With all the new releases and these shitty remakes being tossed off one after another, it’s certainly easy to overlook an old film just now getting an official DVD release. When it comes to horror nothing gets past the old Gitche Manitou here. Especially when it is indeed not a pile of nothing, but rather something that I have in fact been waiting anxiously to be made available for many years.
Night of the creeps is a 1986 film that does successfully what so few movies can claim to do. It melds genres into one film and the whole package works well enough to gain entry into cult status.
Part zombie film, part slasher film, part alien invasion, and part sorority comedy all rolled into one. This movie was truly one of the definitive popcorn films of its time.
Opening up on a spaceship where a deadly alien experiment has been abducted and somehow winds up being sent to earth, we are whisked away to sorority row circa 1959.
A beautiful coed. A chump new boyfriend. A love stricken ex-boyfriend, who just so happens to be a cop patrolling lovers lane. An escaped lunatic. All these people will somehow find themselves involved with each other. It plays out like any slasher film one might expect from the 80's, but then along come those aliens.
Cut to current day sorority row. Of course, current day is 1986 then; so cheesy dialogue, bad hair, and those nifty 80's fashions are to be expected. Two nerds trying to impress a beautiful girl by pledging a fraternity are asked to pull a prank that goes haywire. They quickly bail and while they believe all is well and done, zombie hell has actually broken loose.
It’s funny. It’s cheesy. It’s scary. It’s got zombies. It’s got aliens. It’s got tons of heads bursting open and parasites racing everywhere in their efforts to find a host and home.
Tom Atkins plays the once love stricken cop who has come back to settle the score with his old slasher friend.
Oh, and old schoolers will love to hear these two words that can guarantee this one its viewing due..... Dick Miller.
It's damn good fun all across the board. The gore is quite cartoonish, so anybody worried about being grossed out should be safe. Anybody hoping to be grossed out. . . damnit; it's got zombies. . . . . and Dick Miller.
I’m not exactly sure why it took so long to release this movie on DVD, but it deserves all horror fans undivided attention immediately. Anyone who saw it back then will certainly be glad to see it again. This movie had one of the best ad campaigns ever, which was the signature line from the climax. . .
"The good news is your dates are here. . . the bad news is. . . . They’re dead." Just brilliant. Love it, love it, love it!
I do want to make one criticism though. For years upon after seeing this film I had always heard about the original ending that the director intended. I was always curious about it and since digital mediums have made a home sweet home that is director friendly my curiosity was fed here. I have to be honest. . . . I liked the ending they used in the theatrical version better.
I won't give anything away, but this disc being a directors cut obviously uses the original ending. I just feel in going with the fun and cheesy spirit of the rest of the film that the theatrical ending works better for me. Besides, that ending was sooooooooooooooooo 80's too. I just found the directors cut ending a little too "epic" for this kind of film.
Still, the disc has a bunch of extras and atop the deleted scenes is the ending I much preferred. I think it would have been cool to include the movie with your choice of endings as many other discs do, rather than have to view the film with the directors cut ending and only get the other ending as an afterthought.
This is all a small criticism though, and for anyone seeing the film for the first time this probably won't even be an issue. But, I'm Manitou and I can be picky about my horror. Manitou want other ending. NOW. Okay, so who am I to argue with the director, right?
Fans of movies like Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead; if you're looking for a fun and mindless popcorn movie to watch then this is totally the one for you.
On a side note, director Fred Dekker also made another cool movie that blends genres very well too called The Monster Squad.
This movie just got the custom DVD treatment as well. Monster Squad is sort of like a cross between a horror movie and The Goonies. Trust me, it's better than it sounds. Dekker hasn't really done much else since then but I think his reputation in legend status has pretty much been cemented with these two classic films and together make a perfect double feature for a movie night filled with fun, popcorn, and beer.
***Original post date 3/3/2010***
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