Night of the Creeps

After an "experiment" is accidentally released from a spaceship in a tube, it crashes on Earth where it infects a youth in the 1950s. Flash forward to the mid 1980s, and the youth is now cryogenically frozen in a university lab for study. At least until Chris Romero (Jason Lively) and J.C. Hooper (Steve Marshall) release him, and he begins infecting countless members of a small college town.

Director and writer Fred Dekker, who has had a lamentably short career as a helmer, wrote Night of the Creeps in seven days. He told himself that if he did not get to the end of the script by that self-imposed deadline, the whole thing would go into the garbage. If this is what one can come up with in such a flurry, maybe more scripts should have time limits. We should also be glad that he sold the script with a caveat: if he wasn't allowed to helm the film, he wasn't going to sell it. He's said that he didn't care if it sold or not at the time.

Why Dekker has received so little recognition and respect in the industry is difficult to say. Night of the Creeps didn't have the wide release and promotion that it deserved, especially given its $5 million budget (it's curious that TriStar didn't push more to make its money back). Both this film and Dekker's 1987 effort, The Monster Squad, are currently only available on bootleg DVDs in the U.S.

Night of the Creeps is one of the better horror/comedies of the 1980s. The script is clever, paying homage to everything from 1950s sci-fi horror to the zombie craze started by George Romero to 1980s slasher films and even John Hughes. Just in case one couldn't catch the homage angle, Dekker has a lot of character and place names that are tributes to various genre directors. Dekker's dialogue is witty and memorable--there are a few classic diatribes in the film that would be worthwhile and a lot of fun to memorize. Dekker's writing is self-conscious and self-mocking, predating Scream (1996) by 10 years (there is actually a whole class of 1980s and early 1990s flicks that were doing everything Scream was credited with revolutionizing). Dekker is not afraid to be joyously silly, as with genre character actor favorite Tom Atkins' response when asked if he's Detective Cameron--"No, Bozo the Clown". Dekker even gives us the 1980s high school classic of the hand-cranked middle finger.

But Night of the Creeps isn't just a comedy. The serious horror aspects of Night of the Creeps are extremely well done. The film is suspenseful, the effects are good, and there is plenty of gore for fans. Dekker could have easily made an effective retro horror film--most of the first five minutes are set in the 1950s, shot in black and white, and have an authentic feel, with just a dash of tongue in its cheek. He smoothly transitions from The Blob (1958) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)-styled sci-fi (with heavy Alien (1979) touches) to early 1980s slasher material, then to a more complex and fantastic collage of zombies, slugs and detectives seeking revenge.

While the film isn't likely to be appreciated by those who dislike mixing their horror with comedy, and especially won't be appreciated by viewers who don't even realize that it's supposed to also be a comedy, neither type is very likely to watch it in the first place--at least not for long. For those with the appropriate mindset and love of horror (it's a lot more fun if one is familiar with everything being referenced), Night of the Creeps is a gem that deserves better recognition. We should at least be able to buy it on an official DVD (and please put both endings on the disc).

I'm guessing that if you like 'B-movies' then the title will tip you off towards everything you really need to know about this film. It's cheesy as hell... but great fun (if you like that sort of thing).

For what is effectively a teenage zombie black comedy horror, it starts off squarely in the 'science fiction' territory as some revolting aliens (with unreadable subtitles!) eject a pod of - er something - out into space, which then ends up in a small American town. Guess what... this intergalactic goo doesn't go down too well with us humans and, before long, the town is infested with alien zombies and mutant brain-slugs.

So, if you've seen one horror B-movie then you probably have a rough idea of what to expect here. The acting isn't that great. The plot is daft and the gore is plentiful. So, if you like that sort of thing, you'll have a blast here. Especially as the characters are actually pretty good fun. You often get cardboard cut-outs who you have to force yourself to follow through the story, just so you can get to the next special effects-laden splatterfest, but here they're well-written and rather humourous. Tom Atkins is about the most famous name on the cast - he plays the cop in charge of investigating the weird sightings/murders on campus, but the younger cast-members are all very watchable, too.

Because this was made in the eighties, all of us who like 'practical' effects, rather the computer-generated ones will have a blast at the fact that the brain slugs are beautifully animated and the aliens (for their albeit too small on-screen appearance) are up there with anything featured in 'Star Wars.' It's also quite a 'knowing' kind of film. Like 'Scream' did in the nineties, it - lovingly - mocks the genre it sits in and often nods towards the clichés you'd normally expect from film of this nature.

If you like films full of ridiculous, cheesy black comedy horror, then definitely check this one out. I can't believe I've only just discovered it in 2020 (at least something good has come out of this year!).

In 1959, an alien throws an experiment from his spaceship to the space and the capsule crashes on Earth. The college students Pam (Alice Cadogan) and Johnny (Ken Heron) are dating in a parking area nearby the location and believe it is a falling star. Steve decides to investigate, but they are warned by Pam's former boyfriend, the police officer Ray Cameron, that a maniac is killing people in that area with an ax. However Steve leaves Pam and walks in the woods looking for the star and a slug-like creature jumps into his mouth.

In 1986, the college students Chris (Jason Lively) and the disabled J.C. (Steve Marshall) are best friends and Chris has a crush on Cynthia Cronenberg (Jill Whitlow), who is the girlfriend of the cocky Brad (Allan J. Kayser). They decide to join Brad's fraternity to impress Cynthia and Brad tells that they need to bring a corpse and leave in front of another fraternity. They go to the Med School Laboratory of the Corman University and find Johnny's body in a cryogenic chamber. They remove the corpse from the chamber but get scared and leave the body on the floor. However, Johnny leaves the laboratory and releases slugs that transform people into zombies. Detective Ray Cameron (Tom Atkins) is in charge of the investigation and initially believes that it is a prank. But soon he realizes that the campus is crowded of zombies.

"Night of the Creeps" is a cult-movie by Fred Dekker with a funny story of aliens, slugs and zombies. This movie is a sort of comedy and tribute to the zombie, slasher and sci-fi genres. There are good performances, the make-up is great and the lead actress Jill Whitlow is cute. This film follows the formula of B-movie inclusive with many beautiful legs and breasts in the sorority house. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Noite dos Arrepios" ("The Night of the Creeps")

This is a comedy horror gem!! Its corny its campy its 1980s its awesome!! Dont take it serious because you can't it's a fricking comedy horror!! I laughed a lot, I saw this way back in 1988 and enjoyed it then on VHS now I own the bluray it's in my must watch once a year collection. Like I said dont over judge and you'll enjoy this 1980s romp!!

"Night of the Creeps" is definitely one of the better B-movies that are out there. Granted, like all B-movies it's a bit hokey at times, and also follows along the trademark lines with films of this caliber (obligatory boob shot, corny dialogue, poor camera techniques, etc.).

But give "Night of the Creeps" its due. First of all, it is fairly original for a B-movie. Alien slugs that infest the brain and turn you into a zombie may seem like a typical B-movie theme, but it's portrayed in a fairly unique manner. Given the time period of this movie's release, and it's obviously small budget, I'm quite impressed with the special-effects of the alien slugs as they race along the ground throughout the film. They're so simple, that it makes them look realistic and somewhat unnerving. In horror films, it is often the most simple effects that are the most discomforting to the viewer. I put these alien slugs along that line.

I really like Tom Atkins ("Lethal Weapon") as Detective Cameron too. He's the perfect actor for this particular role as the washed-up detective. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately for Tom's career, it seems that he often got type-cast to play the depressed, on-edge characters. Atkins is one of the bonuses in this B-flick.

Another "acting bonus" would have to be our two young heroes played by Jason Lively ("European Vacation") and Jill Whitlow. Lively as always plays the young, likable clod. Somewhat bashful, somewhat moronic, somewhat accident-prone, but you can't help but like the guy. And Whitlow is just plain cute. I sometimes think that 80's flicks didn't have enough cute girls in them, but Whitlow is definitely one of them.

All in all, "Night of the Creeps" is good for a B-movie. It'll entertain you for sure, and you won't get sick of it while you're watching. It's definitely one to watch if you're into the B-movie thing.