When one hears the words 80’s Horror, if you’re familiar with the genre, it unleashes a barrage of poster images, creature designs, one liners and actors that are fondly seared in our minds. Writer/ Director Fred Dekker is not a household name by any means, but his films from the 80’s are among the most celebrated among the fans of horror, Night of the Creeps.
With Night of the Creeps, he pays homage to the science fiction, horror and films of the unknown that he grew up with as a kid. Although not well received at it’s release (total bomb actually), it has found new life and become a classic with its home video release. Now with a Shout Factory Special edition it has introduced a whole new generation to this classic.
Opening on a total Star Wars: A New Hope rip off; we are thrown upon a Spacecraft. An alien with a frowny face carrying a canister is being chased by two other aliens with frowny faces and lasers. Once discarded into space, the canister lands on the closest planet, you guessed it, Earth.
The film then goes black and white as we’re suddenly thrust into 1959 on sorority row. A couple drives away to lover’s lane where they’re informed an escaped mental patient is on the loose. When a comet (the canister) lands nearby they drive off to investigate. It’s here the couple’s night ends poorly as the man stumbles upon the canister and has a space slug jump down his throat and the girl meets her demise by our escaped axe murderer.
Jumping to 1986 (and back in color) we meet lovelorn Chris (Jason Lively, National Lampoons European Vacation) and wisecracking JC (Steve Marshall), two college freshmen who are looking to fit in. After seeing the girl of his dreams in Cynthia (Jill Whitlow), Chris determines the only way to fit in is to join the most popular fraternity in the college.
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Clearly not impressing Beta Epsilon president The Bradster (Allan Kayser) and the rest of the frat guys, they are given an initiation task to prove their worth. The two must get a cadaver from the campus cryogenics lab and place it at the doorstep of a sorority house. Well, they botch it up royally (running away screaming like a couple of banshees) and end up unwittingly unleashing the “Creeps” upon the campus.
Enter the man, the myth, the legend that is Tom Atkins. Sitting on a beach, being fed cocktails by bikini clad woman, in a white suit that James Bond himself would envy, we’re introduced during a dream sequence that is a direct homage to the Alex Kintner scene from Jaws.
Awakening in a dingy apartment as the phone rings, he utters the infamous line “Thrill Me”. And with that detective Ray Cameron has entered the movie. After investigating the lab break in and murder of the lab assistant, details from an eyewitness account by the school custodian, Chris and JC are brought in for questioning. Despite their farfetched story, Cameron seems unfazed, and it’s clear something is amiss in this college town.
Cynthia is visited by the corpse from the lab, and after witnessing it split open releasing giant slugs, she confides in Chris and JC. Chris walks her home and she invites him to the formal the following evening, never expecting their night will be more memorable then the two ever could imagine.
Zombie cats and dogs, resurrected axe murderers, a bus full of Zombie frat guys, a Dick Miller cameo and more head explosions than you can shake a flamethrower at (yup, there is one of these used too), the movie dives head first into 80’s horror bliss. Where else can you hear a line such as “I got good news and bad news, girls,” Cameron announces to the sorority. “The good news, your dates are here. The bad news, they’re dead.”
The practical effects were a dream team of now legendary make up artists. Lead by David B. Miller (Nightmare on Elm Street, Thriller, Night of the Comet) and supported by Howard Berger and Robert Kurtzman (legendary KNB Effects: Evil Dead 2, Halloween 5). The team was handpicked and collaborated on all the designs, casting and sculpting. Most of the effects team also played Frat brothers in the film, applying their own makeup for when they made the transition into Alien Zombies. They used their own life casts in the final effects where each one is dispatched by shotguns and flamethrowers.
Though a product of its time, gratuitous topless sorority girls and stereotypical characterizations of its ethnic cast, the film holds up as a fun, funny, gory, full of memorable one liners classic of horror cinema. Fred Dekker’s film may not have been well received in it’s time, but it is sure remembered with fondness and nostalgia along his other work of the same decade Monster Squad. A true midnight movie in the best sense, Night of the Creeps is one that will be discussed, enjoyed and talked about amongst genre fans for years to come.4/5
You can rent or purchase Night of the Creeps now on Amazon prime. Check out the trailer below and as always be sure to follow ScaryNerd for more of all things horror, sci-fi and more.
K.B. O’Neil is an artist, writer and musician living in Cincinnati, Ohio. He loves movies, books, video games, snuggling his two pups and all things Horror. When not working he can be found getting into adventures with his wife and their new daughter.