THE BOOGENS (1981)

THE BOOGENS (1981)

Tagline: Some Things Shouldn't Be Disturbed...

(Horror, Sci-Fi, Giant Mutant Chomping Turtles) [R]

You had to let them out, didn’t ya…

In this one, a silver mine in Colorado is closed due to attacks and accidents being reported there. Of course, after 70 years or more it’s time to re-open that sucker after a new mining company determines the mine is safe enough and an air pocket with an underground water pool is discovered along with the bones of about 30 miners a century earlier (because everyone wants to mine in a place like that…sarcasm). Meanwhile, we’ve got an old-timer sneaking around and the original mutant turtles (boogens) killing every person they find. 

First off the cinematography in this one is pretty solid. The lighting all works and the creepier scenes have the right score and ambiance. It’s just well filmed overall. The creature design is pretty nuts, but these things definitely look like what would happen if some turtles got mixed up with some green ooze. 

The acting in this is pretty solid. In particular Anne-Marie Martin (famous for PROM NIGHT and being the writer of TWISTER) who plays Jessica Ford. Rebecca Balding is also pretty decent as Trisch, but the best performance in this one is from Fred McCarren who plays the main male lead, Mark Kinner. Jeff Harlan is also in this. He’s been in everything from Rosanne to Fat Albert. 

Regarding the pace of this movie moves along pretty slow, we don’t see the face of any of the creatures until about the last 8 minutes. The plot however is interesting and weird, they also shot the final scenes in a real mine which I thought was cool. We are never given an explanation for why the creatures are in this mine or what they even are, but sometimes not knowing actually adds to the effectiveness of the story in horror films. The dialog is actually pretty good as well.

Where this movie kind of fails for me, is in the creature design department. Nothing about these things is all that iconic. We never really see how they walk or get around, in fact, I don’t think there is a full clear shot of one in the entire movie. Because of that, it feels like as the camera swoops low to the ground following the potential victims around, you are more in danger of the camera guy bumping into you than the actual creature. We do see tentacles of some sort, but it’s all just very odd. 

As horror goes this one isn’t all that mind-blowing, but it’s certainly a well-acted and filmed creepy addition to any Halloween marathon. I have to give this thing a 5 out of 7. It also makes me never want to have a house where no one ever cleans the freakin basement. I mean, you can’t dust that thing or break out the Pledge… why…why?

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF TAFT INTERNATIONAL PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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