Beware Boiuna is the adventure it promised to be
With the summer of Horror turning into the Fall releases that everyone has been awaiting all year, it’s easy for those “simple” looking slashers or creature features to slip between the cracks. And I was easily a part of the crowd who decided their interest based on word of mouth, which was the case with Beware Boiuna. With trailers that can lure you into believing it's a merely simple monster movie, it absolutely proves to be otherwise.
Within the 104-minute runtime, Beware Boiuna becomes a thrill ride that manages to take those stereotypes you expect with a premise like this and spins them on their head with ease. Based on the ancient Titanoba species, believed to be a literal giant snake from over 60-million years ago, the story follows a group of humanitarians who are hoping to provide medical care to people living along the Curuçá River who find their mission interrupted when Boiuna “awakens.”
Boiuna is giving lore that ties her directly to the people who live along the very river that she dwells in; with a line from the trailer stating, “She decides who lives, she decides who dies.” It follows a version of Boiuna from Brazilian mythology, though this version of the creature takes different shapes based on the people she is aiming to frighten or turn away from her home. The film’s version of the snake, written by Alan B. Mcelroy, serves a similar purpose. She rises during times of violence or if the scales are unbalanced, revealing herself like the ruler of the water to turn the tide.
The actual violence that comes with her attacks, for lack of better words, is beautiful. Boiuna is exactly what she is said to be; a possibly ancient but mighty ruler of the Amazon, towering over our characters with such height and strength that it often sends them into shock.
The effects work is truly beautiful, and manages to not distract from the production design surrounding her - which would be hard to do anyway, considering that director Mike P. Nelson fought to film on location in the Amazon. During a Q&A hosted by Dead Meat, Nelson spoke of the harsh environment proving to be difficult, but that it provided the atmosphere needed for the cast to find the fear they needed for their performances. And it shows, with the character driven moments coming across as well intended and strong, while managing to not take away from the intensity of the chase sequences with Boiuna.
In fact, the chases are so well blended with the slower moving moment with our leads, the runtime is kept tightly wound. It moves along smoothly, never dragging its feet and even in the film’s few “weaker” moments, you’re led right back into the action with ease. You can always expect the usual suspects with a film like this; a handful of side characters are definitely only here to be killed brutally. But even then, the deaths that come along are far from boring, and earn themselves a gold star by managing to be exciting even.
Find yourself in a packed theater with a group of friends, because this is absolutely a good old snake movie that manages to do something with the time it has on the screen.
