The Boogens (1981) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: James L. Conway
Starring: Rebecca Balding, Fred McCarren, Anne-Marie Martin
Rated: R/Region A/1:78/1080p/Number of Discs 1
Where to get it: Olive Films
In a small town near Denver, two young men begin to explore a long-abandoned old mine recently re-opened by a group of minors. When one the men is discovered missing, his friends begin a search that leads them to horrifying consequences. They’re all unaware of the evil that’s been unleashed and soon, one by one, a monster that no one has seen snatches up the townspeople. Suddenly, the grisly truth is revealed and a young couple is forced to confront the unknown in order to save their lives… and the entire town. Directed by James L. Conway (Hanger 18).
In the somewhat sacred ranks of 1980s horror stuff like The Boogens can seem to get lost. Here we have a somewhat slow burn of a creature feature that uses the art of actually building to a moment to try to keep you watching until the whole hand the movie has in store is played. Some might not like waiting for the other foot to drop, but I found myself having a lot of fun with a film like this one. Out of the gate you get the idea that something isn’t right in this small area we are tossed into. There is bigger issues than just the old mine we see and pretty much someone gets taken out and it becomes the waiting game as more happens and we get hints of what is in store. Stick with this one is highly recommended because once the movie does get kicked into gear you will enjoy every minute of it. There is some cool gore, some funny moments, and once the reveal has happend you shouldn’t be disappointed, as the movie becomes a midnight creature feature with some 80s flavor for good measure.
If this movie was made today our creature would have been a big pile of CGI. Here, we see some practical effects and they only work to make the film more fun and cool in my eyes. I always find a monster on screen to be more believable and tolerable if it looks like it does here in The Boogens rather than looking like it was a bad N64 game. If you could say nothing else about this bloody movie, it would be that it is at least fun and that can go a long way. You might also want to take into account that this is a horror movie that seems to have a solid idea and story behind it. There isn’t much bad you could say about the plot or the characters here and outside of a kind of slow start, you shouldn’t find yourself having anything less than a good time once things get rolling. Also, outside of a few scenes with a lot of grain, mainly darker scenes, we otherwise have a great transfer on top of the good movie to make this a really awesome release from Olive films.
- Audio Commentary
