Slasher-Hybrid Month: The Boogens (1982)
During the clever (and inexpensive) opening credit sequence we learn about a once booming Colorado gold mining town that closed off its vein after 27 miners were trapped and ultimately killed. Flash forward 93 years to the mine being reopened. A young miner, Roger (Jeff Harlan) invites his lady, Jessica (Anne-Marie Martin) and her friend, Trish (Rebecca Balding) up for a weekend of fun and sex with him and his housemate and co-worker, Mark (Fred McCarren). The only problem is that beneath their humble abode is nest of little creatures we’ll lovingly refer to as The Boogens.
The Boogens is jam packed with likeable characters and fun dialog. True, it’s bubbling over with the usual bunch of horny twenty-somethings but the acting is earnest enough to pepper the sexy dialog and make it enjoyable rather than annoying.
Another high point in this film is the two female leads. Neither of the actresses plays the ditz and they take on two separate and welcoming personalities – an almost unheard of task in these kind of creature features! Anne-Marie Martin is an affable addition to the professional cast but it was a true surprise to see Rebecca Balding drop her normally sub-zero demeanor (check out her ice princess performance in Silent Scream for a prime example) and finally adopt a warm persona. Although both actresses had some success after this (you sci-fi geeks may know Martin as the ex-Mrs. Crichton), sadly they never achieved the sort of fame I think both of them deserved.
The Boogens is one of those rare occasions that prove you can make a good movie with spare change. Full of personality and life (as well as death), this movie rises above the heap by having fun while still understanding what’s scary. And what’s scary here is that less is more. You’ll enjoy the ‘Boogen-cam’ as each victim is attacked by the camera and some crafty tentacles. Eventually the film fails by finally showing its dime store creature, but there’s enough silliness to forgive the FX department.
The Boogens is a great treat for anyone looking for something that won’t tax their brain but still offers a few thrills. Available only on video (at least here in the states), it’s well worth a trip to your video store – but don’t forget to pick up a six pack on the way!
Thank you so much for reviewing this.
The Boogens is a prime example what 80s horror got right and what lot of modern horror can’t do. It’s well made. the characters are actually likable. For that matter the girls are allowed to be actual characters! Sure, the monsters aren’t top of the range, but the Boogens is so entertaining that like with JAWS it’s not really that much of a problem.
And to me it’s absolutely criminal that there is no legitimate DVD release. There are loads of lesser films that are easy to get hold of with extras and good transfers.
Reading this has just made me even more desperate to see The Boogens!
Neat review guys, can’t wait to check this out! I also recently saw a highly entertaining hybrid slasher called Prom Night III: The Last Kiss. It’s chock-full of 80s cheesy goodness, with a mix of a ghost story and a slasher.
aww, man. A guy from a convention I went to offered this film to me as a “slasher”. I didn’t buy it since it didn’t look like one, but now it’s a hybrid! Thanks for showing the error of my ways! Now I shall call hunt for it!
I have to admit that I’ve only ever seen this on a terrible quality bootleg DVD-R. Definitely needs a decent DVD/Blu release. I also have to admit that its title put me off for years, until I started hearing really strong word of mouth about it.
Interesting review which has me got me more interested in seeing this film (hopefully a DVD release will happen someday).
I agree that the film’s lead actresses deliver solid characters and unique performances, but The Boogen’s top star by far is that little dog that has the run of the house and challenges those title critters. Best dog performance ever!
Fans of creature slasher hybrids might also like Without Warning and Humanoids From The Deep. The latter is exploitation and gore classic of staggering proportions. And Alien,obviusly, coz let’s be honest Alien is a slasher movie.
This is showing on Australian Pay TV network Showtime in August, FWIW. Probably in HD (or something close to it), and I don’t have PayTV of course. Bummer.
I saw The Boogens in the theatre, and absolutely loved it…..of course I was 10 or 12 at the time. I would always tell everyone about it, and since it didn’t get a VHS release until the late 90′s/ early 00′s, everyone always thought I was making it up!! Yes this needs a DVD release, but first The Prey needs to be released.
Caught this on TCM. Fairly decent. Has the bad girl from PROM NIGHT.