the audience applauded

One of my all time favorites.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This film is astoundingly dull and slow-paced. If you know what filler or padding is, this is what 90% of this movie is. It was obviously made by someone who wanted to make a monster movie but had to work on a tiny budget, so they barely show any scenes of an actual monster, but pad out the film with scenes of people standing around looking scared when they hear noises, or empty dialogue and conversation between characters. They should've called it The Seinfield Movie, because it feels like a movie about nothing.

Years ago there was a small town where the main employer was a large silver mine. When a bizarre accident occurs, the mine is shut down, leaving the town near-empty.Years later, a group of friends go to spend the night at one of the houses. It has a bootleg mine in the basement below, and unknown to anyone but the freaky old man who hangs around the mine, there are strange mutant creatures living within that eat people; the old man calls them Boogens. The mine is re-opening and some of the workers find themselves trapped inside with the strange creatures. Who will survive? Oh, the suspense! Anyway, Boogens isn't very scary, but for its time it isn't a bad movie, it's a little funny and creepy and at least stays entertaining the whole way through. My little brother says that boogens are just mutated nose boogers that grew large and needed a much bigger cave than noses, so they moved into the mine. I think the boogens were just supposed to be a made-up fantasy creature species or mutants.The soundtrack was creepy and eerie, the acting was decent, the scenery was great and you've gotta admit, the plot sure is original! If you crossed My Bloody Valentine (1981) with Gremlins (1985), you'd get this. The beginning credits with the old newspapers were pretty cool and different as well. It's overall a pretty good horror movie.

...not to mention the strangely positive reviews on this site. Despite a few moments that work well (mostly involving Tiger, the dog, a true scene-stealer), "The Boogens" is utterly forgettable, dispensable, and ignorable. It's as pure an example of Sturgeon's Revelation as one might ask, and further proof that Stephen King is not a trustworthy blurb-whore, at least not when it comes to movies.The ostensible lead, Rebecca "Soap" Balding, handles her underwritten part fairly well, even favoring the target audience with some brief T&A, but the best one can say about the ensemble cast is "adequate." It's the uninspired script and lack of production value that chains everyone with mediocrity; this thing has made-for-TV written all over it (even though it wasn't). The creature (such as it is) is wisely kept hidden until film's end, but the payoff is risible at best; I have known scary monsters, sir, and you are no scary monster! Truthfully, I wanted to like this unassuming little feature, perhaps only because my brother and I had a habit of calling each other "Boog" when we were young and callow, but sadly "The Boogens" never rises above its own shopworn premise. I'd have given it another point if I'd been in a more forgiving mood, but it really wouldn't deserve it. There are simply far, far more films worthy of our attention. Second-tier character actors gamely earning paychecks is not my idea of a good time. "The Boogens" is, sad to say, late night insomnia viewing only.Some amusing trivia: Anne-Marie "Sledge Hammer!" Martin, whose career apparently withered away with her divorce from Michael Crichton, co-wrote "Twister." Balding's romantic co-star, Fred "Class Reunion" McCarren died much too young at 55, while Balding ended up marrying her director, James L. "Star Trek: TNG, V, DSN, E" Conway. "The Boogens" DP got his start (and spent most of his career) shooting low-fi exploitation films like "Thar She Blows!"

The Boogens doesn't exactly have a notable plot. Little monsters escape and cause havoc and kill. Later examples are so much more successful. It isn't completely devoid of charm. At least it has some strong characters going for it. Even the sex mad ladies man character, is portrayed with a lot of heart and little annoyance. The build is far too slow. I enjoy a bit of tension, but if your monsters look like ridiculous puppets in the final reel, at least showcase them early. Only so many tentacle attacks I can stomach. It's also quite repetitive with just two locations, and the dog sniffing out danger gets about 4 separate scenes. Could do worse, but the slowness is a test of patience.