The Boogens- Horror Movie Review- (Day 22 of 31)- October Massacre

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

PLOT: After the re-opening of a long abandoned mine, a group of minors and their girlfriends are attacked by some creepy, scaly, beasties ready to kill.

REVIEW: There are some horror flicks that earn a whole lot of mileage on nostalgia. One such creature feature which always held a special place in my black heart was THE BOOGENS. The story revolves around the opening of a mine that unleashes a number of goofy looking beings with tentacles that sort of resembled a turtle from hell. This crazy little monster flick may not be a perfect film, yet it offers unusually decent performances and few better than average moments of suspense. The Boogens is far from high art, but there is something curiously fun about watching actual grown-ups terrorized by some unknown assailant.

One of the best things about THE BOOGENS has something to do with its leading ladies. Both Rebecca Balding and Anne-Marie Martin are quite good, which of course helps if you want to create a couple of sympathetic leads. Each has a certain early-80’s beauty, and the two actresses take it all with the right amount of seriousness. It’s also refreshing to see that each character is sexually active without playing the clichéd hand of a virginal final girl. The unapologetically adult relationship they have with the men was unique to horror films, and probably is to this day. And speaking of the men, the leading fellas aren’t too bad either. This is a surprisingly well acted horror flick, which lends a little cred to the spooky goings on.

As far as the main monsters in the film, THE BOOGENS are only revealed near the end, and carefully so. The less we see of these beasties the better, as the filmmakers are smart enough to know that these things aren’t all that terrifying upon extended viewing. Still, director James L. Conway has himself a decent little horror film. The snowy Utah locations are effective [it is supposed to take place in Colorado] as well as the performances from the main cast. This is nowhere near a perfect film as it takes a little too long to create suspense, and the effects aren’t all that scary the more you see. Yet somehow this is way better than it should be. For those looking for a decently made early Eighties monster flick, you could do much worse.

BEST TNA SCENE:Rebecca Balding is a cutie and she shows way more than you’d expect from a leading lady. Her romantic love scene by the fire with her leading man is unnecessary, but I didn’t complain a bit.

BEST GORE BIT: There is a lot of sprayed blood here, especially when one of the main female victims is attacked. We also see a couple of victims with bloodied up faces, but for an R-rated monster flick, this is pretty tame.

HALLOWEEN DRINKING GAME: Take a drink or shot every time:

– The creepy old “Crazy Ralph” type character shows up with a warning.
– The main characters make a reference to sex.
– We see something from The Boogens POV.

GET THE DVD HERE!

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