Boo! (1932) User Reviews

A Fascinating Curio

[OneView · 5/10 · 19 September 2004]

As time passes, it is easy to forget that films of the past were often accompanied by co-features, newsreels, cartoons and film shorts that added to the value of an evening out. Even if the main feature was a desultory effort, entertainment could be found within the accompanying program.

Dating from 1932, Boo was a short film produced by Universal that used footage from their own Frankenstein adaption, as well as The Cat Creeps and the 1922 German version of Dracula entitled Nosferatu. With minimal new footage but clever editing, a modest yet enjoyable short was produced. Given that the film incorporates only around three minutes of new footage, production was likely limited to a single day.

Clearly a product of its time (with brisk narration bemoaning the depression and Congress' failure to deal with it), this film was likely a tolerable indulgence for film goers of the time but has become an intriguing relic of its time for the modern viewer.

On a side note, Nosferatu was ordered destroyed by Bram Stoker's widow shortly after its unauthorised production. Several prints survived and it is intriguing that a relatively clear one was available for the producers of Boo as early as 1932.

With so much of film history prior to 1950 now lost to us, the survival of Boo and its public distribution with the Frankenstein DVD provide us with an item of historical and social interest. It provides an indication of how modest resources could be used to pad out a cinema program and perhaps more importantly shows the cultural impact of Frankenstein at that time. The monster was an easily recognisable figure already and would not have been included in the short had the public not been able to instantly identify him.

Seeing a film like Boo is like opening a door to the past. Even after the door has closed the memories remain and new insight is gained by the viewer.

So bad it's good!

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 17 March 2010]

To say Boo! is an oddity is an understatement in itself. This is a perfect example of something that is so bad it is good as it pokes fun at Frankenstein and Dracula(Nosferatu). It is true that Boo! is cheesy and lame somewhat, the pacing is rather rushed, the editing dated and the reference to woman automobile drivers rather on the sexist side, not to mention the enthusiastic if rather overdone narration. Nonetheless, it is a curious watch for the final line "you can milk a cow but a lobster is very ticklish", the so-bad-it-was-funny type of jokes and the corny haunting music. Plus it was nice to see archive footage of Frankenstein(hooray for Karloff!) and Nosferatu. Overall, by all means worth watching, but not something I would recommend highly. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Mediocre yet interesting short film...

[jluis1984 · 5/10 · 23 July 2007]

Whenever someone talks about horror movies of the 30s, the words "Universal Horror" always have to appear sometime during the conversation, as the importance of the movies done by Universal Studios in that decade is simply unquestionable. While Universal Horror was technically born in the 20s, it was in 1931 when it truly became a synonym of high quality fantasy stories, as it was in that year when the two first films of the "Golden Age" were released: Tod Browning's "Dracula" and James Whale's "Frankenstein". Based on classics of Gothic literature, both films became instant hits and transformed their lead actors (Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff respectively) into legends. Due to their great success, the two films quickly entered our pop culture as the ultimate monster films. "Boo", a 1932 short comedy film produced by Universal, is an early example of this.

In "Boo", a Man (Morton Lowry) is decided to have nightmares, so following the advice of the Narrator (possibly director Albert DeMond himself), he has a heavy dinner made of lobster and milk, and reads a horror novel before going to sleep. Our hero has read Bram Stoker's "Dracula", so as soon as he falls asleep, he begins to dream the horror of his lifetime. In his dream, he sees Dracula (archive footage of Max Schreck from 1922's "Nosferatu") preying on helpless humans and sucking their blood. To our hero's horror, Frankenstein's Monster (archive footage of Boris Karloff in 1931's "Frankenstein") also appears on his dream, and the Monster is willing to prey on humans too just as the vampire Count does. However, something is not right with these monsters, as their motifs seem rather dubious, or at least that's what the Narrator tries to explain.

Written by Albert DeMond, "Boo" is nothing more than a series of clips from F.W. Murnau's silent classic, "Nosferatu", James Whale's "Frankenstein" and Rupert Julian's "The Cat Creeps", everything mixed but joined together by DeMond's tale of a poor man's nightmare. DeMond's story is merely an excuse to put the clips in funny ways, putting footage on a loop or adding wacky sounds to them. In his narration, DeMond makes fun about the congress and the economical situation of their time, as well as of horror movies in general. It's all in good fun, although certainly the jokes haven't really aged well and now may sound boring and unfunny. While this can be blamed on the fact that humor has changed, in all honestly the jokes weren't that funny to begin with, although some can still bring at least a smile.

Where the movie shines is in it's use of clips from Universal horror films, as DeMond puts them out of context and makes some funny segments by playing with them. Interestingly, DeMond used Murnau's "Nosferatu" instead of Universal's own "Dracula", mainly because Lugosi's vampire was probably too elegant and good looking for his wacky spoof, so he used Max Schreck's interpretation as it was more of a monster. Of great interest is the fact that "Boo" contains what's probably the last surviving footage of Rupert Julian's 1930 horror classic, "The Cat Creeps", a movie that has been missing for years and that it's considered lost by many historians. While out of context and done for laughs, we can see bits of that now legendary film in this little short movie.

While I wouldn't say that "Boo" is a great movie, it's an interesting oddity to fans of Universal's Golden Age of horror movies, as not only it offers the only way to see a slice of "The Cat Creeps", it also shows a different view of those classic movies and how strong was their impact in those early years. Sure, as a comedy it's pretty mediocre (even for laugh tracks standards), but like most of the horror movies done by Universal, this one has a strange charm that makes it special. Not exactly a good film, but definitely a must-see for Universal horror fans. 5/10

Odd, to say the least

[violencegang · 10 November 2004]

I've just come across Boo as an extra on the DVD of Frankenstein (1931) and, due to the fact I was watching it at well past midnight, I found it as strange as it was funny. It starts off with a bearded man with a strange expression on his face emerging from a jack-in-the-box and holding up the film's title, which is a weirdly disconcerting effect, particularly as I have no idea who this man was. The narration is rather outdated, not so much because it was recorded in 1932, but because of what is said (the reference to woman automobile drivers is ever so slightly sexist), but what I don't get is, while Universal included footage from its movies 'Frankenstein' and 'The Cat Creeps', the Dracula segments actually come from F.W Murnau's 'Nosferatu'. This seems strange, because I would have thought the studio would want to publicise its own, then-recent, Dracula movie (the one with Bela Lugosi). To conclude, Boo is an oddity that you probably won't find yourself watching unless you get the Frankenstein DVD, which you ought to own anyway

Horrifying...and not in a good way!

[preppy-3 · 1/10 · 8 December 2014]

A purportedly "funny" short. It uses footage from the silent "Nosferatu", Universal's 1931 "Frankenstein" and "The Cat Creeps". It shows these various monsters terrifying people as they do things. The narration is lame...very VERY lame! It's all supposed to be funny but it's not. The lines are supposed to be humorous but they're downright embarrassing. There's not one even remotely funny joke here and they're taking vicious jabs at the monsters themselves. To make matters worse they are CONSTANTLY repeating the same footage again and again and AGAIN until you're ready to scream. Each time it's introduced with some more terribly unfunny jokes. This is real cringe-inducing that is just insulting to horror fans and painfully unfunny to everybody. Universal should have kept this buried in its vaults.

Comedy in time

[arel_1 · 4/10 · 15 July 2008]

The main reason this seems so unfunny to many younger viewers is that a lot of the humor was topical, and topical humor becomes unfunny as soon as the topic is no longer "current events"--how funny will "Dubya" jokes seem by around 2084, when they'll be about as old as the jokes in "Boo!"? I'm twenty-some years younger than "Boo!", and the only reason I got most of the topical jokes is that I'm a big fan of 1930s movies thanks to having grown up when TV stations showed movies late at night instead of infomercials (yes, kids, they really used to do that!) You miss a lot of the humor in older movies if you can't time-travel between the ears.

"It's Dracula...the guy who invented necking!"

[planktonrules · 1/10 · 27 July 2020]

"Boo" is an incredibly annoying short film from Universal Studios. It consists of clips from "Nosferatu" (1922) as well as "Frankentein" (1931) and a fast-talking jerk of a narrator constantly makes what he thinks are witty comments. They aren't! In fact, most grate on your nerves and watching the short is nothing short of miserable. Don't say I didn't warn you!

By the way, I have no idea why clips from "Nosferatu" were used instead of Universal Studio's "Dracula" (the same folks who made "Frankenstein" AND this short). Why use the clips from the German Expressionist "Nosferatu" instead? I have no idea...perhaps Bela Lugosi threatened to sue them or punch Carl Laemmle (the studio head) in the nose if he included clips from "Dracula"! And, after seeing this short film, I wish somebody would have done this! Yes, it's THAT bad!

Funny Little Short Film

[Scars_Remain · 7/10 · 31 January 2008]

I watched this short film on the special features of the Frankesntein legacy collection DVD and found it pretty darn hilarious. It's obviously nothing amazing or to write home about but I think you'll find it pretty entertaining if you're a fan of Nosferatu and Frankenstein. Don't take it too seriously.

I thought the narrator was really funny and had some very clever lines. The clips from Frankenstein and Nosferatu are always great but with the commentary put over them, they were hilarious. Check this one out for a good laugh and I think you'll find yourself enjoying it for the most part. Not much else to say.

The Delicious Aroma of Fresh Ghost

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 7 June 2014]

Corny short film put out by Universal that gently mocks Nosferatu and their own Frankenstein. There's footage from both of those films included. Why Nosferatu instead of Universal's recently-released Dracula, I don't know. They also include some bits from The Cat Creeps (1930), which is now a lost film. That's fun for classic film buffs. There's kind of a Pete Smith vibe about the short but it's not as funny as one of his. I'm sure it was a lot more amusing in 1932 than it is today. To be clear, I'm not saying it's bad. It's a pleasant enough way to spend ten minutes. If you're a fan of classic horror films, you will probably enjoy it more than most. But there's nothing special about it beyond the clips from The Cat Creeps.

What nightmares are made of.

[lost-in-limbo · 6/10 · 14 March 2007]

This nice and unusual little vintage Universal comedy short goes out of its way to throw in footage of the golden b/w horror films; "Nosferatu", "Frankenstein" and "The Cat Creeps". The clips ranging from these three films are strung along by a mockery-laced narration. There's no harm here, even if it can be lame and downright pointless, but its hard not get a cackle from some of the noteworthy scenes and rapturously smarting remarks. It only goes for about 10 minutes, so it pretty much breezes by with well-etch editing and the likable humour gladly doesn't overstay its welcome. Corny maybe, but that's just due to the times. This is definitely an interesting and enjoyable supplement, which is provided on Universal's Frankenstein DVD.

Hilarious

[someguy889 · 8/10 · 5 June 2004]

I don't really know what the point was behind this short on the Special Features of the Frankenstein DVD. But whatever the point was, this was hilarious. It took clips from all of the classic monster movies from that time (1932), ranging from Dracula to Frankenstein even to Nosferatu. It's a Universal Studios short, and there's a narrator with one of those obnoxious commentary voices. Anyway, it takes clips from all of these movies and makes a collaboration of pointless jibber jabber, using them all to make a comic little vignette. This pointless short-short is funny, tongue-in-cheek, and was probably used as comic relief before or after one of these movies was shown.

My grade: 8/10

Goofy!

[freakus · 7/10 · 27 August 2000]

I wish I knew the story behind the making of this goofy little short. Basically, it's a bunch of clips from Universal horror features edited together with a wiseacre narrator providing "funny" commentary. Sort of reminds me of a first year editing class project. What was the point?

Cannibalized Mockery

[Cineanalyst · 3/10 · 23 August 2018]

This Universal short film, "Boo," cannibalizes clips from two of Universal's early horror films, "Frankenstein" (1931) and "The Cat Creeps" (1930), as well as the German silent film "Nosferatu" (1922), for the purposes of mocking them. Whatever its original affect, today, it's the mocking of the short's narrator, with his lame wise-cracks, that has become the source of mockery. "Boo" is right. If there's anything to laugh at here, it's at the voiceover's expense, not the film clips. Many first-year students of film production these days could make a movie like this.

As others have mentioned, "Boo" is a knockoff of the similar product of Pete Smith Specialties over at rival studio MGM, as well as a product of the adoption of radio-type practices in the still-relatively-new age of talking pictures. Today, the looping of clips here for supposedly-comical effect seems to prefigure the animated GIFs of humorous moments in movies and TV programs that now pop up throughout the web, although the looping format actually predates the invention of film and was employed in "pre-cinema" moving-picture devices based on philosophical toys such as the phenakistiscope and zoetrope.

By the way, Universal already had a print of "Nosferatu," for which they bought the rights when planning to make their "Dracula" (1931), the film that launched horror as a staple genre in Hollywood. Additionally, "Boo" contains the only known surviving footage of "The Cat Creeps," which was a sound remake of the silent "The Cat and the Canary" (1927), a Universal film directed by a German. "Boo" pretends the footage depicts Dracula, and, indeed, the shadowy shot of a hand attacking a woman in bed is similar to a scene in "Nosferatu." I suppose the filmmakers of "Boo" used "The Cat Creeps" clip rather than the one in "Nosferatu" because it seemed more likely to be humorous. "Boo" is an in-house parody of Universal's own characters--even though it uses "Nosferatu" instead of its own Dracula. Via editing, it suggests the first on-screen meeting of Dracula and Frankenstein's monster--predating Universal's monster rallies of the 1940s, especially the series' end in self-parody with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948).

Delightfully unfunny

[joeblev · 7 July 2003]

Yes, you read right. "BOO" (1932) is a delightfully _unfunny_ little movie. How is that possible? Well, the narration is really, painfully lame... so lame, in fact, that it had me laughing hysterically. The narrator is just so darned enthusiastic, so sure he's being delightful, that you have to marvel at his blissful ignorance. After I saw "BOO," I couldn't help but imitate him. ("He's just like Congress!" "He's like a female automobile driver!") Add to this the "wacky" editing tricks -- endlessly repeated -- and you have the recipe for comic perfection. I think if I had seen this when I was 8 years old, I might have thought it was just about the funniest thing in the world. Seeing it as an adult, the movie's UNFUNNINESS is itself funny. It seems like a contradiction in terms, but you'll understand when you see it. You should have the DVD of "Frankenstein" in your collection anyway. Universal's done a beautiful job with it.

Would Pete Smith be turning over in his grave . . .

[pixrox1 · 7/10 · 10 June 2013]

. . . knowing that with today's copyright laws designed to make rich people richer and put gazillions of bucks into lawyers' pockets from the scant savings of ordinary people and entrepreneurs, he could have SUED Universal Studios for COPYING HIS VOICE and speaking cadence in this 9 minute, 29.9-second horror movie spoof, BOO! (think an ancient template for the SCARY MOVIE franchise)? Under current law, anyone with the money for legal fees (think rich people and their corporations) can trademark catch phrases such as "Please!" or "Holy cow!" as well as ANY distinctive speech variation that deviates from a flat monotone as well as any jumble of letters forming a made-up syllable as well as any quirky body movement such as the "moonwalk" as well as any musical combination of two notes or more as well as most of the first names in the baby moniker tomes (think "Cher" or "Madonna") as well as any line of computer code AND SUE THE PANTS OFF any college kid's parents if the kid has any access to computers! Further, Hollywood has single-handedly gotten what was already an arguably too generous copyright period--originally 28 years--extended to 88 years and counting!! That's the irony of BOO!--Hollywood would not dare to make it today, due to its own crazy rules designed to terrorize the rest of us!

The first YouTube Poop Ever Even Before YouTube?

[Mr_Blue_Sky_from_1607 · 10/10 · 21 April 2022]

Yeah, probably. And boy, is it done hilarious. This short is great, not a lit of attention to it, I my opinion,. And don't worry about spoilers, it's just like a YouTube Poop: just random things happening.

An imitation of MGM's Pete Smith specialty shorts, using stock footage from recent horror films

[J. Spurlin · 18 December 2006]

"With times as tough as they are," intones the narrator, "we present our formula for the cheapest kind amusement: nightmares." We see an unkempt man in some kind of 19th century get-up—coat, vest, a black tie with an enormous bow—eating lobster, drinking milk and reading "Dracula." "We've all heard of the worm that turned," says the narrator. "But this is the bookworm that turned. Inside out." When the man has a feeling that's a "cross between delirium tremens and the seven year itch" he's ready for his nightmare.

"A good nightmare always begins with a dark cellar and a coffin," he continues. As the dream progresses, we see that it consists of footage from "Nosferatu" (1922), "Frankenstein" (1931) and "The Cat Creeps" (1930). The footage is spliced together to make Dracula and Frankenstein's monster appear to be sharing the same rooms. For comic effect some footage is repeated several times, or run backwards and then forwards again. Dracula's caretaker crawls up and down the stairs over and over: "It looks as though he's having his ups and downs. He acts like Congress and always ends up where he started. This exercise is good for water on the knee, water on the brain and other naval diseases. It is also a good way to enjoy the jitters without drinking alcohol." The narrator pities the man: "If I were in his place I'd resign—or at least quit." He describes Dracula's entrance: "So Dracula comes up close and shows us what the well-dressed ghost is wearing. He throws his silhouette on the wall, and the wall is so scared it looks as if it's plastered.

"And now the blood may spurt any minute." He adds dryly: "Gush, gush."

Dracula departs: "So he decides to go back to his coffin and sleep for a hundred years until Congress decides to do something about the Depression."

Frankenstein's Monster enters and "starts to look for trouble. There's so much trouble around these days, he shouldn't have any trouble finding it." The Monster dithers: "He can't decide which way to go. He's like a woman automobile driver."

The Monster watches Dracula (actually the costumed villain from "The Cat Creeps") steal a diamond necklace off a sleeping woman, studying the vampire's "tesh-nee-kyoo." (I had to replay that a couple times: it's a cutesy pronunciation of "technique.")

The short ends with the Monster reaching toward the heavens, where we cut back to the new footage and see the frightened dreamer sitting on a chandelier. "And the moral of this story is: you can milk a cow, but a lobster is very ticklish."

This film is a very close imitation of the specialty shorts Pete Smith was making for MGM: silent footage narrated with wisecracks. Even Smith's narrating voice—nasally, dry, sarcastically gee-whiz—is mimicked. Why does this Carl Laemmle-produced film use clips from the 1922 "Nosferatu," rather than Laemmle's own "Dracula"? Maybe because unlike Bela Lugosi, the German vampire was ugly: "There's the profile that has won first prize in all the ghost beauty contests. When Dracula was born, his mother took one look at that face and had herself arrested. A guy with a face like Dracula must be a spook, or he'd have his face lifted. And the worst of it is, this spook looks screwy—and there's nothing screwier than a screwy spook."

Hear the rim shots? "The caretaker decides that he might have been seeing things. Maybe his near beer was nearer than he thought." How about now?

However unfashionable the jokes, I laughed at some of them. And we can be grateful "Boo" preserves the only known surviving footage from "The Cat Creeps." Think your favorite movies will last forever? Boo!

Awesomely Cheesy, Hilarious, Short Film.

[Evil_Magus · 8/10 · 26 July 2006]

This is easily one of the better short films I have ever seen. Despite being made in 1932, it's on par with the best of today's equivalent shorts, and far superior to most of them. It's a hilarious spoof that uses clips from Frankenstein (1931) and Nosferatu (1922), along with dead-pan narration, that takes a number of clever shots at everything from their appearance, actions and even congress and The Great Depression. It's everything that Svengoolie tries, and horrendously fails, to be. It's a choice gem of the 1930's culture that should be experienced if at all possible; definitely a must-see for fans of comedy and horror (especially Dracula and Frankenstein).

Early, light-headed spoof...

[Coventry · 16 May 2004]

Boo! comes as a nice little extra feature on the Frankenstein-DVD. It's definitely worth a watch as it may be one of the very first spoofs ever made. A voice-over guides footage from "Frankenstein", "Nosferatu" and some of "The Cat Creeps". Separate scary parts from both movies are perfectly edited into each other and the narrator's figurative language mostly results in subtle chuckling. Check it out when you're browsing through the DVD-extra's! It won't take much of your precious time (Boo! only lasts 10 minutes) and it's most certainly make you laugh! Much funnier than later comedies and horror spoofs. This little short is thought up by Albert DeMond who wrote an endless amount of screenplays. Merely comedy and drama.

What a great little short

[moviefanesc · 15 May 2004]

I just got the Frankenstein Legacy Set(as part of the Monster Legacy Gift Set) and I enjoyed watching this little short. I said to myself that Mystery Science Theater must have taken notes from this short. What also liked was when the monster is made we get a clip from the lost Frankenstein film made in 1910 by Thomas Edison. Currently that version is only available to collector's or high class colleges. Anyway great fun to watch. Another interesting feature is the way they edit the scenes together.Also the way they reverse some scenes(like when the monster enters Elizabeths room and he grunts when she screams...constantly) This was obviously Universal's first comedic try at teaming Dracula and Frankenstein up(the next would be 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein).

Decent Short Worth it for "Lost" Footage

[Michael_Elliott · 13 October 2009]

Boo (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mildly entertaining short from Universal shows a man eating lobster, drinking milk and reading Stoker's Dracula before going to bed so that he can have a nightmare. Once the nightmare starts we see him visit various monsters with scenes taking from the movies NOSFERATU, FRANKENSTEIN and THE CAT CREEPS. The scenes are all given comic tones as we get a narrator adding all sorts of attempted jokes including the "look" of Nosferatu. Fans of these classics will certainly enjoy some of the humor here, although the main reason to view this film is for the few clips from THE CAT CREEPS. That film is sadly lost so the footage in this short is all there is to see. Considering this is a Universal film, I'm really not sure why they'd use clips from NOSFERATU instead of their very own Dracula.