The Boogens

The Boogens is a good fright flick. It plays well on the fear of dark abandon mine shafts, and creepy old buildings. I gave it a "7" out of ten - mostly because of the effectiveness that the movie sets in its atmosphere, from the opening sequence of old photographs and news stories that set the stage for the movie, to the ending - which I found really funny - in a good sort of B-movie way.

Being in Australia The Boogens was not really a movie that i had seen or heard of before researching horror films from the 80's. For Americans i think this was a TV movie that impacted most kids that saw it at the time and hence leaves fonds memories of being scared.

I knew what i was getting into when i went into this - a very early 80's film with dud monster effects. What i was surprised at was for a slow burning movie i actually became quite immersed. First of there was a layer of suspense that was quite well executed and the characters themselves seemed very 'normal' compared to the models that litter our movies these days. The story, though basic, was creepy and i have to say i fell in love with Tiger the dog who really does in many ways steal the the entire movie away from the cast.

The only real kick to the teeth here is what others have commented in relation to the monsters themselves. With a lot of POV shots, tentacles and a water scene that was quite well shot the monster for the large part is not shown on screen and for good reason. I know this was a low budget TV production but movies such as The Deadly Spawn, which was incredibly low budget, did a much better job with there creatures. As another poster commented the creature looks like a hybrid of a sea turtle and octopus and strangely has the most cute fake dow like eyes hahaha. Simple fact is it looks like a rubber toy and when shown on screen it doesn't really do anything but sit there.

As most would know if you make a monster movie and have a huge set up with it and it looks fake it can ruin the whole experience of what came before it and The Boogens nearly does this.

I appreciate the budget restraints and for the most past the director did an excellent job of working around it but this will be only a one time watch for me and soon to be long forgotten

A group of four mine surveyors are hired to explore a long abandoned silver mine to see if whether or not it is worth reopening. Two of the men, along with a girlfriend and her best friend, rent a secluded cabin not too far from the mine, but soon find out the hard way that they've released strange, tentacled creatures which once again stalk people in the tunnels, as well as their cabin's basement.

Like other cult films such as "The Boogeyman" I had a real hard time writing this review, because for some reason I had a lot of trouble putting my finger on exactly why I liked this movie, despite the fact it gives plenty of reasons not to. There are plot holes galore, with one blatant example being why would the miners have dug tunnels from the mine to the town's houses? The script is the standard B-movie issue, "let's all line up for a slaughter in the climax" type of formula, although there is a good laugh here and there, and sort of a good rapport between Balding and McCarren. The cast does a fairly good job with the material they're given, with Balding stealing the show with her perky, big-eyed charismatic charm, and "Creepshow" icon Jon ("I want my cake!") Lormer standing out whenever given the screen.

Director Conway does give this movie a creepy edge, showing ominous point-of-view shots from the creatures quietly stalking their victims, and he wisely leaves what they look like up to the imagination of the audience up until the climax. Unfortunately in the end the monster special effects aren't up to the task, and when you do finally get a good look at them you just have to laugh. They're very imaginative but look too phony and turtle-like to be taken seriously, one wonders how this film might have gotten more overall notice if they worked a little harder on them? Given the same cast, director, better monster FX and a more thoughtful script this could have been a monster movie classic.

7 out of 10, you need to be a forgiving sort to enjoy this film despite of its many flaws, but for some it will still manage to strike the right chords.

An old mining town in the American West harbors a deadly, 70-year secret, one that is about to be awakened when its silver mine is re-opened.

'The Boogens' is a largely-forgotten classic B-grade horror film with a title that suggests monsters emerging from people's noses and inflicting green, slimy terror. Thankfully, that idea is light years wide of the mark, the film instead occupying the 'monsters beneath the ground' category, predating the silliness of the more well-known 'Tremors' franchise by 9 years. In fact, though its modus operandi is principally just to provide shivers for 95 minutes, it's actually quite well-executed and has more to offer than at first might seem apparent. The script treats its audience with some intelligence by avoiding gratuitous blood-splattering early on, instead allowing the story and the menace to develop at a meaningful pace. This in turn allows us time to get to know the principal characters, who are fairly well-drawn and likable, thanks to the naturalistic performances of Fred McCarren, Rebecca Balding, Anne-Marie Martin and Jeff Harlan - as opposed to the performance of Jon Lormer, who gives his best 'mad loon' acting as the crazed local who knows what's happening but isn't very forthcoming with the details. Of course, the cynic might argue that keeping the monsters of the piece out of the limelight for as long as possible is more to do with the limitations of the practical effects budget, and it's true that once they do appear, they don't stand up to 21st Century scrutiny. However director James L. Conway, who would go on to work on a number of high-profile shows (Star Trek fans should be familiar with his efforts), knows how to make the best of limited resources and accentuating the production's strengths, for example, drawing rising tension from good lighting and suggestions of menace just beyond vision with well-placed camera angles and good cutting - which is probably just another way of saying that you see the characters more than the monsters, but this leads to a good build up of suspense, and that when something nasty happens to one of the leads, it makes an impact. These are the hallmarks of a decent film and they elevate 'The Boogens' as far as I'm concerned to greater heights - doubtless also the reason why Stephen King gave it the thumbs up upon its release.

The film is also helped by some very good choices for ___location backdrops, from the sleepy mountain town featured (Park City, Utah, according to the end credits) to the presumably authentic mine entrance. The sense of isolation is helped by the rolling hills and coating of snow to make it clear that civilisation, and therefore help when the Boogens hit the fan, is far distant. The musical score provided by Bob Summers is fairly unmemorable, but it fits the bill, boosting tension where appropriate. Finally, special note has to be made of the dog who played Tiger the poodle, the mischievous pet of one of the leads. Between the obvious talents this dog had to respond on cue to verbal and visual stimulus and the committed efforts off-screen to get him to do so, Tiger is very much a character in his own right, practically stealing the show - and not in a cheesy Disney way, either.

'The Boogens' was for me a pleasant surprise, very much surpassing my expectations, given that it could so easily have been an unintelligent exploitation gorefest. Genre fans should definitely check it out, possibly fogging up their lenses a little when the Boogens hit centre-stage.

Mark (Fred McCarren) and Roger (Jeff Harlan) are a couple of young guys working for a company reopening a closed mine. Roger is excited that his girlfriend Jessica (Anne-Marie Martin) is coming to spend the winter with him and she brings along Trish (Rebecca Balding). What they don't know is that their dynamiting in the old mine has allowed some creepy monsters to escape. I saw this when it first belatedly hit video in the mid-90s and wasn't too impressed. My feelings are pretty much the same 15 years later. The film has some great locations, good cast and cool monsters. Unfortunately, it unfolds in a manner than never takes advantage of any of them. One would think most of the scary events would take place in the mine, but they all center in the house the kids are staying at miles away (tunnels exist under the land). Balding, who has just escaped housebound horror the year before with SILENT SCREAM (1980), is good in the lead but has very little to do. Hell, the cliché library research bit doesn't even show her uncovering anything big. Even the "scary old townie" character doesn't get much to do. THE BOOGENS is still MIA on DVD, but Turner Classic Movies recently ran a great letterboxed print that opens with the old Paramount logo.