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VHS MOVIE REVIEW : THE BOOGENS (1981)
In 1888, one of the biggest veins of silver was found in the mountains of (the aptly named) Silver City. For nearly 24 years, the silver-rich mines put Silver City on the map, making it one of the richest cities in the United States. But then, in 1912, a series of cave-ins, the loss of dozens of miner's lives and reports of mysterious attacks caused the mines to be shut down for good, or at least everyone thought. Cut to the present (well, 1981 anyway), where mine experts Brian Deering (John Crawford; THE SEVERED ARM - 1973) and Dan Ostroff (Med Flory; THE HEARSE - 1980), along with their best workers, Mark Kinner (Fred McCarren) and Roger Lowrie (Jeff Harlan), open the Silver City mine to take a cursory look and report on its condition. While Dan checks the stability of the wood support beams and nearly causes a cave-in (Mark: "You smell anything?" Roger: "No, why?" Mark: "I just shit my pants."), Mark and Roger string-up lights and set up the generator to get a clearer view of the inside of the mine. Brian and Dan use dynamite to clear an obstruction in the mine and everyone calls it a day, but long-time Silver City resident (it isn't much more than a ghost town now, with a few residents, a bar and a restaurant to sustain it) old man Greenwalt (Jon Lormer) knows that the dynamite blast has just released an evil sitting dormant since 1912. That night, resident Martha Chapman (Marcia Reider) crashes her car into a snow bank after nearly hitting a deer (she has a bumper sticker on the back of her car that says "I Brake For Animals") and ends up walking to the house that she is getting ready for Mark and Roger to live in while they work the mine. She goes down to the basement to retrieve some supplies because she is going to have to spend the night since she can't get a tow truck until morning, but she's never going to live that long. After hearing a noise in the basement and then going to sleep in one of the bedrooms, she hears the noise again and investigates, but something grabs her in the kitchen and drags her down to the basement. Dan, Mark and Roger clear a cave-in in a section of the mine that is not on their map and discover a natural cavern, complete with lake and the bones of at least thirty people, all stacked in a pile on one side of the lake. Meanwhile, Roger's girlfriend Jessica (Anne-Marie Martin; SAVAGE HARVEST - 1981), her best friend Trish (Rebecca Balding; SILENT SCREAM - 1980) and pet poodle Tiger arrive at the house for a three day visit and make themselves comfortable. When Trish is unable to get hot water for a bath, she (gulp!) goes down to the basement to light the pilot on the hot water heater, but she is saved from certain death when Tiger chases her upstairs (the dog knows something is wrong). While Roger and Jessica are trying to have sex (a running joke throughout the film has Roger and Jessica being constantly interrupted while trying to do the deed), Mark and Trish get to know each other and hit it off. They are paid a visit by Deputy Blanchard (Scott Wilkinson), who is looking for Martha and when they all tell the Deputy they haven't seen her, the foursome decide to go out for dinner, where Jessica hustles Brian and Dan at pool and Roger goes to the house by himself because he has to get up early to pick up updated maps in another city. Roger is killed by one of the creatures when its clawed tentacles slash him across his neck and drags him away (this is the first time we even see a part of the creatures). To make a long story short (and not give away the manner of the other deaths), Trish, who is a reporter, does some digging in the Silver City newspaper archives and discovers that old man Greenwalt is the son of the only survivor of the 1912 cave-in and has seen the creatures, but no one believed him. In the finale, only Mark and Trish are alive and they are stuck in the mines fighting the creatures with the only weapon that will do any good: dynamite. This is actually a pretty taut and suspenseful horror film, directed by James L. Conway (HANGAR 18 - 1980; EARTHBOUND - 1981; and plenty of episodic American TV, including SUPERNATURAL) and written by David O'Malley (ZONE OF THE DEAD - 1978) and Bob Hunt (a pseudonym for director/screenwriter Jim Kouf; GANG RELATED - 1997), that contains personable characters rather that stereotypical ones (the acting here is much better than most low-budget horror fare), so when they are killed or put in peril, we actually care (Hell, even the dog is good here!). Director Conway rightfully doesn't reveal the creatures in all their glory until the film's finale (think sharp-toothed turtles with clawed tentacles), rather offering the viewer the creatures' POV shots and some rather nasty clawed tentacle attacks. This is by no means a gore film, so those looking for plenty of blood and guts are bound to be disappointed. THE BOOGENS actually harkens back to those 50's monster flicks, only with a little nudity (it's more funny than erotic), more violence and is wonderful entertainment for those in the mood for a good creepy creature feature. Recommended. Producer Charles E. Sellier Jr. was also responsible for those memorable 70's Schick Sunn Classic "documentaries" such as THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTERS (1976), IN SEARCH OF NOAH'S ARK (1976; also directed by Conway), IN SEARCH OF HISTORIC JESUS (1979) and many others. Originally released on VHS by Republic Pictures Home Video and still awaiting a proper DVD release (there are plenty of bootlegs floating around). Rated R. { text from critcononline.com }
VHS MOVIE REVIEW : THE BRAIN (1987)
Crazy Canadian tax shelter horror flick that plays like an even more absurd 80's remake of THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS (1957), with slightly better special effects and a more skewed sense of humor. Dr. Anthony Blake (David Gale: RE-ANIMATOR - 1985) is the head of the Psychological Research Institute and also hosts a popular local morning TV talk show in the town of Meadowvale called "Independent Thinking". The subject of this morning's show is teenage alienation and how modern science can cure teenage alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide (Hey, don't adults suffer from these things, too?). While her mother is watching Dr. Blake on TV, Becky (Susannah Hoffman), a patient of Dr. Blake, is in her bedroom, when the walls begin to shake, her teddy bear bleeds from its eyes and monster hands and tentacles bursts through her door, walls and TV. Mom runs upstairs to see what all the screaming is about and Becky stabs her in the chest with scissors (she believes she is stabbing tentacles), killing her. A giant brain then smashes through her mirror and tosses Becky out of her bedroom window, killing her instantly, as we then watch as Dr. Blake announces that his local TV show will soon be going national. Call me naïve, but this can't be a good thing. There have been a rash of murder/suicides in Meadowvale for the past several weeks, usually involving teens and their parents. Local high school prankster and intelligent student Jim Majelewski (Tom Breznahan; TWICE DEAD - 1988) gets caught dumping a bar of pure sodium down a toilet, causing the pipes to explode and soaking the school's principal. He brings Jim's parents in for a meeting and tells them that if Jim hopes to graduate this year, he will have to be a patient at Dr. Blake's Psychological Research Institute for "behavior modification" (Since when can a high school principal force a student to go to an institute for behavior modification? What makes him an expert? These are just some of the questions you will be asking yourself if you don't turn off your thinking function in your own brain and just go along for the ride.). Jim's parents reluctantly agree (as a going away present, Jim superglue's the principal's ass to his chair!) and Jim tells his virgin girlfriend, Janet (Cindy Preston; PROM NIGHT III: THE LAST KISS - 1990), that he will soon be Dr. Blake's patient. Janet warns him to be careful, because she was a friend of Becky's and knows she was never the same once she became a patient of Dr. Blake. Once at the Institute, an apparently crazy patient tells Jim that Dr. Blake is an alien before brutish orderly Varna (George Buza) takes the patient away. Jim is subjected to some weird video therapy where he has electrodes attached to his head and the giant brain (which also has two eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth) sends Jim "hypnotic waves". Jim is able to resist the giant brain's hypnotic waves, but begins to suffer from hallucinations, so Dr, Blake deems Jim unfit for more "treatments". When it turns out that Dr. Blake has the giant brain broadcasting its hypnotic waves through his TV show in order to reprogram the ways teenagers think (those immune to the brain's waves are the ones causing the murder/suicides, an unfortunate side effect), serious shit begins to happen. Dr. Blake's nurse threatens to spill the beans to the authorities, so the brain swallows her whole (Dr. Blake retorts, "That's food for thought!). The brain (which is getting larger) tries to kill Jim by forcing him to get into a car accident (Jim hallucinates that the steering wheel falls off and is replaced by tentacles). When that doesn't work the brain freaks-out Jim while he is at the diner where Janet and best friend Willie (Brett Pearson) work, scaring the shit out of the employees and customers and Varna shows up with the police, injects him with a tranquilizer and brings him back to the Institute, throwing him into a rubber room. Jim discovers the truth about the brain and, with the help of Janet and Willie, breaks out of the Institute (unfortunately, in the process, Willie is eaten by the brain). Can Jim and Janet keep one-step ahead of the police and Dr. Blake long enough to expose what is going on before Dr. Blake transmits his show nationwide? Silly and nonsensical to the extreme, THE BRAIN is nothing more than a popcorn movie about mass mind control that not only bears similarities to AROUS, but also to John Carpenter's THEY LIVE (1987). Director Edward Hunt (STARSHIP INVASIONS - 1977; PLAGUE - 1978; ALIEN WARRIOR - 1985) and screenwriter Barry Pearson (Hunt's BLOODY BIRTHDAY - 1980) offer no explanation of the brain's origins or why Dr. Blake is helping it take over the world, other than a quick remark that Dr. Blake is not human (David Gale, who passed away in 1991, looks rail-thin and sickly here, which may be why he disappears through much of the film). The Brain itself is a supremely goofy creation that somehow gets around by moving it's large brain stem, which Varna calls a "tail", but is quickly corrected by Dr. Blake (If you look close enough in one scene, you can plainly see that the giant brain is being pushed around on a wheeled platform!). There are plenty of deaths on view, but precious little gore, including a real dry beheading by axe and one of the most bloodless chainsaw vivisections ever committed to film. Sure, it's stupid, cheap and makes no sense at all, but THE BRAIN contains enough entertaining idiocy (including David Gale losing his head once again) to make for a pleasant night's viewing. Also starring Christine Kossak, Bernice Quiggan, Ken McGregor, Robert King and Vinetta Strombergs. Originally available on VHS by I.V.E. Home Video and not available on DVD. Rated R. { text from critcononline.com }
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