The Boogens

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 cute romp through the early eighties horror genre. This movie was one of the favorite films of Michael on the Bob Newhart show. Anyway, loads of fun for the fan of the effervescent rebecca balding, (see also Silent Scream), with a fairly scary looking monster, too.

This is a must-see late-night popcorn muncher that I first saw on HBO when I was about twelve. For years and years, I searched for the video. How excited I was a couple of years back when I found a copy! How can you not love that title? This movie is slow, many questions are left dangling, and the ending could have been stronger. However, it definitely has its moments! Best watched in groups, preferably while drinking. "Boogens" are killer monsters who are released from a closed land mine after mine workers blast it open after a 100 years. (One of the promo tag lines was "After 100 years, someone has reawakened The Boogens!) Some college-age kids rent a house in the woods, and the Boogens seem to have taken over the basement. Everyone hears noises coming from the basement but think nothing of it. One of my favorite characters was the old, old man whose great-grandfather was killed by Boogens. He approaches the miners and nervously rambles, "Boogens...Boogens...Ya had to let 'em out, didn't ya! Couldn't leave well enough alone, could ya!" The Boogens remain unseen until the last few minutes of the movie, and you will hit the floor laughing once you see a Boogen. (There are supposedly hordes of Boogens running loose, but perhaps because of budget problems, we see only one.) The Boogen looks like a giant turtle shell with elephant trunks for legs and the face looks like a Muppet on a crystal meth binge. One of the funniest scenes is when a Boogen is chasing a girl through the house and she tries to defend herself by throwing a tea pot and newspapers at it. Yep, that'll stop 'em! This is sooooo early 80's that it will most be enjoyed by thirty-somethings who fondly recall the kind of drive-in horror flicks they used to make. Fun for a bad movie/horror night. Fact: This is actually one of STEPHEN KING'S FAVORITES! He gives glowing reviews on the video box.

My Father,Jeffery Sandler, was Supervising Sound Editor on this film when I was just a boy of 11 years. He took me to work quite often, and during post production on The Boogens, he got stumped as to how the monster should sound. Well he comes to me and asks if I have any ideas? And I played around with sounds that scared me and I came with the following:

Breathing: Vampire Breathing

Heartbeat: Heartbeat sound sped up and slowed down repeatedly

Monster Roar: Dog&Cat Fight,slowed down,played backward

That roar was the most horrific thing you ever heard. We set up the sound rig in a hallway intersection in the building(Glenn Glenn Sound)and put speakers at the end of each hall. We turned out the lights so we had dark down all of the hallways(like being in a mine)and played the sound from random directions....even though we know we were alone in the building,Me,My Dad,and a co-worker of his,none of us wanted to walk down into the dark to turn on the light alone. We were all scared out of our minds. Well, my Dad used the sound fx I came up with and gave me $50 for my work. And that was my start in the movie business at age 11.

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.