I’d never heard of Luke Jaden when I selected Boo! to watch for Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2018. I just saw some imagery I liked and thought it sounded cool conceptually. Luke’s an independent filmmaker and thought to be a directorial prodigy, but more on that later.
I also like horror films set on Halloween and that’s exactly where Boo! starts. Here’s the low down;
Married with two kids, James and Elyse are struggling to keep it together. Morgan is hiding her own suicidal thoughts and, their son Caleb channels his suppressed emotions via macabre artwork. One night, their true test arrives a strange Halloween game left on their doorstep that, legend has it, leaves a curse on those who choose not to play. Unfortunately, that’s the choice this family makes — and evil spirits of all kinds are ready to make them pay.
Quick Film Information, Release, and Starring Boo!
- Release: October 2018 at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
- Writers: Luke Jaden and Diane Michelle.
- Director: Luke Jaden.
- Starring: Jaden Piner (Moonlight 2016), Aurora Perrineau (Truth or Dare 2018), Rob Zabrecky (A Ghost Story 2017), Jill Marie Jones (Sleepy Hollow 2015), Charley Palmer Rothwell (Dunkirk 2017), Dwight Henry (12 Years a Slave 2013.)
Who Is Luke Jaden?
Luke is thought to be a directorial prodigy having made a bunch of films by the time he was just 18 years old. Boo!’s release marks his path to the ripe old age of 21 along with its world premiere at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
What’s blowing my mind is the cast he pulls for his films and, whether short or feature-length there is a recognizable name or two.
He’s obviously great at networking and in fact, is known to randomly call people in the biz and pitch them his ideas. Directors, producers, and, actors are the ones he targets and you’ve got to admit, the outcome of having so many films made shows it’s paying off.
Luke, an independent filmmaker is better known for his shorts, especially King Ripple (2015) plus a feature-length called My Pretty Pony (2017.) At such a young age, it’s his narrative that seems to be pulling in audiences and actors and actresses to boot.
He even managed to get Tobin Bell to star in his short film My Pretty Pony at the age of 20.
He was mentored by Michael Angelo Zervos who wrote Papou (2014.) Whether or not you’ve seen this movie is irrelevant, Zervos is a well-rounded producer, director, and writer. Luke it seems, has something special to be noticed by him in the first place.
Independent Film and Boo!
Boo! is a slow burner and makes you come away with a feeling of being psychologically swept up into something that’s never fully realized. About halfway through, I began to realize that all the information you need to make sense of it was to be squashed into its final quarter. Great films know how to inject the creepy atmosphere needed to substantiate a crawling storyline. Unfortunately for me, this just doesn’t happen here.
The premise starts off really strong, with the concept hingeing on a physical chain letter that ties into a superstitious story.
During Halloween, you receive what’s referred to as a Boo! And that is what happens here. It looks entirely unsuspicious and contains a poem and some candy in a brown paper bag. Its intention is that you pass it on and if you don’t you’re cursed and will die a horrible death.
What’s in the Boo! Don’t Pass on a Boo!
The air is cool, the season is Fall
Soon Halloween will come to all,
Terror and horror, spooks galore
Tricky witches are at your door.
The spooks are looking for things to do
In fact, one bought this boo to you.
Excitement comes and ghouls like you
Copy this note and make it through
Sounds good right?
Well, Boo! does do plenty right and this film sets up cloak-like darkness that envelops the whole story. The acting is rock-solid just as you would expect from a high-caliber cast in independent film production. Some of the cinematography is exceptional inclusive of some spectacular aerial shots. Speckled by streetlamps dotted amongst the landscape night, is Detroit City.
The family dynamic feels disjointed and peculiar. For all intents and purposes, they’re supposed to but it makes for an odd experience. None of them are supposed to engage as a unit which consequently is what gets them into trouble in the first place.
Dysfunctional Families
Furthermore, as far as dysfunctional families go, this one goes above and beyond showing just how dysfunctional one family can be. But the focus turns away from this great idea about a Boo! and after its dramatic introduction, It’s barely used again. Instead, the focus is on the family’s turmoil with each experiencing hallucinations directly connected with their worst nightmares, lots of them all while hashing out some issues.
Some will love the idea that a whole family unit is trying to escape their own individual nightmares. For me, the family dynamic, though intentional, caused the end sequences to suffer. The slow pace, in turn, sucked the tension out.
By the end of the film, its climatic events weren’t enough to give me what I needed.
Overall, it’s not a bad film. However, I finished feeling less than satisfied and slightly confused.
I give Boo!
2.5 why did the goldfish have to die? out of 5
Trailer for Boo!
Released in 2019, you can now stream this excellent indie film!
- Have You Seen? Daniel Isn’t Real? A psychological horror film starring Patrick Swarzenegger.
- External Blog review: Movies & Mania did a great review for Boo! as well. Check it out.
- Netflix and Chill? Have you seen The Decline?
- Shudder and Chill with: Caveat and The Amusement Park
- Horror + Science Fiction: The Honeymoon Phase 2020.
INDEPENDENT FILM
Luke Jaden’s independent short film, King Ripple. Enjoy!
Final Thoughts with a Mild Spoiler (just skip this paragraph if you don’t want any clues.)
In some final after-thoughts about this indie film, Caleb’s whole character revolves around the macabre. His walls were adorned with pictures of sliced tongues, dolls with pencils stabbed into them combined with his love of a pet goldfish.
Unless of course, Caleb’s whole existence is somehow based on his family’s ignorance towards every facet of their own lives… now there’s a thought.
