Plot: It’s Halloween, but teen Tiffany (Diamond White) is stuck at home and unable to go to a wild frat party, as her father Brian (Tyler Perry) is at his wit’s end with her and her behavior. As he has to leave and doesn’t trust Tiffany to be alone, he calls in Madea (Tyler Perry) and all of her friends, who arrive to watch the place and make sure Tiffany stays at home. They also tell Brian that if he wants his child to behave, he needs to issue some ass whippings, although perhaps not throw her off the roof like his father did to him. Tiffany is determined to go to the party, so she plans to spook the old people with a made up ghost story, then use the smart house controls to flicker the lights and scare them off. Her plan doesn’t get them to leave, but it does give her a window to sneak out, though Madea discovers her absence and heads to the party to bring her back. But soon, eerie clowns start showing up around the house, making Madea and her friends wonder if the ghost story was true. Is there some kind of evil presence in the house, or is this is just all part of Tiffany’s plan to scare them off?

Entertainment Value: I should mention up front, if the Halloween theme is what drew you to Boo!, you are likely to be disappointed. A total of maybe five minutes is devoted to even mild attempts at scares, so the Halloween is more of a general backdrop than an active narrative element. This is bad news for some, but good news for Madea fans who might not appreciate genuine chills, so it just depends on your perspective. If you’ve seen a Madea movie, then you know what’s in store here, just with a couple creepy clowns and acrobatic zombies tossed in. Boo! follows the well worn formula Tyler Perry has built an empire on, with Madea and her friends shouting at each other and playing up broad stereotypes. If you think an old lady smoking weed or black people having a warrant are hilarious, Boo! is right in your wheelhouse. The movie is packed with loud banter and over the top performances, banking on volume over anything else, hoping enough of the jokes land. To be fair, I did find some of the lines humorous, just because I have an affinity for drama and dysfunction, but overall, I found the writing to be less than memorable. Perry plays several roles as always, each louder than the next, while Bella Thorne pops up in a small role and a handful of YouTubers are present as well, for whatever reason. I hoped for a passable Halloween comedy, but sadly Boo! is just not fun to watch.

No nakedness. The old women are randy and talk a big game, while Madea flashes her breasts to stun some frat boys, off screen of course. No blood. This is a comedy with very little horror elements, so no bloodshed is needed. The scares are limited to those with a severe fear of clowns and even then, not even a jump scare is present and the clown mask is just a store bought costume. I know this is a comedy and all, but given the Halloween setting, I think a few mild scares might have at least spiced up the movie a little. The dialogue is loud, rapid fire, and unrelenting, with loud, brash performances delivering all the lines. When Bella Thorne hands in the best performance of a movie, you know the cast might have made some bad choices. But I know Madea fans love that high volume approach, so it makes sense. The movie was made for fans of Madea, after all. I did laugh at a few lines, out of the sheer dysfunction involved, as I do have a soft spot for outlandish relationship drama. But most of the humor is so basic and broad, it was forgotten seconds after it was performed. No craziness whatsoever, as the movie keeps things loud and comedic in tone.

Nudity: 0/10

Blood: 0/10

Dialogue: 2/10

Overall Insanity: 0/10

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