Fred Dekker's "Night of the Creeps" of 1986 is a hilarious Zombie satire that enjoys an enormous cult-status among many Horror fans. The film is regarded by some as an absolute cult-favorite of the 80s and sometimes even compared with highlights such as "The Evil Dead" or "Re-Animator". While my personal opinion is that this little gem cannot possibly compete with "The Evil Dead" or "Re-Animator" (Both personal all-time favorites of mine), it is beyond doubt that any Horror lover with a sense of humor will have a blast watching this.
The film begins with a hilarious opening sequence in space (and the funniest-looking aliens I've ever seen) and continues with a black-and-white prologue set in 1959. At the same time that a murderous psychopath is on the loose, a part of an alien experiment falls out of a spaceship and hits earth. Near Corman (!) University, a guy is befallen by extraterrestrial slugs and hence turned into a zombie. In 1986, two nerds break into a scientific facility and accidentally unfreeze the poor fellow, releasing the zombie-making slugs... The film is great fun to watch from the beginning to the end. Some people seem to regard this as one of the rarities that are funny AND scary at the same time. Well, scary is something different, in my opinion, but the fun-part is hilarious, and the film enjoyably relies on cool make-up, nicely-done gore effects, a nice atmosphere, eccentric characters, macabre humor and memorably funny dialog. The performances are good, legendary B-Movie star and super-badass Tom Atkins shines as the tough cop, Jill Withlow is yummy in the female lead. Jason Lively and Steve Marshall are very believable as the nerdy protagonists, and the film even features a cameo appearance by Horror/B-Movie legend Dick Miller ("A Bucket of Blood",...). Many of the characters have a tribute as their name: Detective Landis, Ray Cameron, Cynthia Cronenberg, Sgt. Raimi, Corman University, etc. Overall this is a hilarious and extremely entertaining little film that every Horror fan should enjoy. Highly Recommended.
The film begins with a hilarious opening sequence in space (and the funniest-looking aliens I've ever seen) and continues with a black-and-white prologue set in 1959. At the same time that a murderous psychopath is on the loose, a part of an alien experiment falls out of a spaceship and hits earth. Near Corman (!) University, a guy is befallen by extraterrestrial slugs and hence turned into a zombie. In 1986, two nerds break into a scientific facility and accidentally unfreeze the poor fellow, releasing the zombie-making slugs... The film is great fun to watch from the beginning to the end. Some people seem to regard this as one of the rarities that are funny AND scary at the same time. Well, scary is something different, in my opinion, but the fun-part is hilarious, and the film enjoyably relies on cool make-up, nicely-done gore effects, a nice atmosphere, eccentric characters, macabre humor and memorably funny dialog. The performances are good, legendary B-Movie star and super-badass Tom Atkins shines as the tough cop, Jill Withlow is yummy in the female lead. Jason Lively and Steve Marshall are very believable as the nerdy protagonists, and the film even features a cameo appearance by Horror/B-Movie legend Dick Miller ("A Bucket of Blood",...). Many of the characters have a tribute as their name: Detective Landis, Ray Cameron, Cynthia Cronenberg, Sgt. Raimi, Corman University, etc. Overall this is a hilarious and extremely entertaining little film that every Horror fan should enjoy. Highly Recommended.