Director – Tyler Perry (Boo! A Madea Halloween, Love Thy Neighbor)
Starring – Tyler Perry, Cassie Davis (Married with Children, Kenan and Kel), and Patrice Lovely (Hell Hath no Fury Like a Woman Scorned, Madea Gets a Job)
Release Date – 2017
Rating – 3/5
I’m not much on Tyler Perry. I’ve seen a few of his Madea flicks over the years and none of them was entertaining to me. The character does have a comical charm that I can see why it is appealing to so many people but just isn’t for me. The humor feels forced, the characters are not that funny, and the stories are extremely predictable. I can see the charm and appeal of these movies but they are not for me.
When Boo! A Madea Halloween was released I took my wife my wife to the theater to see it. The showing was packed and the audience in attendance laughed at each an every little thing. Sadly, this was another flick I didn’t care for which is sad considering it is a Halloween flick. When the sequel was announced I completely brushed it off but several horror fans that I am friends with told me I needed to give it a chance. When the film was released I was able to secure a blu to review. Would this film be better than the first?
**Spoiler Alert**The film picks up one year after the first Boo film. We follow Tiffany (Diamond White) who is sneaking out of the house to party with the same frat from before. This time they are having it at a haunted campground which was once the site of a massacre. Tiffany goes behind her father’s back and had her mom agree to let her go party. When she arrives she notices party goers vanishing and before long they discover that the local legend is true…or is it? **Spoiler Alert**
I reviewed the first Boo! film when it was released. Several horror fans understood what I wasn’t a fan of the film while a few others called me racist and other negative terms. Race had nothing to do with it. A boring and bland film has nothing to do with color but blamed on writing and execution. I’m glad I gave the sequel a chance. It was leagues better than the first.
The acting in this one is more of what you get in any Madea flick. Madea and her elderly gang is overdramatic and underwhelming when trying to be funny while the remainder of the cast attempts to deliver a more practical performance. This makes the film feel inconsistent. The film struggles to find the perfect balance between “real” characters and comical characters that stands out. The cast does a decent job for the type of film but it doesn’t fit well together.
The story for this one starts out similar to the first flick where we follow teenage high school girls who sneak off to a college party on Halloween only to be haunted by supernatural menaces. This film does the same but the scope is so much bigger. I really enjoyed the haunted camp ground/lake angle a lot more than what we were given in the first film. The scares were a lot more effective in this film. They did a more thorough job creating atmosphere and tension. The story is still predictable but there is a few little twists I didn’t see coming.
Finally, you are an idiot if you turned to a Madea movie for gore. The film is void of the red stuff. There is minimal practical effects with no deaths for the viewer. Overall, Boo 2! A Madea Halloween was no the train wreck the first film was. The film was slightly entertaining but was full of flaws and pacing issues. This would be a fun one to throw on at Halloween and the alcohol is pouring but I don’t see myself revisiting this one.
