★ 6 / 10
**_Don’t go in the basement!_** Some men look
Wuchak
**_Don’t go in the basement!_** Some men look into reopening a mine that has been closed for 70 years in northwest Colorado, yet it was shut down for a good…
**_Don’t go in the basement!_**
Some men look into reopening a mine that has been closed for 70 years in northwest Colorado, yet it was shut down for a good reason and the people soon find out why when folks start horrifically dying.
"The Boogens” (1981) is a small town creature feature in the vein of “Without Warning” (1980) and “The Being” (1981), as well as the later “The Nest” (1987) and “Slugs” (1988), all of which were made in the tradition of “The Blob” (1958). This one was produced for a paltry $600,000, but it’s quite well done considering the limited resources. You can’t beat the snowy Rocky Mountain milieu and the cast is highlighted by jaw-dropping Anne-Marie Martin as Jess, whom you might remember from her memorable role in the Buck Rogers episode “Twiki is Missing” from a year prior.
Rebecca Balding plays the lesser woman as Trish, but she curiously turns out to have the meatier role. She and the director fell in love on set and married right after the film was made in February, 1981. They were together until her death in July, 2022, due to ovarian cancer.
While the set-up is great, the creators fumble the ball in the last act as far as a key person being removed from the proceedings, which makes the last 20 minutes less-than-compelling. Thankfully, the creature effects are good. Although it looks cute when finally revealed, it’s quite horrifying when it opens its maw.
I’ve heard the rumor that "the boogens" is miner terminology for the fear some miners experience after spending too much time deep in the earth. Actually, it was just a silly word screenwriter David O'Malley made up based on "boogeyman." He originally intended to call the flick "The Boogeyman," but another film by that name debuted in 1980 while he was still working on the script; hence, the dubious contraction.
The film runs about 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in Park City, Utah, which is roughly 125 miles from the northwest border of Colorado and about 24 miles east of Salt Lake City.
GRADE: B-
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★ 9 / 10
A really nice and enjoyable early 80's creature feature
Woodyanders
Back in the early 80's horror films largely consisted of generic slice'n'dice body count pics which became exceedingly tiresome and hackneyed as the decade…
Back in the early 80's horror films largely consisted of generic slice'n'dice body count pics which became exceedingly tiresome and hackneyed as the decade wore on. This nifty little creature feature, a nicely done fright flick which satisfyingly blends a 50's-like monster movie plot with 80's style gore, nudity and profanity, stands out as a refreshing break from the by-the-numbers knifekill norm which was fashionable at the time. A nasty bunch of toothy, tentacled, people-noshing subterranean beasties are unleashed after an old abandoned Colorado mine gets reopened, brutally slaying anyone unfortunate enough to cross their deadly path. Okay, so the story ain't much and the pacing tends to be a bit sluggish, but James L. Conway's capable direction, the tight script, spooky cinematography, several good jump-out-at-you startling jolts, a rousing conclusion, and the especially gnarly-looking squish-bodied, frog-faced, sharp-fanged titular ugly buggers make this a solid scarefest all the same. Moreover, the underground scenes have a truly creepy, clammy, and claustrophobic feel to them, grizzled character thesps John Crawford and Med Flory portray a couple of seasoned old pro mining hands with pleasingly crusty aplomb, and craggy-faced fuddy dud Jon Lormer has a colorful secondary role as a nutty old coot whose grave warnings about the mines are naturally ignored. Better still, the younger characters are surprisingly well-developed and genuinely likable. The winsomely perky'n'pretty Rebecca Balding, who also starred in the superior slasher item "Silent Scream" and was briefly touted as an apparent heir to the crown of then reigning scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, in particular is most appealing as the spunky heroine (and she takes her clothes off as well, which is an additional plus). Given all these strengths, it's no wonder that this funky favorite has acquired a small, yet loyal cult following.
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great!!