Boogeymen:The Killer Compilation Vol. 1

Are you a horror genre buff who loves scenes of total bodilydismemberment but can’t stand all the unnecessary stuff, likedialogue, shoddy character development and gratuitous T and A shots?If you are, then FlixMix, the makers of the Boogeymen DVD, had you inmind while crafting this well-meaning but weak collection of modernhorror’s monster movie pantheon.

Boogeymen features essential horror icons like Freddy Krueger,Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers doing what they’re expected to do.Aside from the canon, the makers of the DVD decided to include theridiculous bottom feeders at the butt of horror nerd in-jokes likethe husky-voiced evil cousin of Jambi from The Wishmaster, theadorable midget from The Leprechaun, and the Gordon’s fisherman fromI Know What You Did Last Summer.

Add in an obscure indie horror clip (The Ugly) and somestraight-to-video shocks (The Dentist) and one is led to ask if thistruly is a collection of “the greatest hits of horror” as it soprominently touts on the back in all caps.

Where Boogeymen fails is in its lack of quality film clips. Withonly a single brief scene from each of the 17 frightmeisters crammedinto just under an hour, the discriminating horror buff is definitelynot getting enough blood for his buck. The clips themselves rangefrom being great (the first slashing from A Nightmareon Elm Street and the last scene in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) tobeing just plain goofy (The Leprechaun’s laugh-inspiring pogostickmurder instantly comes to mind).

Some of the few sharp butcher knives in this otherwise dullcollection are the extras, which feature — among optional in-featuretrivia and DVD-ROM downloads — audio commentary by Robert “FreddyKrueger” Englund. His color commentary adds some life to thedisappointing content of the main feature.

Boogeymen could serve as a decent introductory course for theunlearned horror wanna-bees who’ve been weened on the Scream-styleteeny horror films that flooded the market in the mid-’90s. But, thenagain, why not just rent the originals?

Since this is the first installment in a series of DVDs, perhapsthe makers of this edition can learn from their mistakes whencrafting their next killer compilation, Boogeymen Vol. 2: ElectricBoogalo.

–Hubert Vigilla,

senior staff writer