Halloween Horrorfest: Night of the Creeps

"Well, I've got good news and bad news, girls. The good news is your dates are here."
"What's the bad news?"
"They're dead."

Night of the Creeps is an affectionate throwback to old 50's B-Movies, with it's tongue firmly planted in it's cheek. The only problem is that at times the nods are so on the nose that those unfamiliar with the genre it's sending up may not quite get the film. While not that successful when initially released, the film has grown to become a good sized cult classic with fans of the horror/sci-fi genre.

The film focuses on two college dorks, Chris (played by Jason Lively) and J.C (played by Steve Marshall), who accidently thaw out a cryogenic corpse they find in the basement of a campus building (as it happens). Turns out the corpse was infected with alien slugs that turn the humans they infect into zombies. The two hapless teens book it when the corpsicle opens his eyes and starts moving, unaware of the alien slugs part. The slugs get loose and start infecting area co-eds. 

Meanwhile, Ray Cameron (played by Tom Atkins, who is clearly having a blast with the role), a cynical, sarcastic, hard drinking police detective with ties of his own to this. When he was a patrolman back in the 50's, he was the one to discover the teen turned frozen zombie, along with his girlfriend. Now, with a re-occurrence of these events in the present is looking to end it once and for all. It's only a matter of time before he crosses paths with Chris and JC, along with Chris' crush, Cynthia (played by Jill Whitlow).

This film definitely has earned it's cult following. It's littered with genre references and fun in-jokes, not to mention Cameron flat out asking if he's investigating a homicide or a B-Movie. It's peppered with witty dialogue in a script written by the film's director, Fred Dekker (of The Monster Squad fame). The film perfectly captures the B-Movie feel, especially with the opening that shows the origins of the frozen zombie teen and their first encounter with the alien slugs is all played in glorious black and white, not switching to color until it hits present day (well, 1986, which was present day when the movie came out). Not to mention almost all the characters have last names in common with horror and/or sci-fi directors and the characters attend Corman University (as in famed B-Movie producer, Roger Corman). 

Overall, Night of the Creeps is the perfect movie when you want a zombie movie with a good dose of fun humor to go along with itself. It plays out with it's tongue firmly planted in it's cheek. It knows how absurd it is, throwing out witty dialogue along with a few fun thrills. It's perfect late night entertainment made in the style of, well, perfect late night entertainment.