Movie Review: Boo (2005)

What can we say about another group of college kids stupid enough to spend Halloween night in a haunted hospital? I’ll tell you, why on Earth did I watch it twice?

Boo follows an unfortunate group of kids who decide to try and scare their girlfriends by rigging the local cliché, I mean abandoned haunted hospital with thrills and spills. What they don’t know is that the place really is haunted! Jessie, Kevin, Freddy and Marie make their way to the hospital which has been set up for the scares by Emmett. When they get there, Emmett and his dog have vanished. As they proceed through the house unaware of the ill-fated Emmetts misfortune, they discover more than they bargained for! Don't go to the Third floor!

Right, Storyline basics out of the way, Boo delivers very little in any department. Unfortunately, it extends so far that I think it even confuses itself. Absolutely no storyline to get involved in, zero characterisation and a script that makes little to no sense! As a viewer, I was sat wondering what was going on. First of all, we have the main characters, who have gone into the hospital for a bit of Halloween fun but we also have Allan, who has decided to sneak in to look for his sister Meg, who has been missing for two weeks (Part of the storyline that unfolds rather than rears itself in the beginning. The latter would have helped to build a bit of suspense but hey ho, I’m not a director) Anyway, Allan is joined soon after by Arlo, a former actor known for playing Dynamite Jones! Arlo now plies his trade as a cop and used to work with Allan’s father, apparently. Another part of the storyline which was raced over but if they had taken a little more time would have helped to build some level of characterisation!

As far as the acting goes, none stand out. And I mean NONE. They all believe the script about as much as I did and they delivered it with even less conviction! Wooden from the get go and I feel no empathy for any of them. The script itself is trying to be something it’s not. It may have worked well in a good “thinker” but not in a low budget horror flick like this one!

Through all the dust and debris, the only glittering beacon of hope can be found in the apparitions. Not all of them but the ones in the darkness and the shadows. When a flicker of torch light glances past a dark corner and we see the little girl ghost for example. That was very well done. Some however look like they are electronically charged or something but for the most part, the special effects are reasonably good. This leads me to believe that with a better script, fewer “main” characters and about 45 minutes cut off the running time Boo would have been a good film. As it is, I will not be watching it for a third time but it stands as a great example of why low budget horror movies should stick to what they do best! Deliver all the above without the involvement of complicated storyline and dialogue!

Released: 2005

My Rating: 3

A cold night in Y2K

It was a cold, dark night in North Yorkshire when I stumbled into my local none descript video rental shop to browse the latest releases. Back when it was cheaper to rent movies than it was to buy, DVD's were the latest (expensive) offering and as such, the VHS enjoyed a twilight period thanks to a massive reduction in prices.

It was during this very period that I found myself handing over £3.99 in exchange for the rental of The Blair Witch Project for 2 nights. I made my way home, turned all the lights off and got myself comfortable.

Having seen The Blair Witch Project previously at the cinema, I was fully prepared for the following 82 minutes but that didn't sway my initial opinion. It was as good the second time, if not better. I have found that this film seems to get better with each viewing. From the eerily simple opening to its breathtaking ending, it always delivers. The main things that get me though are the little sounds... The ones you couldn't hear in the cinema, or on that poor quality VHS. Sounds which can only be truly heard and therefore appreciated when heard through full 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound!

As the film progresses, the three unfortunate filmmakers' feeling of  utter panic is perfectly translated and even though at this stage, everyone knows that it was all a publicity stunt, we still feel empathy for Heather, Mike and Josh. Three brilliant performances from three unknown faces. Sheer brilliance on the film makers’ part and the publicity was beyond anything we had seen before. Love it or hate it, no one can deny the timeless effect and originality that The Blair Witch Project brought to the table.

Maybe Cannibal Holocaust was a forefather to The Blair Witch but where that one failed, Blair Witch succeeded. Unfortunately for every film that followed, using the internet in the same way was out of the question. The world would need a new kind of originality to surpass the efforts of this film!

So now that we are clear on that, I will continue... Once the camera had fallen and Heather had stopped screaming. The rolling of the film was the only sound left before..... Silence. As is always the case, I sat. Rooted to my seat. Even as the credits scrolled up the screen, I couldn't bring myself to reach over and illuminate the room by switching the "big light" on. So I sat. Waited, in the hope that when the credits had finished, the VHS would kindly rewind itself ready for me to return to the video shop.

A flicker, light... Beyond the final credits was some kind of life. What followed was 7 minutes that would stay imprinted in my mind from this day until the day I rediscovered it while trawling through You Tube.

Horsehair. A brilliant surreal black comedy which after a tiny bit of research (and reading what they wrote on their You Tube description) I can tell you was made in Scotland in 1998 and had a decent run on the festival circuit. Directed by Duncan Nicoll and starring Alastair Mackenzie, Horsehair is follows the fortunes of Mick as he begins finding strange strands of hair in places you wouldn't expect. Very dark, funny and creepy all at the same time. Horsehair came as a welcome bright spot after the darkness of credits.

It seems so funny now that things in this day and age have come to a point where I can say; to see what I saw over a decade ago and watch something which I thought was lost when the VHS died, check out Horsehair below. Hopefully you will enjoy it.

Upcoming Movie: Familiar

Another good looking Horror Short to sink our teeth into. This one is brought to us by the guys over at Fatal Pictures. Their previous offerings, Consumption (2008) and Worm (2010) fill us with confidence that this fledgling production company can keep the quality coming. Let's hope that a feature is on the cards in the not too distant future.

FATAL PICTURES is proud to announce "FAMILIAR", a new Horror short starring Robert Nolan, Astrida Auza and Cathryn Hostick as the seemingly idyllic yet ultimately doomed Dodd Family.

Written/Directed by Richard Powell, Produced by Zach Green (FATAL PICTURES) Cinematography & Co Producer Michael Jari Davidson shot on RED Digital Cinema. Special FX for the film provided by Ryan Louagie, Carlos Henriques & Steven Dawley (The Butcher Shop)."

Through a series of tragic events a middle aged man grows to suspect the negative impulses plaguing his mind may not be his own!

For more on Fatal Pictures visit their website: www.fatalpictures.com
Follow them on Twitter: @FatalPictures

Watch this space for review....

Movie Review: Hell Asylum (2001)

Make of it what you will but there has to be something in the fact that this film received a second viewing! Having purchased it from my local bargain DVD shop some years ago for a huge £1.99, I found myself giving it further scrutiny. My belief is that you can never fully appreciate any film until you have seen it for a second or sometimes even a third time. However that logic can go out the window with some of the films I watch.

However you look at it, Hell Asylum was in my eyes at least good enough to warrant this immense honour. I suppose it was the sight of Joe Estevez in the opening scene that triggers something in your mind that says “It can’t be that bad, that’s Martin Sheen’s little bro!” A quick visit to IMDB finds my staring at a long list of “random” horror films. It is his known for films that include Soultaker, Beach Babes from Beyond, San Franpsycho and Death Row which really puts pain to my statement! But... There is a silver lining. My Estevez is on screen for approximately 5 minutes, right at the beginning and right at the end. What happens in the middle is actually really good!

The film centre’s around a new reality TV show called The Chill Challenge in which five girls enter a supposedly haunted house and whoever can last the whole night wins $1Million. The five girls in question consist of Stacy, the wuss, Rainbow, the Goth chick, Amber, who appears to be fairly normal, Marti, a fitness freak and Paige who loves herself a little too much. Funnily though Paige’s real name is Paige Turner! (It made me laugh)

The character build up is very good. A reality TV style introduction gives us all the information we need to know about the characters. Not drawn out and boring, just straight to the point and insightful. I am not quite sure about the producer Max’s back story for the haunted house. It says the house was built in 1850 and turned into a sanatorium at the turn of the century, firstly not very original (thoughts of The Haunting and House on Haunted Hill) and secondly that house looks like a hospital from the 1950’s rather than 1850’s but I will give them the benefit of the doubt this time!

The term over the top take on new meaning with some of the acting in this film but some performances do help claw back some credibility, most notably Sunny Lombardo (Rainbow). With the exception of Debra Mayer (Paige Turner) the cast are not too bad. Sorry to say that Mayer’s performance is bordering on dire which considering she is the first billed begs the question, why?

The special effects in Hell Asylum range in their quality. Some very good imagery leads to some poor anatomical effects. I am not quite sure what was being pulled out of the dead people, maybe Spaghetti or something but plenty of blood to try and hide the whole thing does seem to work. Some poor “whooshing” sound effects and the music sometimes drowned out the dialogue but the music used was quite good.

The overall production value is quite shoddy, understandably the headset mounted “cam” shots are supposed to be quite poor to be realistic but they should have spent a little bit more on equipment and bit less on casting Martin Sheen’s brother!

Although Hell Asylum weaves its way through a fairly unoriginal story, it is definitely one of my little gems and well deserving of its second viewing. If you approach your films the same way I do, I would definitely recommend to anyone as one to watch and hopefully you will enjoy it too.

Released: 2002

My Rating: 6