Night of the Creeps

Night of the Creeps (1986)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Fred Dekker

Starring: Jason Lively, Tom Atkins, Jill Whitlow, Steve Marshall, Allan Kayser

From: Tri-Star

Now here's a movie I was happy to revisit... as it was Miller Time: 

Well, at least this month I got to see one funny Black & Dekker movie... I had seen this one before, but that was years ago so this seemed like the best time for me to discuss this cult film. Shane Black did uncredited work on Fred Dekker's screenplay and unlike with The Predator the comedy was usually pretty amusing and did not feel out of place with the story; this is both a send-up and a tribute to the B-movies of old where many horror directors are boldly referenced so much of the jokes at least made me chuckle.

The first few minutes of the movies are set in 1959 and that entire aesthetic was presented very well, to the point that I wouldn't have minded the entire motion picture be set in that world. Space slugs end up in Southern California and one goes in the mouth of a dude who is then cryogenically frozen, because why not? 27 years later, a fraternity prank gone wrong results in many space slugs being released and there's a lot of havoc. Among the people who try to stop this are two dorky loser college kids at Corman University and Tom Atkins, a cop forever haunted by his past.

It is a silly yet fun tale which has some surprisingly poignant moments and it is easy to root for both the hard-nosed cop played by Atkins (named Cameron, which is one of the many horror nods) and the two dorky college kids who perhaps have a homoerotic relationship but for sure Jason Lively's character-Romero-wishes to have a girlfriend... he is tremendously awkward around the opposite sex. There are some nice horror moments and gory moments to go along with the laughs and if you don't like the stereotypical D-bag fratboy tool type, then you will love the ultimate fate of the ones you see in Night of the Creeps. The leader of that troop is known as The Bradster, which is all you need to know about his loathsome nature. At least for me, I was greatly amused he was played by the guy who brought us Bubba from the syndicated version of Mama's Family.

Mix in effects that are all practical and look fine or better, and no surprise that while this unfortunately flopped, this naturally became a cult favorite with the passage of time. Note that the version I saw was the Director's Cut (it's available for rental on Amazon) which has the alternate ending that hinted at a sequel we'll sadly never get.