Do You Remember the Disney Sunday Movie Mr. Boogedy?
I am a sucker for nostalgia. A nostalgia that I seem to be the only one that remembers. Things like TV shows and movies of days gone by...and one Halloween movie that was a favorite of mine.
I was talking with one of my co-workers the other day, (let's face it, I'm old enough to be her mother, but that's a story for another time), and we were talking about Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween. We talked about half the movies they are choosing to show aren't Halloween at all (seriously, Frozen?). Then we started talking about real Halloween stuff.
I was telling her about this thing that used to come on ABC every Sunday night at 6 pm. It was the Disney Sunday movie. I loved Disney Sundays, they had some really great quirky movies. One in particular just happened to be a Halloween movie called Mr. Boogedy. Do you remember Mr. Boogedy, it was the greatest.
It starred Richard Masur and Mimi Kennedy, Kristy Swanson, David Faustino, Benjamin Gregory, and the late great John Astin as Mr. Witherspoon. It was about a family who moved into a city in New England called Lucifer Falls to open a comedy shop or a gag shop. They moved into an old colonial mansion that was haunted by, you guessed it Mr. Boogedy, or William Hanover a grumpy old man who fell in love with Marion, who didn't return his love. So he made a deal with the devil for a magical cloak that gave him magic powers. One of the spells he cast went terribly wrong and destroyed his house killing Marion, Marion's son Jonathan (who he kidnapped) and himself. Leaving Boogedy and Jonathan (who had a cold at the time of his death and sneezes all the time) trapped in the house and Marion outside forever trying to get in to save Jonathan.
It was released in 1986 and for a 9-year old it was creepy and awesome at the same time.
I really wish someone would drag it out of the vault and show it again. Mr. Boogedy was so popular when it aired they made a sequel called Bride of Boogedy. It was released the following year in 1987, it was equally campy and wonderful at the same time.
So where did this movie from a bygone era go? When I was doing some research, I found it chopped up in segments and on YouTube, but the quality is less than, well it's bad. Then I kept researching and found the actual movie and the sequel on Vudu and Google Play. Which made my day! You can rent it or buy a digital copy. I'm still deciding on which. I'll probably just buy a digital copy so we'll have it every Halloween to watch and enjoy.
I can't wait to show the kids and have them roll their eyes at how horrible it is, while I sit back and enjoy the memories of my youth.
Boogedy, Boogedy, BOO!
What's a great Halloween movie you remember from your youth that no one else seems to remember?