“Ooga Booga is the latest film from high profiled B movie maven Charles Band, who has produced and directed a number of films either through Empire Pictures and Full Moon Features over the years. Any time Band’s name is attached to something, it usually grabs my attention since being a fan of the studio. I wasn’t excited about this film at first, as it looked like a “Django Unchained” type film with horror in it. But eventually I gave in to my concerns, since this is a Charles Band film.
The film is about an African-American student (Wade Forrest Willson), who is murdered by corrupt cops. His soul is mysterious transferred into an action figure named Ooga Booga that he received from a friend. Now armed with his trusty tribal spear and his old girlfriend (Clarra Carter) aiding him in his quest, he takes to the streets to find those who were responsible in his death. “Ooga Booga also co-stars Stacy Keach (Mike Hammer: Private Eye, The Bourne Legacy) and Karen Black (Trilogy of Terror, The Exorcist).
Ever since “Killjoy goes to Hell, Full Moon Features has been on a roll. With films like “Puppet Master X: Axis Rising” and “Reel Evil” being very entertaining film. Thankfully, “Ooga Booga” continues this trend of good Full Moon films.
The direction was very good. Charles Band does a better job with his direction than his last couple of films, even though I liked his last film. One of the thing that he does right, Band manages to keep the flow of the film moving through his direction through some of the film’s main scenes. I liked how he’s able to make the scenes work. They manages to keep you entertained and interested in the story, which is what you want with a film like this. The other thing that I liked about Band’s direction was the way that he handles the performance aspects. He does a good job making sure the performances aren’t too over the top that it hurts the film. The lead performances were very solid and it was also nice to that Karen Black and Stacy Keach were given something to do and did it effectively. It made the film entertaining to watch.
Writer Kent Roudebush does a very good job writing the film’s screenplay. One of the things that makes his screenplay good was the fact that the characters were developed. I liked how he spends to developing the characters, especially in the beginning of the story. Roudebush spends his time in making the characters interesting. It doesn’t feel rushed, as it helps set up the rest of the film. That’s what helps make the characters in this film interesting. The other thing that I liked about this, it doesn’t try to be the “Django Unchained” of the horror genre with it’s over the top violence and its subject matter. If that happened with this film, than it wouldn’t been the typical Full Moon film that I’ve been accustomed to seeing. If there was one drawback with the screenplay, a couple of the scenes in the middle of the film felt too long. Those scenes could have been edited a bit in the writing process. Still, I thought the screenplay was good.
This was another solid film from Full Moon Features. With good direction from Charles Band and a solid screenplay, “Ooga Booga” is an entertaining and fun film that Full Moon fans will like. "Ooga Booga" is available through Redbox or at Full Moon Direct
Review Rating: Three and a half stars
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