A few weeks back I reviewed MONSTER SQUAD, it was pretty good but definitely better suited to the teen set. When I saw that the same guy had directed another horror film that was a little more “adult” I decided to check it out.
What we have here is a little more of the same, a worthwhile film that is reasonably effective, but in the case of Night of the Creeps it is more evident that this film hasn’t aged as well.
The film opens in exactly the same way as Slither and Killer Klowns from Outer Space, a foreign (think outer space) object lands on Earth and some Americans come across the contents, with diabolical results.
Always the Americans.
The time initially is the late 1950’s, and the initial pair that go to investigate are a young couple Johnny and his date, both find more than they bargain for.
Both don’t make it to the 60’s.
Move on to the 80’s where the remaining three quarters of the film is set, again we are dealing with college kids, in this case two nerds Chris and J.C., lusting after one “special” chick named Cynthia. They decide that the best way to get near her and similar girls is to sign up with a fraternity, specifically the Beta fraternity, whose leader Brad looks like either a vampire or an albino.
To be considered as viable applicants, (even though they never intend to let the boys in), Brad and the frat-boys set them a task, more a prank actually, to steal a corpse from the local morgue and place it near another competing frat house…
Oh the hilarity.
In the process of completing this task the boys inadvertently unfreeze the 1950’s Johnny, who has been chillin’ for the better part of three decades for some unrevealed reason in a cryogenic lab in the morgue. Only Johnny was not dead, just chilly, and he kills the unfortunate morgue attendant and goes for a bit of a walk.
Hereafter starts the horror part, which is actually reasonably bearable even though it sounds and is very silly.
Again like Slither the evil comes from worms, who enter the living or dead through any available orifice and cause the body to lust after more flesh, the only way these carriers can be killed is to burn them after they leave their host.
It turns out that the worms are directly linked to the events of the 50’s, and some main characters reveal that they were around at that time and can therefore shed some light on exactly what has caused the events.
The finale ends on the night of the college ball, and by this time Chris has managed to hook himself up with Cynthia and is preparing himself for the night, along with almost every other college kid. Unfortunately he forgets he is in a zombie movie and his night is side-tracked when he is forced to run around with a shotgun and flame thrower killing those that were once his classmates.
Ahhhhh those crazy college days.
First up; Night of the Creeps is a terrible title. Name this “College Ball Massacre” or even “The Thawed Menace” and this would have a better rep than it does, which is almost none. But this is as good as a lot of crappy 80’s horror movies that still pop up on movie channels and late night telly.
Second; 90% of horror-comedies suck, especially those aimed at a teen audience, you only have to look at the recently released Doghouse to see a hastily thrown together example. Keeping with that %, about 90% of the jokes in Night of the Creeps fall flat, there are a couple of worthwhile moments still though.
Lastly: This movie is extremely formulaic, but that is perhaps a strength, as it follows the formula so tightly that even though we know what is about to happen, we draw some comfort from that.
I found it amusing that the main cop in the film says at one point: “What is this a homicide or a bad B movie?”. Well it was most definitely a homicide, and tiptoes the line of the second part of the statement.
Final Rating – 6 / 10. Low budget formula zombie all the way, only set in the 80’s, with all the good and bad that era brings.
