Movie Review: Boo

credit: Boo

First and foremost, the idea of spending Halloween in a haunted hospital isn’t a great idea in real life, but would definitely be a thrill that a lot of people would give a second thought to since, well, Halloween is a great time to tempt fate and ghosts. Boo isn’t bound to go down as one of the greatest movies ever or even as one of the best Halloween movies, but it’s fair to think that it might be included in a list of schlocky horror movies that would be gathered for a night of hilarity.

Seriously, this is the type of movie that might gain more laughs than screams, given that the nature of the horror in this movie does start out as something that might actually be terrifying but eventually becomes something that’s easier to mock simply because it’s too hard to take it seriously. The overall story is one that could have enough promise to become something along the lines of another House on Haunted Hill copycat, but the lack of a budget and a well-developed story kind of ruined that chance. 

credit: Boo

The abandoned hospital idea is one that has been used more than once. 

It’s not a bad idea, really, since it becomes a favored location when one has to think of where to stage a horror flick. For various reasons, it’s one of the more interesting locations to stage a movie, and Boo even goes so far as to have one of its characters, Emmett, staging scares throughout the hospital so that his friends will be able to scare their ladies.

It’s a jerk thing to do, of course, but on Halloween, it’s kind of expected since, well, this is the type of holiday when jump scares are expected, and jerks are bound to pull pranks whenever they can to keep people on their toes. But when the group of friends, and one individual looking for his sister, enter the hospital, the spirit that has come to dominate the place and anyone who walks into it begins to toy with them, using his influence over everything within his reach for his own ends as each member of the group as he begins the process of possessing each individual. 

To be fair, the exploding, reanimated corpse idea was kind of interesting. 

Possession is an interesting but difficult thing in the movies since it tends to be bad for the person being possessed and difficult for the one doing the possessing since the fight between the two is sometimes fierce thanks to the free will of the person being possessed. But this movie creates a different effect that hasn’t really been seen in other movies.

While a possessed individual’s body does tend to break down in some movies thanks to the force of the spirit within, the effect used in this movie is intriguing since not only does the person’s body start breaking down, but it starts to literally fall apart as the body will literally fall to pieces as the spirit continues to corrupt them from the inside out. It’s kind of gross, but at the same time, it’s bound to be interesting for horror buffs who might need another idea to turn their attention toward. 

credit: Boo

Seeing Dee Wallace is fun. 

Dee Wallace is an interesting addition to many movies since she’s been one of the many actors throughout the years that have come and gone but has always been valued, especially in horror movies, since she’s helped to bring to life a few features in her time that aren’t all big hits but are still memorable.

Cujo and The Howling come to mind, but over the years, she’s been more of a minor character in the movies she’s shown up in. The role she takes in this movie is a little more important since she plays the nurse that traps the deranged killer who goes on to haunt the hospital in death while sacrificing herself to do so. And yet she willingly sacrifices herself to keep the man within the institution, as his attempts to reach the outside require a body that he can manipulate, despite the effect he has upon a flesh and blood body. One does kind of need to watch the movie to get the entire gist of the story, but the main thrust is that the ghost wants out and will kill as many individuals as he needs to in order to make this happen. 

The hilarity of this movie comes from the fact that it’s over the top when it comes to the effects. 

Exploding bodies, a skinned dog that reanimates, and all the gore that one could expect with this type of budget is what makes this horror movie something that one might remember. It’s not exactly a great movie, but it’s something to watch on Halloween.