NIGHT OF THE COMET (1984)
“and, here’s some other changes. Most of you guys had finals this week, huh later, their history, they're canceled. The legal drinking age is now 10, but, you will need ID, let’s be real! I’ll be taking requests from all you teenage comet zombies on the hit line…”
I originally saw this movie on a VHS rental from the video general store in Pinetop, AZ. We watched it at a friend’s cabin there and every time I think about this movie, I just really start drowning in childhood nostalgia. So when the BLU-RAY came out, I bought it as fast as possible. For me, 1984 was one of the best years for movies, EVER. In fact, to this day, it’s still way up there, if not the best in my mind.
In this one, a comet races by Earth and there is a bunch of excitement about it. That is until just minutes after the credits are done rolling, and pretty much everyone on Earth is vaporized into brick dust. Well, not everyone or we don’t really have a movie. Some people actually seem to have gotten exposed a little and they are turned into freakin zombies. Others like Regina Belmont (played by Catherine Mary Stewart) and her sister Samantha (played by Kelli Maroney) were spared due to being indoors… (or whatever, it doesn’t matter don’t overthink it). They run into a dude named Hector (played by Robert Beltran) and now it’s time to figure out what the heck happened? Where is everybody? And most importantly where is the nearest mall? Oh yeah, I should also say this movie has some crazy scientists in it also, just adding to all this fun.
Loaded with 80’s cliché and a pretty decent soundtrack, NIGHT OF THE COMET is basically a cult classic. Fans may recognize both the actresses in this. Catherine Mary Stewart was also in THE LAST STARFIGHTER the same year. She is still acting to this day. Kelli Maroney was in CHOPPING MALL (another 80’s horror classic) and FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH. She also still acts to this day. Heather Langenkamp of NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET fame also auditioned for the role of Samantha. So that just adds to how this thing could have gone, but maybe in its own way was better off going in the direction it did.
Cinematically the movie is shot in kind of an eerie red tint at times and overall the producers did a fantastic job of making Los Angeles look empty. This was all well before CGI. There are a few scenes that really creeped me out as a kid and even by today’s standards some of the kids are brazenly bizarre. The make-up effects on the zombies feel pretty B-movie, but it’s extremely effective. I guess Joss Whedon was so impressed with this thing that it actually sparked his creation of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. Both movies feature a cheerleader and at least one other person trying to save the world or survive something absolutely nuts.
If I was going to change anything, I would have put some more action sequences into the more dialog-driven parts. While we do care about these characters, we almost care just as much about characters that barely have 5 minutes on screen towards the end of the film. This is not to say that the movie is slow-moving, it’s got a decent pace. I would just have liked to see it get a bigger budget. My only other critique is that they should have stuck with the movie's original working title "Teenage Mutant Horror Comet Zombies". Having said that, what we do get is just a freakin blast.
Overall just due to how freakin fun this thing is, it’s an automatic 7 out of 7 for me without a question. It’s a movie automatically on my October Horror movie list every year now that I own it. If you even remotely love the 80s and the horror comedies of its time, do not hesitate to buy this thing or stream it.
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