Boo! (1932 Film)

''Boo!'' is a 1932 American short film by Universal Pictures, directed and written by Albert DeMond. ''Boo!'' contains clips from the films ''Nosferatu'' (1922), '' The Cat Creeps'' (1930), and ''Frankenstein'' (1931), mocking them thoroughly.

Even though this short film was produced by Universal Studios, the makers decided not to use footage from the company's own version of ''Dracula'', but instead to use footage from the German expressionist film ''Nosferatu'' directed by F. W. Murnau. Universal had obtained a print of ''Nosferatu'' in 1929 during their negotiations for the rights of ''Dracula'' for means of studying the film prior to developing their own adaptation, this print initially being one among several confiscated for destruction by the demand of Florence Stoker. Skal, David J. (2004). ''Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage to Screen'', Paperback ed. New York: Faber & Faber; (page 158 - 161) The only surviving footage of ''The Cat Creeps''—otherwise considered a lost film—are the clips included in ''Boo!''. The short film's copyright was renewed in 1960.

Plot

The film begins with a man (Morton Lowry) reading the novel ''Dracula''. The narrator says that they are presenting their own formula for cheap entertainment, a nightmare. They say to eat a real lobster, not the kind they send to congress, have milk, and work up a chill. The man falls asleep.

They then go to a cellar (edited from ''Nosferatu'') where the caretaker Hutter (Gustav von Wagenheim) is making sure all the ghosts are locked up for the night. He sees a coffin. He wants to ask his name and how he feels. It's Dracula (Count Orlok, played by Max Schreck). The caretaker tries to leave, but he keeps coming back. He can't sleep so he sleeps in a hammock (now edited of Albert Venohr). You see Dracula, so the caretaker goes upstairs and returns with a hatchet (now edited of Wolfgang Heinz) and breaks Dracula's coffin. It hurts Dracula, causing him to get up. He then leaves, and sees if it was as close as he thought. He is scared, and Dracula sucks his blood, 'Gush, Gush'. Dracula then goes to sleep for 100 years, until congress does something about the depression.

It then goes to a laboratory (edited from ''Frankenstein'') where a Doctor (Edward Van Sloan) is doing something to The Monster (Boris Karloff). The Monster awakes, and kills the Doctor. The Monster gets together with Dracula, and is afraid of him.

It then goes to Annabelle West (Helen Twelvetrees) and a possibility of this becoming pleasant. But The Monster is there. A man is telling Helen she has no business being in the same nightmare as Dracula. Dracula is behind him, and brings him behind a bookshelf. The Monster is studying Dracula's methods. Helen sees a guy who keeps falling down. The Monster appears, and Helen faints.

Dracula's income tax was due and he had to get some money. When night came, Helen decided to call it a day. Dracula stole Helen's jewels. Helen is ticklish on the neck, woke up, screamed, and told a young man about what happened. He wants to see a ghost, but gets caught and his blood is sucked by Dracula. Helen can never get married, because when she talks to a guy Dracula gets him, so she'd be a widow every 15 minutes. Dracula then chases a woman. He's in disguise, but you can recognize him by the fourth toe on his left foot. The Monster decides to chase Elizabeth (Mae Clarke, who starred in ''Frankenstein'') who is about to get married. She first is terrified. It then turns into "follow the leader", then into "ring around the rosy". Her fiancee would think she's nutty. She tells The Monster she can't play anymore because she's got to get married.

The Monster is heart-broken nobody's afraid of him. He has to sit down all day, because when he stands up, his feet touch the floor. He then sees something, and he gets up. What is it? Why it's our lobster and milk friend and he's on a chandelier. And the moral of the story is you can milk a cow, but a lobster is very ticklish.

Production

The film features actor Morton Lowry in an uncredited role as the man frightened reading ''Dracula'' and later cowering in a chandelier.

The rest of the footage is taken from other films, such as Max Schreck and Gustav von Wangenheim from ''Nosferatu'' (1922), Boris Karloff, Mae Clarke, Edward Van Sloan from ''Frankenstein'' (1931), and Helen Twelvetrees, Lawrence Grant, Raymond Hackett from '' The Cat Creeps'' (1930).

Reception

From contemporary reviews, ''Motion Pictures Daily'' declared that the film "produces little in the way of commendable entertainment" as it was "too disjointed and inexpertly done to achieve its purpose" ''Variety'' declared that the short will "amuse on its novelty value alone."

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boo! (1932 Film)
1932 films
1932 comedy horror films
American black-and-white films
American comedy horror films
American collage films
Universal Pictures short films
American horror short films
1932 short films
1930s English-language films
1930s American films
Dracula films
English-language comedy horror films
English-language comedy-drama short films