Boogens (1981)

Well, I wasn't exactly a kid when this gem of a film came out, and it didn't give me nightmares or make me afraid to go in the basement, but it was one of the most enjoyable movie dates ever with my future husband in December 1981. We liked it so much that we bought the VHS version as soon as we found that it was available in the 1990's, and made an anniversary tradition of sending the kids to grandma's, lighting a fire in the fireplace, turning out the lights and popping some Boogens into the VCR (we even brought it along to a hotel once). The tape lasted about a decade before becoming unwatchable a few years ago, so it will be terrific to be able to revive the tradition for our upcoming 30th anniversary. Thanks for releasing this long-awaited treat in DVD format!

The Boogens is a 1981 horror flick that has become a bit of a cult classic partially due to it's unavailability for almost 2 decades and partially for it's amusing title. It's just fun to say "Boogens". The film also has sentimental importance to me, as it was one of the horror flicks I saw with friends at the legendary Oritani grind house in Hackensack, N.J. A time when B movies were still released in a theater, where they belong, and a time I now cherish in this direct to DVD and VOD age. Now being given the chance to revisit this low budget chiller, it's time to answer the question of whether it's as fun as I remember or has time and nostalgia created a far better memory then it was a movie. And I'm happy to report it still is a fun flick, although 80s nostalgia does play a part. In a way, "Boogens" is a quintessential horror for the late 70s, early 80s with it's slow burn, creepy old man with ominous warnings, and nubile girls in skimpy bathrobes investigating noises in dark cellars. This is exactly the type of movie Ti West paid homage to in the recent "House Of The Devil". A few months later Evil Dead would arrive and crank horror flicks up to 11 and Jason was just getting started on his body count.

This 1981 horror stars Rebecca Balding ("Silent Scream") and takes place in rural Silver City, Colorado, a small mining town where the mines are being reopened for the first time since a supposed cave-in 70 years previous. But, unknown to two college grads (Fred McCarren and Jeff Harlan) working on the re-opening and their two nubile young ladies (Balding and the equally cute, Ann-Marie Martin), the mines were caved in on purpose and unsealing the tunnels unleashes our title creatures and they are quite hungry.

Boogens is well directed by James L. Conway who also directed pseudo-documentaries like "Hanger 18" and "In Search Of Noah's Ark" and who went on to direct a lot of genre TV including episodes of all the post-original "Star Trek" series and the current, "Supernatural". He directs with a leisurely pace but, builds some nice suspense and also knows to keep his monsters hidden until the very end. And when we do see them, they are good old fashioned prosthetics, there's something charming about prosthetics that CGI rarely matches. He gets good performances out of his cast and the fact that they are all very likeable helps add suspense when they are in danger. There is some nice gore but, it is used sparingly and the body count is low. This movie was made just as the slasher sub-genre started to gain momentum and before body count became crucial to the proceedings.

Sure, by today's standards "The Boogens" is tame, slow and cheesy but, it is the type of horror that they made when I was in high school and I will always have a soft spot in my movie geek heart for them. The transfer on blu-ray is absolutely beautiful and it`s worth a look for horror fans, especially those who enjoy horror from this era. Welcome back, "Boogens".

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Wow! That's all I can say about this one. I first saw the Boogens when I was nine years old and it scared me so bad I couldn't even look under my bed for a week. I had to wait more than half a lifetime to find the movie again on VHS, but when I did it hadn't lost any of its gruesome charm whatsoever. Set in the majestic Rockies (my native territory) The Boogens focuses on four twenty-somethings who move into a nice, if somewhat sinister cabin in the woods which was the site of a brutal killing in the beginning of the film. The four soon split up for various reasons and go about their own ways. The story kicks into overdrive when the first of them is dragged under his vehicle and sliced open by the nasty claw of the Boogen. We see this only in quick flashes of ingenious editing that gives us only a "taste" of the real thing. Dark, cramped, sometimes unbearably spooky, the Boogens sent a message to us in the early eighties: Horror is not dead, not even sleeping, we just have to know which cave to look in to find the scariest monster, and The Boogens provided it. I thank the director and the cast for giving a nine-year-old boy the scare of a lifetime!

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In the small mining town of Silver City, an evil has been unknowingly unleashed on its unsuspecting residents. The old mine has been sealed up and abandoned for over seventy years but now some outsiders are about to make a big discovery and it isn't silver or gold. What unspeakable horror lives in the mine? Is there any way to escape it? What is a Boogen?

The Boogens is a slow paced horror film that relies on its ability to build up the suspense for most of the film and then unleash everything it has on the viewer in the last 20-30 minutes. If you're a horror fan looking for a high body count and plenty of gore and nudity then this film may not be for you. There isn't a high body count, there's very little gore and barely any nudity to speak of. Fans get a brief glimpse of Rebecca Balding's butt in one scene and her breasts in another, that's it. As for the creatures; we never really see them until the last 20-30 minutes of the movie.

Thanks to Olive Films the "Boogens" has finally seen daylight on Blu-ray and DVD. I don't know what type of restoration Olive Films did to the print if any, because the film still suffers from embedded artifacts, speckling and a certain amount of graininess throughout. Don't get me wrong, the video image is clear and definitely viewable.

Aside from the old school non CGI creatures and effects this film also benefits from an eerie music score, so the mono soundtrack provided on this release was a bit of a disappointment for me. The mono sound is clear and crisp but I had hoped for a 5.1 sound option as well. I expected this Blu-ray release would be filled with tons of bonus features and extras, it isn't. The only extra included is an audio commentary from director James L. Conway, screenwriter David O'Malley and actress Rebecca Balding.

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The Boogens, despite its name, is a well paced horror film which pays justice to the cult monster movies of the 1950's. The editing style gives the viewer a well balanced blend of suspense, shock and gore to make the film both eerie and frightening. I originally saw this movie on cable about 18 years ago and was equally entertained after watching the VHS copy I recently purchased. The "Boogens," themselves, are a bit cheesy looking and were designed after a sheep's brain with slashing tenticles for legs (I learned this from the make up effects person in charge of creating the creatures for this film). The directing coupled with the editing style are what save this movie by giving us only a glimpse of the the creatures, keeping us on the edge of our seat for the majority of the film. This is one of the few real monster movies that are a credit to the monster genre.

I know 3 stars may not seem like much but only the best films are worthy of 4 and above.

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