‘The night she came home!’
Boo! A Medea Halloween is a 2016 American comedy horror film written, co-produced, directed by and starring Tyler Perry. It also stars Cassi Davis, Patrice Lovely, Lexy Panterra, Yousef Erakat, Andre Hall, Brock O’Hurn and Bella Thorne.
The film was released in the US by Lionsgate on October 21, 2016. Surprisingly, it performed better than Tom Cruise’s sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back to win the weekend box office race by taking $27.6 million from 2,260 North American theaters.
Plot:
Mabel “Madea” Simmons (Tyler Perry) spends Halloween keeping an eye on a group of misbehaving teens who are trying to party, while fending off killers, paranormal poltergeists, ghosts, ghouls and zombies…
Reviews:
“At 103 minutes, this film has way too much dead weight. Scenes are repeated over and over, and some of the acting would not cut it in a school play. But in the rare moments when “Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween” is firing on all cylinders, it displays a cleverness which hints that, with more time and a few more iterations of the script, this might have been a good movie.” Odie Henderson, RogerEbert.com
Shot sitcom-style with multiple cameras and minimal takes, the film looks atrocious. It’s disheartening that Perry, for all his obvious smarts and savvy, is unwilling to up his cinematic game … But the puerile humor that he continues to peddle makes awfully depressing viewing for those who don’t find the concept of a large, middle-aged man in drag inherently funny.” Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
“The director-star’s latest has a few old-school laughs, as well as an unassailable message about parents standing up to their children. But it also has a lack of surprise that’s almost scary … “Boo!” should have little trouble connecting with Perry’s fans (who, as the media rarely bothers to acknowledge, are now a multi-racial audience).” Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“…this movie’s prank-war payoffs don’t offer thrills or catharsis. A Madea Halloween has far more in common with a Halloween episode of a sitcom than a Halloween movie, and, if not for its 103-minute running time, would have even more in common with a skit performed by a church youth group on the Sunday before Halloween.” Jesse Hassenger, A.V. Club
“I can’t call Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween anything resembling a good film (it’s shot with the production values of a television sitcom) but it is so relentless that, like gorging on a bag of trick or treat candy, it’s undeniably addictive. Before the stomach ache comes.” Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian
” …the dialogue is lazy to say the least and the more the film plays, the silliness it gets. Had he tightened the film to about 90 minutes of comedy with some really scary moments, it would play better, but at 103 minutes the dramatic side to the film is non-existent and becomes a wasted effort in Madea’s return to the big screen.” Wilson Morales, BlackFilm.com
“A Madea Halloween is all over the place in terms of tone, and it doesn’t do nearly enough with its holiday potential. It’s simply the same old crummy directing (spatial relationships are mystery to the production), irresponsible writing, and ear-splitting acting that’s come before, only offered with more aggressive stupidity to compensate for the lack of substance.” Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com
“Don’t be fooled by promotional posters spoofing The Exorcist, Halloween and other classic horror films … It’s more of the same Christian tomfoolery and annoying “Hallelujer!” exclamations – just with spooky masks and Halloween themes this time around. Expectations, meet G-rated haunted house mediocrity featuring lippy PG-13 elders.” Matt Donato, We Got This Covered
Cast and characters:
- Tyler Perry as Mabel “Madea” Simmons, Brian Simmons, and Uncle Joe Simmons
- Diamond White as Tiffany Simmons
- Bella Thorne as Rain
- Cassi Davis as Aunt Bam
- Patrice Lovely as Hattie
- Andre Hall
- Yousef Erakat as Jonathan
- Lexy Panterra as Leah
- Liza Koshy as Aday
- Brock O’Hurn as Horse
- Jimmy Tatro as Sean
- Jc Caylen as Mikey
- Kian Lawley as Bean Boy
- Mike Tornabene as Dino
- Bradley Martyn
Filming locations:
Atlanta, Georgia
