Tyler Perry has a reputation for making films that aren’t very good. The Madea movies are scoffed at among cinephiles and you can see why – they’re like a cross-pollination of the latter-day Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy films most people tend to agree aren’t going to win Best Picture anytime soon. That said, despite their questionable quality, there’s something fascinating and entertaining about the Madea movies which ensure they’re never boring, and Boo! A Madea Halloween is no different.
The movie sees Perry play a host of characters, including the titular Madea, an elderly woman who flashes her sagging breasts at college kids and allows for them to touch her. Here, our hero is called in to watch a group of teenagers to ensure that they don’t end up at a party, but babysitting rebellious kids turns out to be the least of her problems when all sorts of spooky hocus pocus starts to happen. For nearly two hours, Boo! A Madea Halloween manages to be full of surprises – and that’s a compliment. Peppered with outlandish scenario after outlandish scenario, the effects are more akin to a fever dream than a cinematic experience. If you can imagine Big Momma’s House and Goosebumps mixed into a batch of marijuana-induced brownie mix, then that’s close to the effect of Boo! A Madea Hallloween. We don’t know how anybody could have devised this script sober, but in some bizarre way it works. Throw in some wholesome family values and straight-laced soap opera drama and Boo! turns out to be a strange concoction like no other.
Overall, this isn’t going to win Tyler Perry any new fans, but it’s the type of mindless entertainment that hits the spot just nicely after a long day when you want to turn your brain off and immerse yourself in some unabashed stupidity. We’re not sure whether Tyler Perry is an evil genius or the current incarnation of the Antichrist, but if you just roll with him you might find yourself smitten by his charms.
BOO! A MADEA HALLOWEEN / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: TYLER PERRY / STARRING: TYLER PERRY, CASSI DAVIS, PATRICE LOVELY / RELEASE DATE: 6TH FEBRUARY
