Pretty Good

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The "Boogens" are scaly monsters that look somewhat like giant turtles with lots of sharp, nasty teeth. They are released from an abandoned, boarded-up silver mine in Colorado and proceed to do away with character after character.Is this a slasher? A creature feature? Both? It is a fun piece of early 1980s horror cinema, that is what it is. And although these are actors you will probably never see anywhere else, that is part of what makes them perfect for this low-key, somewhat obscure movie.The creatures themselves are well-made. Apparently only one was made and was just reused throughout the film. Which makes sense, since there is never a huge swarm.

A boarded up silver mine in snowy Colorado is blasted open and nasty creatures are unleashed and start wrecking havoc. Caught in the crossfire are a pair of couples (and their seriously adorable dog) in a guest house where the "boogens" can easily enter through the basement. The film is very atmospheric and the snowy locations and nice cinematography provide gorgeous scenery throughout. The small town setting is nicely captured and you really get a feel for the place. The horror; well, not so much a scary movie "The Boogens" is but it does generate a sense of dread, an eerie mood and a few set pieces are very well done. The acting, by relative unknowns, is first rate and the characters are all likable; not that common for a creature feature from the early 80's. "The Boogens" does boast spectacularly fake looking creatures but they're wisely kept out of sight 'till the very end. Most horror aficionados will probably be in a forgiving frame of mind as a low budget most definitely contributed to that factor and they'll appreciate all the other things the flick does so well. All in all; highly recommended for horror buffs.

The Boogens differs from a lot of animal-on-the-rampage features of its era for two reasons: firstly, it is never exactly clear what kind of animal is on the rampage; and secondly, its style is more akin to a slasher movie than the nature-strikes-back genre. Only in the final ten minutes do we actually get a glimpse of the titular creatures, and even then the script avoids definitively identifying them as a species (they are best described as giant turtles with sharp teeth and a penchant for human flesh). The slasher genre motifs are pretty evident throughout – we have a) creepily atmospheric P.O.V shots as the boogens move around stalking their victims, b) young oversexed couples staying in a remote house, c) numerous false scares before the real killings begin, and d) the obligatory shower scene.Young mineworkers Mark (Fred McCarren) and Roger (Jeff Harlan) - supervised by older miners Brian (John Crawford) and Dan (Med Flory) - reopen a disused silver mine with explosives many decades after it was originally sealed. Unbeknown to them, they also release some subterranean turtle-like creatures (boogens) at the same time. Mark and Roger are due to move into a log cabin in the area the following day, and their girlfriends Jessica (Anne-Marie Martin) and Trish (Rebecca Balding) are already en route to join them. It isn't long before the boogens are on the loose in the community, hungrily devouring their first victim – the departing cabin owner, spending her final night there before moving out. The young new owners, plus their pet dog, look set to be next on the menu. It's just as well that crazy old loon Greenwalt (Jon Lormer) – an ex-miner who happens to be the only living soul who knows the boogens exist – is on hand to deliver the obligatory "you-had-to-go-and-release-them-didn't-ya?" speech, galvanising the survivors into action in time for the final reel.Perhaps The Boogens greatest claim to fame is that it received positive attention in an old edition of Twilight Zone magazine from one Stephen King. "A wildly energetic monster movie" was King's glowing review of the film, though it should be noted that he hated the film version of The Shining and, when given the chance to direct a movie himself, gave us the abysmal Maximum Overdrive… so his credentials as a movie critic are not to be accepted without caution. Nevertheless, there are good things in The Boogens. It has surprisingly convincing and witty dialogue, the acting is generally rather good, and its early sequences are all the more spine-tingling for keeping the creatures hidden off-screen. Two scenes in particular, set in the cellar beneath the cabin, generate stomach-knotting unease, while the build-up to each boogen attack pays off handsomely thanks to atmospheric lighting and clever use of false alarms before the actual pay-off. Logic is in short supply throughout and the monsters, when they finally appear, are somewhat unconvincing… but overall The Boogens is an under-appreciated entry in the animals-on-the-rampage sub-genre.

It's not unusual for a horror film to feature one or two characters so irritating that they fully warrant a painful demise, and The Boogens is no exception, with Roger, played by Jeff Harlan, being the film's most deserving ass-hat; this particular film goes one step further, however, by even including a dog so obnoxious that you'll be cheering when it eventually meets its fate.The creatures responsible for the doggy's death are 'Boogens', vicious subterranean monsters that are accidentally set free by a group of miners when they reopen an old Colorado silver mine. Once loose, the ravenous critters crawl along tunnels that connect to the house currently occupied by Roger, his pal Mark (Fred McCarren), their pretty girlfriends Vicky and Trish (Anne-Marie Martin and Rebecca Balding), and the movie's maddening mutt Tiger.The insufferably inane 'jokes' and puerile sex-chat from Roger are enough to make you want to switch off, but with the film also dragging its heels regarding actual monster fun, it really is a bit of a chore to get to the end. The film is almost over before the creatures are shown in their entirety and, to be honest, they're really not worth the wait—rubber slug/turtle thingies with random tentacles and claws; they're so crap, one can hardly blame the film-makers for keeping them out of sight for as long as possible.Making the ride a little bit easier to bear are Martin and Balding, who provide a bit of eye-candy to prevent total boredom setting in. Balding very kindly bares her butt and boobs, but Martin keeps herself covered, even when being chased around the house wearing nothing but a bath towel.