When I walked into this movie, I tried to stay optimistic. I thought to myself: how bad could this be?

Well,  103 minutes later, I knew how bad it was. Tyler Perry’s “Boo! A Madea Halloween” is one of the worst movies of this year, and maybe one of the worst I have ever seen.

Perry is back playing his signature character in this ninth installation, but with an added twist. Instead of going to prison or at a family reunion, she is being haunted by killer clowns and zombies.

The plot is standard for a Madea movie: The setup for a problem, Madea being introduced, Madea getting involved in the problem, a serious few minutes to explain the underlying issue, a solution to the problem, and then a final joke.

This Madea movie is no different. Madea’s niece, Tiffany (Diamond White), wants to go a frat party with her friends, but she isn’t allowed to go. In an effort to get them to stay home, Tiffany’s father, Brian (Tyler Perry), calls Aunt Madea (Tyler Perry) to babysit Tiffany and her friend Aday (Liza Koshy), for the night. Madea, her friend, Hattie (Patrice Lovely) Madea’s brother Joe (Tyler Perry), and Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis) all go over to Brian’s house to babysit the girls.

This is where the story heats up. After they all get to Brian’s house, they decide to unwind by smoking marijuana. But remain calm, it’s legally obtained through Joe’s medical marijuana card. If that joke didn’t strike you as funny, don’t worry. This movie is chock full of jokes just as hilarious as this.

As you could have predicted, the girls sneak out to the frat party. After a bit, the girls meet a couple of guys and eventually go upstairs to engage in explicit activities. But low and behold, the girls are just 17 and not 18. Somehow in this mix-up, the cops get called and the party gets busted.

The girls sneak back into the house without anyone noticing, and the cops come to the party to confirm that there were no underage girls. Some spooky things begin happening at the house, including writing on a mirror and some noises in the attic. Then mischief and mayhem ensue.

It’s hard to tell where my gripes begin with the movie, because almost every aspect is awful. The acting is bad, the editing even worse. The plot doesn’t do the movie any favors either.

What boggles my mind is that this is the ninth Madea movie. The ninth time that we have seen the same formula, editing, acting and plot. And it’s still being made.

Not only that, but according to Forbes, this movie grossed $28.5 million in its opening weekend. Maybe there’s something I’m not getting.  But I don’t understand why people pay money to be insulted for an hour and a half.

Even the message is flawed.  Everyone starts putting Brian (Perry) down because he is too “soft”.  The climax of the whole debacle is the fact that he is so soft that his wife cheated on him.

This is where the little glimmer of hope I had for this movie died. It wasn’t just one of the worst messages I’ve seen, but also a slap in the face for every man struggling with his emotions.  It reinforces the stereotype that men need to be strong, emotinoless goons as opposed to actual people.

My advice is to choose a different movie this weekend.