Night Life

Another poster called it the Citizen Kane of zombie movies. They were right. It's got some magic in it.

If you heard the premise you'd judge this film in advance and in doing so you'd be missing a real horror classic. There's something about it that follows you out of the end. It's scored in a very interesting way, shot in a very interesting way and the whole thing has a dreamlike quality. Scott Grimes was superb in the lead.

The very last bit really makes the film. Clever. The whole thing is well written. The dialogue is not hackneyed or trite, it's literate.

Watching it I thought the director must have been really hungry because he spun this simple story into something gold.

High school loser and funeral parlour assistant Archie Melville (Scott Grimes) is unable to escape persecution from a pair of preppy bullies and their beautiful girlfriends, even after all four die in a horrific car crash: a combination of toxic gas and lightning brings the malicious teens back from the dead so that they can continue to make life hell for the poor misfit.

Despite adequate performances from all involved, one or two stylish touches from director David Acomba (the dream-like, mist-shrouded crash aftermath scene being particularly effective), some fun cheesy gore from FX man Craig Reardon (including a split head, an eye being drilled, and Gomez Adams getting pumped full of oil), and the unforgettable sight of gorgeous blonde Lisa Fuller on all fours in her underwear, '80s teen zombie horror/comedy Night Life (AKA Grave Misdemeanours) must still be considered something of a disappointment: the film offers very little in the way of originality for fans of '80s horror, its outcast main character, his pretty tomboy sidekick, and the obnoxious preppy jocks all being clichéd mainstays of the genre; the pacing is terrible, with Acomba devoting far too much time depicting Archie's pathetic life both at school and at home, rather than getting on with the horror; and the laughs are rare, with lame attempts at Porky's style teen humour and woeful stabs at black comedy. Furthermore (and contrary to other comments here on IMDb), I found Archie to be an irritating character who brings much of his woes upon himself by being a smart-ass who just doesn't know when to shut up.

Unsurprisingly, the film has disappeared into relative obscurity, along with much of its cast.

I thought that Night Life was very promising for the first half hour. The characters were likeable, and the story was interesting. But the horror aspects don't really enter the picture until the last half hour - and when they do, they are disappointing. The zombies are not like traditional zombies at all. They drive cars, operate machinery, and seem to retain much of their human personalities. What's worse, there are only four of them and they seem to be indestructible (like Jason from Friday the 13th pt 2 -?). In my opinion, the threat of zombies should be sheer numbers. As individuals, they are not very strong, fast, or coordinated. It should not have been so difficult for the heroes of this movie to deal with a paltry four walking corpses.

I have seen this film a few times, the first of which was the day I bought it for 99p from a video store that was closing down. Initailly bought on the back of Scott Grimes sterling work in the first two Critters movies. But what a treat. This not your A-typical zombie flick. Though a lot of the rules have been preserved from the other undead features that have gone before this one adds its own twist. Scott Grimes plays Archie, the assistant to a crotchety old undertaker. Being the loser that he is, naturally he falls for the hottest girl in town who happens to date the local jock, and Archie's sworn enemy. However following a car wreck things change and now Archie must spend the night running for his life as the undead are in pursuit. All in all a good, fun film. It never takes itself seriously without resorting to being stupid. Fans of Return of the Living Dead should check this out!

If you liked this movie then I would also recommend another obscure zombie twist with THE VIDEO DEAD if you can find a copy.

Also released under the title of GRAVE MISDEMEANOURS!

This movie is by no means Shakespere material, but compared to the other stuff on the market..it's gold! I have to admit I enjoyed this movie because it was offbeat yet not total out of the atomsphere! Scott Grimes ( a favorite actor of mine!) is what really made this movie. If this movie had been done with a "pretty boy type" like Johnny Deep, it would have lost all value! The charecter of Archie, had to be played by a guy that had an unconventional look yet was not butt ugly! Scott was prefect for this role. As for the rest of the castings...perfect! Acting was very good, it helped move the sort of slow start of the movie to flow better. Everyone was prefect for their role. Sure, the story was a bit slow, but the directing ( especially for a horror flick) was subtle, quirky, and unobtrusive. I really like this movie, esspecially because of the mind tricks it plays on you in the second part of the movie! I urge you to rent this movie!