Review: BOO!

Director: Luke Jaden

Screenplay: Luke Jaden y Diane Michelle

Year: 2019

When I first knew about this movie I thought that it was a comedy. After seeing the poster and title I thought it was one of those horror movie parodies in the likes of “Scary Movie”. If you have the same impression I had, I must affirm that this movie has no comedy and is a horror movie in all rule.

In “BOO!” A couple struggles to keep their family united without much success. Besides their marital problems, their kids are depressed and with visions of macabre stuff. On a Halloween night, someone leaves in their doorstep what seems like an innocent prank, without them knowing that it is a curse that causes a supernatural force to wreak havoc in the house.

“BOO!” starts bringing into attention what will be the most important factor to develop the plot. The start is slow and what they try to present to create tension does not work thanks to some weak and ineffective acting. The way that the family is presented is not the best, as their personalities are exaggerated and, although they are presented as a dysfunctional family, it is hard to think that this family had gotten along at all. The cast composed of Aurora Perrineau (“Truth or Dare”), Jaden Piner (“Moonlight”), Jill Marie Jones (“Ash vs Evil Dead”), and Rob Zabrecky (“A Ghost Story”) does not work collectively and in times neither individually.  The chemistry between them is almost non-existent and is hard to think about them as a family and this is something important for the development of the plot.

Once the first half of the movie goes by, it starts to move quicker, and it becomes more interesting. Here more supernatural things start to occur, and they are well crafted. This supernatural force that torments this family plays with their fears, convictions, and experiences of each and gives place to some unnerving and effective scenes.  Most of the jump scares birthed in these scenes connect well with the ambient and are effective. These scenes are the best part of the movie and the ideas in some are so good you will regret them being part of a screenplay so weak. The practical effects in these scenes work well, but they are contrasted with some digital effects that do not look good at all.

The screenplay of this movie was one of the weakest point accompanied by the acting. It is full of inconsistencies and things that are hard to believe a normal person will simply ignore. For example, the son of the marriage since the start shows a behavior that will set some alarms off to any parent, as having the walls and windows of his room covered with creepy drawings from his authorship. His parents never present any kind of discomfort or worry about this and make it seem like is something normal. I don’t know if the idea was to emphasize how distant each family member was from each other that they do not care about this, but being so, for me it is an extreme and unrealistic way of portraying it.

“BOO!” is a movie that unfortunately has more flaws than virtues. Since you see the title and poster you have a different impression if what was actually intended and the central idea lacks originality. As the movie goes it is hard to get into the dynamic that is tried to be established and this takes a lot of strength to the parts that do work. When the disturbing scenes arrive, the viewer's interest has already been lost. To make things worse, the ending is completely absurd and does not carry the surprise factor it had intended.