The Boogens (1981)

If you're ever thinking of reopening a mine after it's been sealed for decades, keep in mind that no good can come from it.  Roger and Mark rent a house in a small town after being hired to inspect an old mine they are hoping to reopen.  The mine had a tragedy years ago where a number of miners were trapped in a cave in. As they go deeper into the mine, they blast through this obstacle and find a pile of bones which they assume are the miners. Strangely enough only Roger thinks there might be something odd about the bones being in a pile and no longer in skeleton form.

Meanwhile a really old man skulks around outside the mine spying on them, posts cryptic warning signs, and tries to seal it off again.  As in most cases with seemingly crazy old men shouting warnings, no one listens to him.  I'm not sure why he doesn't just approach them and provide his back story since they might take his warnings a little more seriously.

Roger's girlfriend Jessica and her friend Trish come to stay with the guys.  Everyone's ready to party, but strange things start happening in the house. Unbeknownst to them, the night before they arrived, their landlady was dragged down into the basement by something creepy.  And you just know the little dog that the girls bring with them doesn't stand a chance in that house.

I like 80s horror films and I've wanted to see this for years.  Yes, there are things that don't make sense, but it's still fun to watch.   There's not a lot of action or scares, but there is some tension and for most of the movie you're wondering what kind of monster is at the end of the crazy tentacles we keep seeing.

My biggest questions are why are there tunnels all over the town that run from the mine to everyones basement?  Once the mine was sealed off, why wouldn't the monsters just go through the tunnels into the houses?  Why doesn't the old guy tell everyone the mine was sealed for a reason rather than skulking around and trying to avoid those reopening the mine?