A Major Motion Picture

I don't know what I find more surprising about the above pic - the fact that the 1981 low-budget favorite The Boogens, which told the tale of tentacled creatures unleashed from the depths of a long-closed Colorado mine, was the subject of a paperback novelization or that the film was ever touted as being "a major motion picture."

To read that claim on behalf of a movie as impoverished as The Boogens reminds me that the early '80s was the last time that low-end exploitation pictures had a chance to compete on semi-equal footing with blockbusters and mainstream fare. Is it any wonder the world was a better place back then?

Even if someone came across The Boogens on cable rather than in theaters, they could at least remember that it had a theatrical release right alongside the big movies of the time (The Boogens opened on the same weekend in September '81 as Oscar winner Chariots of Fire, in fact). Home video was in its earliest stages and that meant B-movies were still sharing space at the multi-plexes and drive-ins with big budget offerings. For instance, in 1982 Basket Case could be playing the same venues as E.T.. And some of the most successful films of that era, like the Friday the 13th films, were independent productions distributed by a major studio. The line between A and B pictures didn't seem so wide. All you needed to compete was a kick-ass poster.

As a kid it would never have occurred to me to avoid a movie because it looked too low rent. I would go see Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann just as eagerly as I'd see Tron. But presentation is more of a factor among movie-goers today. If a smartly made movie looks cheap, it's going to be judged as corny. And on the opposite end, if the most deadening effort has the kind of production values associated with "good movies", it'll get a shot.

I just think it's dispiriting that real B-movies have long fallen out of favor and that a scrappy item like The Boogens would get the bum's rush today. I grew up thinking it was movies like The Boogens that made it all worthwhile; that these unassuming little films with nothing going for them but a few slimy tentacles and a lot of heart were what made being a genre fan fun. These films were the lifeblood of the genre, not the big ticket stuff like Ghost Story or whatever other hollow, studio-funded bomb was being shoved down our throats. Somehow, over the years, that's gotten flipped around.

Having said all this, let me say that I'd like someone to take on the all-important task of remaking The Boogens. As a fan, I want to see the Boogens rise again and it's too many years later for a Boogens 2 - the only way to go now is with a remake. If B-movies have to be jacked-up to 'A' proportions to survive, then The Boogens deserves its turn, too. To whoever can make this happen, come on...bring the Boogens back! What's good for The Boogens will be good for all of us.

I hear it's the stuff that major motion pictures are made of.