Night of the Creeps (1986)

Very well executed

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

"The good news is your dates are here...the bad news is they're dead!" And so, with the above quote, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS is well-remembered by B-movie aficionados as one of the most fun, campy zombie flicks to be released during the 1980s, and with good reason. This is a fondly-made movie, an affectionate tribute to the kind of drive-in movies popular in the '50s and '60s, and that reverence shines through in every frame. Director Fred Dekker, who made the similarly fun THE MONSTER SQUAD, delights in his source material, throwing in plenty of movie references that fans will enjoy and in the process making a delightful B-movie in his own right. With characters named after top horror directors of the time, aliens, zombies, killer slugs, and wonderful effects, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS is one of the funniest and entertaining films I've seen in a while.Things kick off with a nice black and white tribute to '50s sci fi flicks, with rampaging aliens, a homicidal axe murderer, two teens in lover's lane and a BLOB-style meteorite fall. After that we're in the era of '80s teen cinema, as a couple of geeks do their best to fit in with the "in" crowd but accidentally end up reviving a cryogenically frozen body hiding a sinister alien parasite. The aliens spread, zombies are made and the film becomes a humans vs. the dead battle for survival in a small sorority house.NIGHT OF THE CREEPS displays everything that's 'good' about the '80s: smart one liners, silly fashions, crazy hairdos and teenagers everywhere. The movie is presented with tongue firmly in cheek and there are plenty of humorous moments which move it along nicely. It has the same kind of campy atmosphere as the similarly excellent RE-ANIMATOR. The strong storyline takes a while to play out, but the zombie onslaught at the climax is only the more effective because of this – there's actually a well-developed reason for them to exist, and the film's internal logic is spot on. Meanwhile, the alien slug menace is also effectively handled – think THE HIDDEN – and on the whole the special effects in the movie are very good indeed.Kudos for the casting of a pair of unusual leads – Jason Lively as the 'normal' neighbourhood kid, Steve Marshall as his disabled buddy – who do very well with the material. However, supporting actor Tom Atkins steals all of his scenes as the investigating detective. Atkins is also well-regarded for appearing in a ton of decent '80s horror productions and this may well be his best role: every line is a one-liner, he's tough, extremely bad ass and watching him tackle a ton of the undead at the climax is very entertaining. I can't imagine a role better-suited to the actor and he looks to be having a ball, making him the real hero of the piece. My favourite scene is the one in which he goes after a long-dead axe murderer, seeking revenge. Kick ass!

There is a usual level of unintended cheesy humor that has become associated by re-watching 80ies science-fiction/horror/comedy films and if you look at some of 'Night of the Creeps's contemporaries they don't tend to age well. After a couple of decades you tend to laugh at how bad the effects are instead of what the filmmakers intended as humor. To it's credit the humor in 'Night of the Creeps' is quite intentional and exceeds most in the genre and keeps the movie quite fresh after three decades. The plot isn't particularly original, the pace is quite slow in places and some of the acting is way too cheesy even for this kind of film but the dialogue is snappy enough to make you not give an ounce of a dingo's kidneys about any of that. Overall the film feels like it was made with a lightness of heart that elevates it most of the time and was made not for frights (of which there are quite a few) but for fun and it admirably succeeds.

Alien brain parasites, entering humans through the mouth, turn their host into a killing zombie. Some teenagers start to fight against them.So, in retrospect, it seems a bit cheesy to name characters Romero, Hooper, Raimi, and so on. The references are far too obvious. And this same thing would be repeated in "Dead Next Door" and probably other films. That can probably be excused. And, of course, there is the slightly less obvious reference of Dick Miller as "Walt", a nod to his character in "Bucket of Blood".There is a nice blend of fun, humor and horror here, and Tom Atkins is at his finest. Most probably think of him as the guy from "Halloween III", but this is the movie where he shines. Well, this and "Lethal Weapon".

In 1959, an alien throws an experiment from his spaceship to the space and the capsule crashes on Earth. The college students Pam (Alice Cadogan) and Johnny (Ken Heron) are dating in a parking area nearby the location and believe it is a falling star. Steve decides to investigate, but they are warned by Pam's former boyfriend, the police officer Ray Cameron, that a maniac is killing people in that area with an ax. However Steve leaves Pam and walks in the woods looking for the star and a slug-like creature jumps into his mouth.In 1986, the college students Chris (Jason Lively) and the disabled J.C. (Steve Marshall) are best friends and Chris has a crush on Cynthia Cronenberg (Jill Whitlow), who is the girlfriend of the cocky Brad (Allan J. Kayser). They decide to join Brad's fraternity to impress Cynthia and Brad tells that they need to bring a corpse and leave in front of another fraternity. They go to the Med School Laboratory of the Corman University and find Johnny's body in a cryogenic chamber. They remove the corpse from the chamber but get scared and leave the body on the floor. However, Johnny leaves the laboratory and releases slugs that transform people into zombies. Detective Ray Cameron (Tom Atkins) is in charge of the investigation and initially believes that it is a prank. But soon he realizes that the campus is crowded of zombies. "Night of the Creeps" is a cult-movie by Fred Dekker with a funny story of aliens, slugs and zombies. This movie is a sort of comedy and tribute to the zombie, slasher and sci-fi genres. There are good performances, the make-up is great and the lead actress Jill Whitlow is cute. This film follows the formula of B-movie inclusive with many beautiful legs and breasts in the sorority house. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Noite dos Arrepios" ("The Night of the Creeps")