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BOO! (2005) Director: Anthony C Ferrante. Hacktors: Trish Coren, Dee Wallace-Stone, Josh Holt. Rating/5: The lowdown: A gang of kids make the classic mistake of spending Halloween night in the spookily defunct Santa Mira Hospital. Elsewhere in the building, another high-schooler mounts a concerned search for his missing sister. Then the ectoplasm really hits the fan. Good points: Boo! is good old-fashioned, gory horror fun, like something out of the '80s. The effects come courtesy of a fairly effective blend of prosthetics and CGI, many of which pay homage to various classic horror movies, like Carpenter's The Thing and The Evil Dead. There's nothing wrong with the acting, much of the teen humour is passable and the whole thing moves along at a fair old clip. Boo! is never boring. There's also one brilliant scene in which the group encounter a floating clown costume, with maggots pouring from its empty legs. Give that clown his own franchise! Bad points: That scary clown aside, Boo! doesn't have an original bone in its body. The group becomes suspicious of each other, a la The Thing. Zombies materialize behind people in an elevator, a la Gates Of Hell. As is de rigeur in every spooky hospital flick, a spooky wheelchair moves itself around. The problem with being a patchwork quilt of 'homages' is that no-one will ever stage a homage to Boo!. Furthermore, it's not in the least bit scary, perhaps due to its generally safe and comedic tone. DVD Details: A filmmaker commentary from Ferrante, producer David E. Allen, co-producer Sheri Bryant and editor Chris Conlee, plus three featurettes. Deleted, alternate and extended scenes with director commentary round off a nice little package, along with a few other tidbits. Overall: Boo! has some great building blocks - effects, affection for the genre - but hasn't assembled them in a stunning fashion. I'm confident, though, that Ferrante's second picture will do better. Release Date: Out now on DVD in the States. Has yet to secure a UK release. [Check it out at Amazon US] [Reviews Menu] [Home] © Copyright Slasherama 2002-present