One of my favorite movie traditions is going to a horror movie and watching it as if it were a comedy. Of course this makes the movie experience rather painful for others in the theater — someone who is splitting at the sides during a “scary” scene — but this is how I entertain myself during poorly made horror movies.
When I saw the movie trailer for “The Boy,” I knew this film would be right up my alley in the horror/unintentional-comedy genre (yes, I just made it up). I have always found that little dolls coming to life is a comical premise. Whether we’re talking about a Chucky doll from "Child’s Play" (a film series which actually began to embrace its comedic aspects later in the series), or films where the comedy was less overt (I’m thinking the killer dolls from “Tales from the Hood”). Even in a more recent film like "The Conjuring," prior to the film taking a rather creepy turn, I laughed hysterically during the opening scene that contained the Annabelle doll (which later spawned a film of its own).
You’re going to have moments where you jump in a horror film, it’s just the way that the films are setup: the ominous buildup, the slow camera pans, the quiet, tense scenes that lack any music and then, “BOOM!” something jumps out at you. Director William Brent Bell used a similar technique far too frequently in his film "The Devil Inside," and since he’d placed so many “boo” moments in that film, audiences became anticipative and bored. “The Boy” breaks away from this and places an emphasis on the narrative, relying far less on those jump-moments. Unfortunately, the delivery is so dull that I regressed into finding humor in the film.
Greta (Lauren Cohan) is an American nanny hired by an English couple to watch over their 8-year old son while they go on a much-needed vacation. Much to Greta’s surprise / shock / disgust / insert-other-emotion, their son, Brahms, is a porcelain doll that has supernatural powers.
The movie has a rather slow narrative and did little to maintain the mood (a key element in a successful horror film). The only thing that saves the movie from complete disaster is the twist ending, which bordered on creepy. At the point of this revelation, however, it was too little too late to save the movie. Unless you’re able to find humor in this genre, I would steer clear of this film.