"OOGA BOOGA" or the nadir of Stacy Keach' career...take your pick.

Beyond Django? Yeeah right...

Let it be known that The Black Saint turns his nose up to no film, whether good, bad or really bad. Each & every film I've ever seen is the work of people who generally believed in what they were doing. It may have been for money, maybe it was for fame, most times it was because they had a decent camera, some friends, a free weekend or two & some beer. The bottom line is they've made a movie...I haven't, and I think that's worth recognizing. But sometimes I see a movie that makes me wonder exactly what was the motivating force behind it's creation? What was it about the screenplay that made the producers want to fund it? What was it that attracted the actors enough to want to perform in it? In a nutshell...why was it produced?

"OOGA BOOGA" is that kind of movie.

The story here deals with a young black man, Devin (Wade Forrest Wilson) who's just passed a test that will help him on the way to become a doctor. He comes home to his beautiful girlfriend, Donna (Ciarra Carter) with the good news & as the two of them begin a horizontal mambo he gets an urgent phone call. Who's calling? Why it's his old pal (& host of a kiddie TV show) Hambo! Hambo just got fired for drinking on the job & he calls Devin to tell him what's happened & preview his new line of dolls (Called Badass Dolls) that he plans to market & make a fortune with. I guess I don't have to tell you that they aren't what you'd call "Politically Correct" either.

Hambo gives Devin one of his dolls as a going away gift. He calls it "Ooga Booga" & he's 16" tall with a spear in one hand, a bone thru his nose & a spliff in his mouth. Ooga wears a simple loincloth. Ooga is supposed to be funny. Ooga isn't funny, not one bit.
Ooga pissed me the fuck off.

Anyway, as Devin walks back home with his new doll he stops by a local store & tries to get himself a slurpie. But the machine is on the fritz (Electricity is shooting out of it's spout) & the one clerk is too occupied with a videogame to help Devin get his drink. Meanwhile, three racist armed robbers enter the store & kill the clerk which somehow leads to Devin being shot & killed by the racist cop that arrives on the scene. And all four of them are in the employ of a racist judge (Stacy Keach) who manages the white supremacist drug/prostitution ring they all work for.

Somehow Devin's spirit is transferred into the Ooga Booga doll and he sets about on getting his revenge on the cop that killed him. And poor Donna ends up getting raped in an alley by the the three robbers which only pisses off  Ooga that much more. Together the not so dynamic duo aim to avenge themselves through the use of their cunning & Ooga's spear, with which he likes to pluck his enemies eyes out with. How he manages to get close enough to their eyes to stab them with is more luck than nay particular skill. It's not like he's big enough to beat anybody up.

Bone thru his nose? Really?

But there's more! The one & only Karen Black also makes an appearance here. She plays Mrs. Allardyce, a curmudgeonly old woman who spends her days drinking & watching soap operas. She only has a few extremely long & drawn out scenes though & they don't add anything to the film at all. She's essentially here to bring the film's running length to 90 minutes & to re enact a scene from "He Who Kills" from the (Still Terrifying) "Trilogy Of Terror" (1975). You guys remember that one don't you? That's the one where she's being hunted down by a extremely angry Zuni fetish doll. Ooga Booga looks a lot like that doll's autistic brother. If you haven't figured it out, "Ooga Booga" is no "He Who Kills".

Now THIS is a scary doll!

Written (if you wanna call it that) by Kent Roudebush & directed by the William Castle of the 80's, 90's & beyond, Charles Band, "Ooga Booga" managed to offend me as a lover of crappy films & as a human being at the same time. In a misguided attempt to be funny, both Roudebush & Band  trot out tired cliches & stereotypes that made me wonder exactly what audience they were aiming this film at. Confederate flags decorate the home of the racist thugs (Who resembled the

Three Stooges). Every possible variation on the dreaded "N word" is recited by nearly every white member of the cast. The two black characters are portrayed as naive, horny & incompetent & I've already told you what Ooga Booga looks like.

In one frankly amazing scene, Donna returns home after being brutally raped & gets in the shower while (unknown to her) Ooga is standing in the doorway masturbating loudly. At this point in the film it's already been established that Donna knows that Devin's spirit is inhabiting the doll so why would he do something as crass as jerk off after his girlfriend has just been raped? There's no good reason for this scene other than to portray African American men as uncaring individuals who look at their women as objects for their desire & not as individuals. The name of one of the racist cops is Officer White! Keach refers to blacks as "Jungle Bunnies" when he sees an open window & proclaims that it's an invitation for them to enter & presumably rob his home. Ooga sits around the house getting stoned while Donna goes off to work! Can we say "Black men are lazy?" Chuckie Band just did...

This ain't "Trilogy Of Terror"

I remember when Stacy Keach was an actor of some merit. I remember him starring in some pretty important films. Actually he still appears in major Hollywood films every so often. I cannot fathom why an actor of his caliber would even read this script & decide that he should be a part of it. I'm giving Karen Black a pass since she's been relegated to appearing in low budget genre films for the past few decades but I'm truly befuddled as to why Keach is in this movie. Perhaps a mortgage payment was overdue?
I suppose I can look forward to seeing him in a porno flick in the near future too? I can see it now... "Mike Hammer: Private 16" Dick"!

I know that Band specializes in this kind of crud as of late. It seems like every other film coming from his "Full Moon Grindhouse Collection" features some sort of animated doll or toy that's wreaking havoc. Films with titles like "Puppet Master", "Demonic Toys", "Dollman", "Devil Dolls", "Blood Dolls", "Skull Heads" & "The Gingerdead Man" have all been quite successful for him & have multiple sequels as well ("Puppet Master" in particular). I'm almost positive that we'll see more of "Ooga Booga" in the near future too, I just wonder if Band realizes how completely offensive it is?

I sure hope he does.