Night of the Creeps
(1986)
review by Head Cheeze

Of all the obscure horror flicks studios pick to make the jump from tape to digital, you'd think a much-loved horror/comedy classic would be at the top of somebody's list somewhere, doncha? I know I did. But, as I stare at my ever-growing collection of third-rate slashers, T&A filled teen romps, and neon-infused crime capers, there's a gaping hole in my eighties collection, waiting to be filled by a proper DVD release of Night of the Creeps.

I won't pretend to know why this film hasn't seen the light of digital yet, but can only assume it's wrapped up in some sort of red tape, bound and gagged in a ditch somewhere, whimpering alongside a battered VHS copy of Night of the Comet. In any event, I want this film, and, like Veruca Salt, I want it now!

Chris and J.C. (Lively and Marshall) are a pair of college outcasts who pledge a fraternity to impress Cynthia (Whitlow), a girl that Chris has his designs on. While the frat has no intention of welcoming the boys into the fold, they aren't above exploiting Chris and J.C.'s enthusiasm, and assign them a task; steal a body from the school's morgue, and dump it on the steps of a local sorority house. Chris and J.C. attempt to carry out their assignment, and sneak into the school's lab where they discover a cryogenically frozen body. The boys remove the body from stasis, but are scared off when a lab technician catches them in the act, and the two race back to their dorm, where Chris mourns the loss of his one chance to impress the lovely Cynthia. However, what the two boys don't realise is that the body they freed from stasis housed a parasitic alien species that feeds on human brains, turning their hosts into shambling zombies. The walking corpse ends up on the steps of Cynthia's dorm, where she sees the alien menace firsthand, and turns to the "understanding" Chris. With the help of a cliche' spewing detective (Atkins) with a dark secret of his own, the kids set out to destroy the beasties before they can ruin the big dance.

Night of the Creeps is an hysterically funny cross-genre homage that combines elements from 50's schlock sci-fi, its own era's slashers, and even manages to find a way to squeeze zombies in there, tying it all together with whip-smart screenplay, hilarious sight-gags, and loads of convincing gore. While the film's look and some of the dialogue is skewed 80's, it still holds up very well, which is more than can be said for the majority of the horror offerings from that era.

While not yet available on DVD (save for sub-VHS quality rips from the black market), the film still pops up on cable television fairly often, and copies of the out-of-print VHS edition are fairly easy to find. Still, it would be nice to see a cleaned up, widescreen transfer of the film, and it would be a hoot to hear what the actors and creators have to say about this lost classic nearly twenty years later.