Open Season: Scared Silly (2015) Review
ELLIOT IS ON AN ADVENTURE TO TAKE THE BOO OUT OF BOOG!
I’ve been meaning to see this fourth instalment in the Open Season franchise for a long time now… and I finally got around to it. I saw the previous three movies quite a while ago—but knew the basics of what happened in those films. I think it’s fair to say… that this film was utter garbage. The whole experience was an absolute slog from start to finish. It was a complete cringeworthy mess that left me regretting every minute I spent watching it. From nonsensical plot points to truly irritating characters, to just outright unhinged moments, “Open Season: Scared Silly” is the definition of a terrible animated movie.
Let’s dive into the characters first, because they are just so ridiculously stupid that it’s almost insulting. I get that they’re animals, but seriously, even the human characters are portrayed as total morons. Take Shaw, the bumbling animal hunter. This guy is so idiotic that at one point in the film, he draws a picture of a supposed werewolf and then later gets terrified by his own drawing. I mean, come on! You fu#ken drew that! How are you going to be scared of something you yourself created? It’s a baffling moment that makes Shaw seem more like a cartoonish fool than any kind of competent antagonist. There’s also heaps of times where Shaw would be close to death, but he would survive just for the movie to continue. Like the drive of a rock and his car is flying in the air, but he bounces off a tree and lands safely…wtf??? If this was meant to be funny, it missed the mark entirely. Instead of adding any tension or humour, it just made me roll my eyes and groan at the laziness of it all.
And don’t even get me started on Elliot and Shaw’s decision to eat literal shit in an attempt to track down the nonexistent werewolf at the time. Because we later find out that there was a real werewolf the whole time—which was just silly. The werewolf they’re trying to find (at the time) didn’t even exist, making their disgusting actions all the more pointless and baffling. This whole subplot just reeks of lazy writing designed to get a cheap laugh from kids, but it just feels gross and dumb, even for a supposed children’s movie.Speaking of dumb, every single character in this film is painfully annoying. Whether it’s the over-the-top, unfunny antics of Boog and Elliot or the grating, squeaky voices of the other woodland creatures, this movie just bombards you with an endless parade of obnoxious personalities. It’s clear that the filmmakers were more interested in pandering to young children than crafting well-rounded, likeable characters. The voices are so overacted that it feels like they’re constantly shouting at you rather than actually speaking. The way the characters pronounce their words is childish and cringe-worthy—like something you’d expect from a low-budget Saturday morning cartoon. I hated every second of it. The dialogue is clunky and feels completely out of place, and the characters’ decisions make no sense whatsoever, adding to the sheer frustration of trying to get through the movie. Boog dresses up as a girl… werewolf… because Elliott told him to do so—in order to lure the werewolf to them. It’s just a crazy thing to witness with your eyes… which I’ll probably never forget.
By the time I got to the end of “Open Season: Scared Silly”, I was honestly just glad it was over. I kept hoping it would get better, but it never did. The plot is so dumb and poorly constructed that it’s honestly a mystery how anyone thought it would be worth making. The entire story revolves around a “werewolf,” a creature that doesn't even exist for 90% of the film—yet the characters continue to chase it, eating crap and making fools of themselves in the process. There’s no real stakes or emotional depth; it's just a collection of random events strung together in the laziest, most incoherent way possible. The film’s entire existence feels like it’s built around filling time with juvenile nonsense, and not a single moment feels earned. The whole thing is so devoid of logic and continuity that it’s clear the filmmakers didn’t care about the audience, let alone the integrity of the story.
The animation is slightly better than in the previous films, but that’s honestly the lowest bar possible. This film came out seven years after the original Open Season movie, and the slight upgrade in visuals is pretty much what you’d expect from the evolution of animation over that time. But let’s be real—better animation doesn’t make a film good, especially when everything else is a disaster. A prettier picture doesn’t fix a fundamentally broken film. And it’s not even great animation… it’s below average to me. The improved animation might be a step up, but it only highlights how much the rest of the film fails to deliver.
The humour is just so bland. It feels like the writers were trying to hit all the typical “kid movie” beats—slapstick, silly antics, gross-out humour—but they missed the mark so badly that it becomes exhausting to watch. The jokes fall flat, the characters are beyond irritating, and the plot is so thin that it barely qualifies as a coherent story. It’s so heavily geared toward kids who don’t understand plot structure or the concept of pacing that it feels almost insulting to anyone older than, say, eight. If you’re looking for something with substance or humor that isn’t derived from gross-out moments or annoying catchphrases, you’re better off avoiding this mess entirely. At the end of the day, this animated movie felt like a desperate attempt to milk a franchise that should have ended long before it got to this point. I did laugh heaps of time though… but only because everything I was witnessing was bad.
Overall, “Open Season: Scared Silly” is a horrible animated film. It’s a lazy, unfunny, and frustrating film that offers little more than a series of chaotic, pointless events and annoying characters. I honestly can’t recommend it to anyone, not even young kids. They deserve better than this disjointed, incoherent nonsense. If you’re looking for a genuinely entertaining animated film, do yourself a favour and skip this one. It’s genuinely one of the worst animated films I’ve ever seen in my entire life. The Open Season franchise should’ve stayed buried after the third film, and this fourth entry is a perfect example of why. I hate these characters so much, I hate the humour, I hate their actions, the way they speak—and I just hate this
(1 star ⭐️ out of 5). (2.6/10). 26/100
Open Season: Scared Silly (2015) Review
ELLIOT IS ON AN ADVENTURE TO TAKE THE BOO OUT OF BOOG!
I’ve been meaning to see this fourth instalment in the Open Season franchise for a long time now… and I finally got around to it. I saw the previous three movies quite a while ago—but knew the basics of what happened in those films. I think it’s fair to say… that this film was utter garbage. The whole experience was an absolute slog from start to finish. It was a complete cringeworthy mess that left me regretting every minute I spent watching it. From nonsensical plot points to truly irritating characters, to just outright unhinged moments, “Open Season: Scared Silly” is the definition of a terrible animated movie.
Let’s dive into the characters first, because they are just so ridiculously stupid that it’s almost insulting. I get that they’re animals, but seriously, even the human characters are portrayed as total morons. Take Shaw, the bumbling animal hunter. This guy is so idiotic that at one point in the film, he draws a picture of a supposed werewolf and then later gets terrified by his own drawing. I mean, come on! You fu#ken drew that! How are you going to be scared of something you yourself created? It’s a baffling moment that makes Shaw seem more like a cartoonish fool than any kind of competent antagonist. There’s also heaps of times where Shaw would be close to death, but he would survive just for the movie to continue. Like the drive of a rock and his car is flying in the air, but he bounces off a tree and lands safely…wtf??? If this was meant to be funny, it missed the mark entirely. Instead of adding any tension or humour, it just made me roll my eyes and groan at the laziness of it all.
And don’t even get me started on Elliot and Shaw’s decision to eat literal shit in an attempt to track down the nonexistent werewolf at the time. Because we later find out that there was a real werewolf the whole time—which was just silly. The werewolf they’re trying to find (at the time) didn’t even exist, making their disgusting actions all the more pointless and baffling. This whole subplot just reeks of lazy writing designed to get a cheap laugh from kids, but it just feels gross and dumb, even for a supposed children’s movie.Speaking of dumb, every single character in this film is painfully annoying. Whether it’s the over-the-top, unfunny antics of Boog and Elliot or the grating, squeaky voices of the other woodland creatures, this movie just bombards you with an endless parade of obnoxious personalities. It’s clear that the filmmakers were more interested in pandering to young children than crafting well-rounded, likeable characters. The voices are so overacted that it feels like they’re constantly shouting at you rather than actually speaking. The way the characters pronounce their words is childish and cringe-worthy—like something you’d expect from a low-budget Saturday morning cartoon. I hated every second of it. The dialogue is clunky and feels completely out of place, and the characters’ decisions make no sense whatsoever, adding to the sheer frustration of trying to get through the movie. Boog dresses up as a girl… werewolf… because Elliott told him to do so—in order to lure the werewolf to them. It’s just a crazy thing to witness with your eyes… which I’ll probably never forget.
By the time I got to the end of “Open Season: Scared Silly”, I was honestly just glad it was over. I kept hoping it would get better, but it never did. The plot is so dumb and poorly constructed that it’s honestly a mystery how anyone thought it would be worth making. The entire story revolves around a “werewolf,” a creature that doesn't even exist for 90% of the film—yet the characters continue to chase it, eating crap and making fools of themselves in the process. There’s no real stakes or emotional depth; it's just a collection of random events strung together in the laziest, most incoherent way possible. The film’s entire existence feels like it’s built around filling time with juvenile nonsense, and not a single moment feels earned. The whole thing is so devoid of logic and continuity that it’s clear the filmmakers didn’t care about the audience, let alone the integrity of the story.
The animation is slightly better than in the previous films, but that’s honestly the lowest bar possible. This film came out seven years after the original Open Season movie, and the slight upgrade in visuals is pretty much what you’d expect from the evolution of animation over that time. But let’s be real—better animation doesn’t make a film good, especially when everything else is a disaster. A prettier picture doesn’t fix a fundamentally broken film. And it’s not even great animation… it’s below average to me. The improved animation might be a step up, but it only highlights how much the rest of the film fails to deliver.
The humour is just so bland. It feels like the writers were trying to hit all the typical “kid movie” beats—slapstick, silly antics, gross-out humour—but they missed the mark so badly that it becomes exhausting to watch. The jokes fall flat, the characters are beyond irritating, and the plot is so thin that it barely qualifies as a coherent story. It’s so heavily geared toward kids who don’t understand plot structure or the concept of pacing that it feels almost insulting to anyone older than, say, eight. If you’re looking for something with substance or humor that isn’t derived from gross-out moments or annoying catchphrases, you’re better off avoiding this mess entirely. At the end of the day, this animated movie felt like a desperate attempt to milk a franchise that should have ended long before it got to this point. I did laugh heaps of time though… but only because everything I was witnessing was bad.
Overall, “Open Season: Scared Silly” is a horrible animated film. It’s a lazy, unfunny, and frustrating film that offers little more than a series of chaotic, pointless events and annoying characters. I honestly can’t recommend it to anyone, not even young kids. They deserve better than this disjointed, incoherent nonsense. If you’re looking for a genuinely entertaining animated film, do yourself a favour and skip this one. It’s genuinely one of the worst animated films I’ve ever seen in my entire life. The Open Season franchise should’ve stayed buried after the third film, and this fourth entry is a perfect example of why. I hate these characters so much, I hate the humour, I hate their actions, the way they speak—and I just hate this
(1 star ⭐️ out of 5). (2.6/10). 26/100
