Post by wdm0744 on Feb 19, 2008 16:09:32 GMT -5
As has been pointed out on this website and others, it was not easy being a kid in the 1980s. Movie screenwriters and executives just didn’t seem to have a clear idea of what was appropriate for youngsters. My innocent mind was bombarded early on with spooky, violent, and downright disturbing material packaged in a seemingly kid friendly candied shell.
I saw “Gremlins” and “Ghostbusters” when I was way too young and, as a consequence, I still have Gremlin nightmares, in which I know they are in the house and I have to turn on all the lights and search in the cabinets. My dad was home sick with me one day when I was probably eight or nine and put on “Red Dawn” for me to watch and then took a nap. I was traumatized and depressed for a few days after that. And my grandmother insisted that I watch “Braveheart” when I was eleven. I realize, of course, that some kids cut there teeth on Freddy and Jigsaw but I was perhaps more sensitive than most.
Looking back, my parents did their best to stem the tide of this assault, but I was the proverbial 5th column behind the lines. I have always had a love-hate relationship with “scary movies”. I used to convince my parents to let me watch old Universal horror movies or television specials on ghost, werewolves, or aliens (remember that early 90’s tv show, “Sightings”?). They really believed it when I told them that I found those things funny – and now I do think they are hilarious – but back then, I was actually terrified and come bedtime, I would lie awake for hours listening for ghoulish wails or scratching under the bed. In fact, most of my childhood seems like a tangle of bad dreams, long nights, and fear-sweat.
One film exposure that I do plan on sending them the therapy bills for, though, is “Mr. Boogedy”. This kiddie horror flick premiered one Sunday night as a one- hour special on ABC’s “The Wide World of Disney” – no freaking kidding. And, according to imdb.com, it premiered when I was three years old. There is no excuse. Apparently, Mom and Dad agreed with the Disney executives and believed that the timeless story of a lustful pilgrim who sells his soul to Satan in exchange for a magical black cloak and burns alive in an explosion that kills him, his unrequited love and her young son, only to return as a vengeful, hamburger-faced ghoul to torment a 20th century family, was the perfect bedtime story for their little tike.
I don’t remember watching it for the first time, but my kindly parents taped it for me so that I could watch it over and over. I don’t know why I did it, but I exacerbated the trauma by watching the film dozens, maybe hundreds of times, well into my junior high years when the tape finally broke. The specter of Mr. Boogedy has haunted my dreams for as long as I can remember (in fact, as I write this review, I just got up to turn on some extra lights and lock the study room door). I most recently had a nightmare in which my wife and I were watching “Mr. Boogedy” at 2:30 in the morning when the film’s pivotal final scene, in which Boogedy materializes for the first time, came to life before our eyes. For those of you keeping score, I am now in my mid- twenties.
I can’t remember the last time I actually saw “Mr. Boogedy”. It’s probably going on at least ten years. To my knowledge, Disney has never released an official VHS copy of the film, let alone a DVD. I think some pirated copies are available. The whole film was briefly posted on YouTube, but Disney had it removed. I wonder if I saw it again today, if the spell it has on me would be broken. Anyway, since I haven’t seen the movie in such a long time, I can’t offer adult criticism in way of an actual review. However, the film is so engraved in my psyche, that I do feel I can do it some form of justice.
“Mr. Boogedy” begins on a dark and stormy night when a family of five moves into a creepy-looking New England home in the town of Lucifer Falls (that’s right, kiddies!) and finds a town native, played by John Astin, standing in their living room. He warns them that the house is haunted by an evil spirit by the name of Boogedy. The family, led by their gag-store owner dad, played by the excellent Richard Masur (who, incidentally looks a bit like my dad), of course, blows this off.
In due time, the crap hits the fan. The two sons are tormented by a poltergeist in the kitchen and a wicked, disembodied laugh. Their older sister, played by a pre- Buffy Kristy Swanson (hotness!), sees an eerie green light shining through the frame of a closed door at the end of a hallway, and when she opens it, she comes face to face with the titular spirit (we only see her reaction as she enters the room).
The kids, unable to convince their parents of the haunting, visit the local archives and find out that Mr. Boogedy is the spirit of a cruel Pilgrim who sold his soul to the devil in order to gain magical powers to win the love of the widow Marian. Spurned by Marian, Boogedy exploded, killing himself, her, and her son and trapping them as ghosts on the land that the family’s house is built on.
The film does manage to deliver some creepy moments. One in particular that comes to mind is when the family discovers weird green foot prints that go up a wall and to the ceiling. The cast also delivers some genuine humor and some classic lines. This is a comedy, after all, despite my childhood trauma. The movie really ratchets up the suspense until the final scene, when Mr. Boogedy, draped in his magical clock and dressed in his pilgrim’s garb, appears to attack the family as they are huddled behind moving boxes and armed with Nerf guns. Boogedy’s appearance does not disappoint – he looks kind of like a cross between Freddy Kruger and Darth Vader.
A movie-length sequel aired the next year, called “The Bride of Boogedy”, but I was never able to make it all the way through. It seemed scarier to me. If you remember “Mr. Boogedy” maybe you can relate. If you haven’t seen it and you can find it somehow, give it a shot. Just make sure you don’t show it to your three-year old, okay?
I saw “Gremlins” and “Ghostbusters” when I was way too young and, as a consequence, I still have Gremlin nightmares, in which I know they are in the house and I have to turn on all the lights and search in the cabinets. My dad was home sick with me one day when I was probably eight or nine and put on “Red Dawn” for me to watch and then took a nap. I was traumatized and depressed for a few days after that. And my grandmother insisted that I watch “Braveheart” when I was eleven. I realize, of course, that some kids cut there teeth on Freddy and Jigsaw but I was perhaps more sensitive than most.
Looking back, my parents did their best to stem the tide of this assault, but I was the proverbial 5th column behind the lines. I have always had a love-hate relationship with “scary movies”. I used to convince my parents to let me watch old Universal horror movies or television specials on ghost, werewolves, or aliens (remember that early 90’s tv show, “Sightings”?). They really believed it when I told them that I found those things funny – and now I do think they are hilarious – but back then, I was actually terrified and come bedtime, I would lie awake for hours listening for ghoulish wails or scratching under the bed. In fact, most of my childhood seems like a tangle of bad dreams, long nights, and fear-sweat.
One film exposure that I do plan on sending them the therapy bills for, though, is “Mr. Boogedy”. This kiddie horror flick premiered one Sunday night as a one- hour special on ABC’s “The Wide World of Disney” – no freaking kidding. And, according to imdb.com, it premiered when I was three years old. There is no excuse. Apparently, Mom and Dad agreed with the Disney executives and believed that the timeless story of a lustful pilgrim who sells his soul to Satan in exchange for a magical black cloak and burns alive in an explosion that kills him, his unrequited love and her young son, only to return as a vengeful, hamburger-faced ghoul to torment a 20th century family, was the perfect bedtime story for their little tike.
I don’t remember watching it for the first time, but my kindly parents taped it for me so that I could watch it over and over. I don’t know why I did it, but I exacerbated the trauma by watching the film dozens, maybe hundreds of times, well into my junior high years when the tape finally broke. The specter of Mr. Boogedy has haunted my dreams for as long as I can remember (in fact, as I write this review, I just got up to turn on some extra lights and lock the study room door). I most recently had a nightmare in which my wife and I were watching “Mr. Boogedy” at 2:30 in the morning when the film’s pivotal final scene, in which Boogedy materializes for the first time, came to life before our eyes. For those of you keeping score, I am now in my mid- twenties.
I can’t remember the last time I actually saw “Mr. Boogedy”. It’s probably going on at least ten years. To my knowledge, Disney has never released an official VHS copy of the film, let alone a DVD. I think some pirated copies are available. The whole film was briefly posted on YouTube, but Disney had it removed. I wonder if I saw it again today, if the spell it has on me would be broken. Anyway, since I haven’t seen the movie in such a long time, I can’t offer adult criticism in way of an actual review. However, the film is so engraved in my psyche, that I do feel I can do it some form of justice.
“Mr. Boogedy” begins on a dark and stormy night when a family of five moves into a creepy-looking New England home in the town of Lucifer Falls (that’s right, kiddies!) and finds a town native, played by John Astin, standing in their living room. He warns them that the house is haunted by an evil spirit by the name of Boogedy. The family, led by their gag-store owner dad, played by the excellent Richard Masur (who, incidentally looks a bit like my dad), of course, blows this off.
In due time, the crap hits the fan. The two sons are tormented by a poltergeist in the kitchen and a wicked, disembodied laugh. Their older sister, played by a pre- Buffy Kristy Swanson (hotness!), sees an eerie green light shining through the frame of a closed door at the end of a hallway, and when she opens it, she comes face to face with the titular spirit (we only see her reaction as she enters the room).
The kids, unable to convince their parents of the haunting, visit the local archives and find out that Mr. Boogedy is the spirit of a cruel Pilgrim who sold his soul to the devil in order to gain magical powers to win the love of the widow Marian. Spurned by Marian, Boogedy exploded, killing himself, her, and her son and trapping them as ghosts on the land that the family’s house is built on.
The film does manage to deliver some creepy moments. One in particular that comes to mind is when the family discovers weird green foot prints that go up a wall and to the ceiling. The cast also delivers some genuine humor and some classic lines. This is a comedy, after all, despite my childhood trauma. The movie really ratchets up the suspense until the final scene, when Mr. Boogedy, draped in his magical clock and dressed in his pilgrim’s garb, appears to attack the family as they are huddled behind moving boxes and armed with Nerf guns. Boogedy’s appearance does not disappoint – he looks kind of like a cross between Freddy Kruger and Darth Vader.
A movie-length sequel aired the next year, called “The Bride of Boogedy”, but I was never able to make it all the way through. It seemed scarier to me. If you remember “Mr. Boogedy” maybe you can relate. If you haven’t seen it and you can find it somehow, give it a shot. Just make sure you don’t show it to your three-year old, okay?
"If I'm going to be desensitized into a mindless stock animal, I may as well do it with a cushy ergonomic seat and magnificent THX-certified sound. -Kevin Murphy
