Night Life

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.

17.1 NIGHT LIFE (horror/comedy, 1989) Archie (Scott Grimes) works with his domineering uncle Flanders at the local mortuary. Though he hates the job, he needs the money to go to college. At school Archie is constantly bullied by the local 'jocks'. In one of their many pranks they get him fired. If that wasn't enough his only love interest is leaving town. But Flanders offers him a second chance when he asks his help with some new corpses. Archies' assignment is made all the more difficult when they unexpectedly come to life.

Critique: Horror comedy mixes youth exploitation plot with good dozes of zombie fun. In fact, the whole film seems geared at a 'Revenge of the Nerds'-type audience; as Archie gets repeatedly bullied, has failed romantic exploits and so on. The difference being that our hero turns out to be more resilient, tougher and smarter than your usual self-pitying film geek.

Film has good special effects, spooky atmosphere, action and humor. Above all it's a fairly surprising showcase from an otherwise unknown, capable cast. Particularly appealing is Scott Grimes' Archie. A cross between Michael J. Foxs' 'Marty McFly' from the 'Back to the Future' trilogy, and Macauley Caulkins' 'Home Alone' kid. He is funny, charismatic and exhumes a surprising leading man-type appeal. A fun but otherwise gory film.

Amusing and very light-headed quickie that distinguishes itself from the majority of lame and late 80's horror-comedies thanks to a couple of very ingenious jokes and the presence of cult-TV icon John Astin (The Addams Family). The typical story of nerdish underdog versus the popular high-school jocks is always fun to watch, and it gets even funnier (but more importantly: gorier) when the jocks turn into zombies that still only spend their time by playing pranks on the geek! Redhead Archie Melville and his car-technician girlfriend have no other option but to destroy the zombies in various ways. The intro, when there are still no zombies, is very lengthy but nevertheless entertaining since director David Acomba enlightens us about many specific embalming techniques. The geek hero namely works in the mortuary of his uncle and it's also there were the undead are resurrected after a thunderstorm. The film is fast-paced, the numerous clichés are forgivable and the gore often is surprisingly graphic (zombies in a wood chopper, exploding corpses…). John Astin obviously had a great time playing the ill-tempered undertaker and the young cast members do a fairly good job as well. "Night Life" is surely recommended in case you're looking for a simple, undemanding horror feast.

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!