Ooga Booga (2013)
4/10
If You Expected More, It's Your Own Darm Fault
19 January 2014
Just where would we be without Full Moon Features? The production company have given us such classic films as The Puppet Master, Trancers (I-VI, no less), Evil Bong and The Gingerbread Man. Indeed, without these wonderfully catchy and kitchy DVD options, I would have had a many Saturday afternoon staring at my navel wondering just how fascinating watching paint dry could possibly be.

The latest Full Moon production to coax its way into my DVD player is Ooga Booga – a likely cult-classic that is a take on Tom Holland's 1988 classic, Child's Play. Featuring a cast that has the twisted arms of actors Stacey Keach and Karen Black participating, Ooga Booga tells the story of Devin, an African American med student who is innocently killed only to come back in the form of a 16-inch cannibal doll named (wait for it……) Ooga Booga.

Devin's soul inside Ooga Booga doesn't allow him to talk (he can make native cannibal noises though), so Ooga Booga uses his spear to write words to communicate with his girlfriend who helps Ooga exact revenge on gangs, judges, cops and just about anyone else that did him wrong during the final hours of his human life.

The effects are laughable which, I am sure, is exactly what producer/director Charles Band was attempting to achieve. Band has produced over 250 films in his storied career, but anyone who has put money and effort into Zombies vs. Strippers and The Dead Want Women knows a thing or two about tongue-in-cheek horror films. Ooga Booga is able to blink, shake and move his arms. But there are no expected Academy Awards in the film's future for visual effects.

The violence is less than can be expected in a Sharknado. Ooga Booga can spear people in the eye but outside of that knack he is about as threatening as Andy Dick is to my relationship with my wife.

Luckily, Stacey Keach and Karen Black in one of her last roles, come out unscathed. They have terrible lines of which they are contracted to convey but with taglines that included, "Beyond Django…." And "He's 16 inches, with an attitude!", they both knew this was paycheck cashing time.

Yet, despite its bad humor, overt racism, bad effects and simplistic plot, Ooga Booga does provide some entertainment. You just can't take your eyes off the ridiculousness of the main character and the idea is so outlandish that executives at Syfy must be scratching their heads asking themselves why they didn't think of it first.

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