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Release Date: January 31st, 2017 Movie Release Year: 2016

Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween

Overview -

Tyler Perry’s BOO! A Madea Halloween tells the story of Madea being summoned to keep a watchful eye on Brian’s (Tyler Perry) teenage daughter and keep her out of trouble. Little does Madea know, the trouble is coming for her. Fortunately, or not, she has her posse of Bam (Cassi Davis), Hattie (Patrice Lovely) and Joe to shield off ghosts and killer clowns.

OVERALL:
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Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
50GB Blu-ray Disc + Digital HD
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p MPEG-4 AVC
Length:
103
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.85:1
Audio Formats:
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles/Captions:
English, English SDH, Spanish
Special Features:
"Boo! From the Crew” Montage
Release Date:
January 31st, 2017

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

I'm not quite sure how we got here, but we are in a world where Tyler Perry's 'Madea' film franchise makes significantly more money than a lot of the Oscar nominees and festival award winners. This happens even when every Tyler Perry 'Madea' film is panned by almost every critic. Sure, the 'Transformers' films are universally panned too, but at least they have some decent visual effects, where the 'Madea' films have none.

Nobody really knows the rhyme or reason as to why the 'Madea' films make so much money each time they hit the theaters except for Perry himself, which proves that his formula, however ridiculous it is, has been working for almost two decades. It's just sad to see a film like 'Boo! A Madea Halloween' make significantly more money and enjoy more success than films like 'Swiss Army Man', 'Captain Fantastic', and 'The Witch'. Again, I can say the same things for 'The Transformers' films too.

'Boo! A Madea Halloween' is written, produced, directed, and stars Tyler Perry in three different roles, which is not uncommon for any of the 'Madea' films. This was filmed over the course of six days and has no assembly of meaning or plot, other than perhaps some glimpse of how to raise an unruly teenager. When there is a message to be heard here, it's completely negated by the fact that Madea flashes her breasts to a group of college frat boys. All bets are off after this.

Add to that, there really isn't anything about being scary or the theme of Halloween here, other than that the film takes place at a Halloween party where a group of idiotic college frat guys are throwing a party, start inviting girls off the street to attend their party. One of those girls is Tiffany Simmons, who is a brat of a daughter of Mr. Simmons (Tyler Perry). Mr. Simmons tells his daughter she can't go to the party. Unhappy with the decision, Tiffany and her friends plan to sneak out and go to the party, which is when Madea enters the picture and heads to crash the frat party. In order to get their revenge on Madea, the frat boys have some pranks in mind, but just like the rest of the 'Madea' films, it's Tyler Perry who has the last laugh.

There just really isn't a real story here. In fact, a lot of the film is of Madea and the older cast trying to make us laugh by talking smack about the younger generations and how to raise kids, but all goes out the window when Madea herself, acts like the young kids she is trying to teach a lesson to. There are no scares nor are there any moments where you'd laugh here, but somehow, Tyler Perry keeps packing the theaters up with more 'Madea' films. There must be something there. I'm just not seeing it in any sort of entertainment value.


The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

'Boo!: A Madea Halloween' comes with a 50GB Blu-ray Disc from Lionsgate and is Region A Locked. There is an insert for a digital download included too. The disc is housed in an eco-friendly, hard, plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. Trailers for other 'Madea' films play before the main menu sets up.

Video Review

Ranking:

'Boo!: A Madea Halloween' comes with a 1080p HD transfer and is presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This is a digitally shot feature, meaning most of the film has a glossy look to it, which detracts from the depth of the image. Not only that, the film takes place at night and in mostly darkly lit scenes. Detail does tend to be sharp and vivid in the well lit scenes where costume details come through and individual hairs show up nicely. Wider shots tend to go a bit soft though, due to all the lower lit scenes here.

Colors don't always pop either, however in well lit scenes they look very good. A lot of the film has a spooky lighting scenario with purples and blues dominating the color scheme. Other than that, colors are on the warm side of things. Black levels are mostly deep and inky and the skin tones are natural. There were no major signs of aliasing, banding, or video noise, leaving this video presentation with decent marks.

Audio Review

Ranking:

This release comes with a lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix and has a bit of heft to it. The music in the film is always engaging and fun, which brings the bass into high gear. Sound effects are fairly loud, robust and pack a punch when crescendos hit when the film wants to scare you.

Haunting sounds in the houses and other frat party noises can be heard throughout the rear speakers as well. Ambient noises are great as well, particularly when Madea is watching Trick r Treaters outside. Dialogue is clear and easy to follow too, and free of any pops, cracks, hiss, or shrills, leaving this audio track with solid marks.

Special Features

Ranking:

Why We Love Madea! (HD, 10 Mins.) - A montage of Madea's more famous moments from her films, as well as some interviews with  cast and crew on how she became so popular and funny. There are some production clips here too, but I still don't know what all the fuss is about.

Boo! From The Crew (HD, 3 Mins.) - The cast yells "Boo" at the camera for three minutes. I can't even.

Final Thoughts

'Boo!: A Madea Halloween' is a terrible film on just about every level. It's not funny, scary, or really entertaining. There's supposed to be a message somewhere here, but it's all lost when Madea goes on her crazy adventures and flashes kids. I guess nobody will even know how Tyler Perry continues to make critically panned movies, but still manages to break the bank on each release. The video and audio presentations are both decent, but the extras are self servicing, dumb, and provide no information on the making of the film.