John Chard
October 21, 2015
7
What is this? A homicide, or a bad B-movie?
Not exactly what you would call an unknown horror comedy, but there is the distinct feeling that it should be better known. As its cult fan base will attest, this is blast of a movie, a homage to the "B" schlockers of lore. Directed by Fred Dekker, the premise sees some alien beings eject a flask of alien slugs down to earth, which lands at a fraternity campus, something which cause mayhem some years later when a frozen body is disturbed at the medical lab and the slugs are unleashed. Cue infestation that turns people into zombies!
The pic plays up to the clichés of fraternity based movies, with nerds and nudity on tap, all smothered in a gooey horror comedy sauce. One-liners are ripe, the characterisations also, the latter of which fronted by a glorious Tom Atkins as a hard drinking hard - boiled detective with issues and quips ready to be poured out. It's not genius film making, but given the low budget it deserves its cult status, because it never pauses for breath and it's very aware of what it wants to be - and crucially who its target audience is. 7/10
Night of the Creeps is a fantastic movie to watch in many different situations: with friends, at a sleepover, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, and so many more.
It's an easy to watch flick, and it contains the right balance of horror elements, gore, campiness, humor, and absurdity to make each viewing as enjoyable as the last. It's got a touch of body-stealing aliens, a touch of zombies, a touch of traditional serial killer, all mixed with all the fun that can come from being placed in a sorority house.
Sure, it's not downright frightening, and it's not necessarily an utterly funny movie like a comedy, but the balance it strikes between the two is where the beauty shines through.
**_Entertaining sci-fi/horror “lost gem” from the mid-80s_**
During a frat initiation, two buds at a SoCal university (Jason Lively and Steve Marshall) inadvertently unleash something creepy that results in the walking dead. Tom Atkins plays the detective on the case while Jill Whitlow draws the attention of one of the boys.
“Night of the Creeps” (1986) is sci-fi/horror with a wink of amusement that features bits from previous movies, like “The Blob” and zombie flicks, to forge its own unique concoction. The writing is creative, the characters are fleshed-out and the director has a good eye for women in a few quick spots (not talking ’bout nudity or sleaze). The detective especially is an interesting character while Whitlow’s voice is to die for.
This would obviously influence “Slither,” which came out two decades later, but “Creeps” is the superior film, by far (there’s something distasteful & ugly about “Slither,” but that’s just me).
The movie runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot entirely in Los Angeles.
GRADE: B+/A-
