Take this reviewer's advice and treat your family/girlfriend/spouse out to dinner and a game mini golf rather than waste your time and money on this turd.
"

90 minutes of my life I'll never get back

A viewer | 09/01/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"As I sat in a crowded basement of a friend's house, staring toward the projection screen, waiting for another installment in our B-movie festival, my expectations were, admittedly, lower than most. I had, at least, some foggy notion of what was to come. If any of the others had this information, they would have been wiser to get out while the getting was good. Instead, we were bombarded by paralyzingly bad acting, haplessly random directing, unbelievably poor editing and, best of all, bizarrely chosen soundtrack clips played out in their entirety over consecutive scenes. Mercifully, these 90s rock ballads give some brief respite from lines which could, under certain circumstances, be used to torture confessions out of hardened criminals.

The general feeling as the credits rolled was that dull, unfocused anger which one only encounters in large groups of people after an experience of transcendent disappointment. Nearly the entire crowd dispersed in silence, a few muttering explitives under their breath, but in the manner of someone realizing that it isn't even worth the emotional effort.

The people watching the movie were battle-hardened B-movie veterans, ready for more action after polishing off Message From Space. I wish I had a stack of purple hearts to hand out at the door - maybe a few letters of condolence to loved ones. My advice for further opinions: read Roger Ebert's review of Battlefield earth and simply exchange the movie titles. Everything applies. It's uncanny."

Unknown

Harry Wojahn | USA | 06/14/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"the only thing i would like to know is what this movie is about. if it is the movie i am thinking it is there is a father who opens a mystical door in the middle of a room and pulls out a cape that gives him magical powers. if anyone knows if this is the movie please email me and let me know

spike262004@yahoo.com"

An amateur film that tries to be professional

Harry Wojahn | 03/11/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Despite what the director may have intended, after watching this movie twice, this very much seems like it that wanted so hard to be a professional film, but was obviously shot by a first-time director. The script may have looked good on paper, but it really wasn't executed to its fullest potential. The film was shot on a budget of $25k and it shows. The pacing is slow, you get lost in whatever plot is there, and aren't horror/thrillers supposed to scare people? Because I think the director forgot to edit that in. (The scene in the ice cream shop was one of the most oddly-cut scenes I have ever seen in a film.) Some of the acting isn't the best either and the film makes no effort to disguise this.Yes, the cast and crew may have worked hard to get this film where it is today, but there's nothing much in it to applaud. There really is nothing in this film that sets it apart from any other indy horror film and there certainly are better ones out there. It's maybe worth a rental, but definitely not worth buying."