Night
of the Creeps (1986)
Directed
by Fred Dekker
Starring
Jason Lively, Steve Marshall, Jill Whitlow, Tom Atkins
Chris
and his friend J.C. are having a hard time fitting in at college. The frats are
unwelcoming, the school work is difficult, and alien slugs are everywhere. Woken
from a frozen slumber inside the university science building, the slugs from
space start invading everybody’s face. They burrow deep into the head and turn
people into the marauding undead. With the help of a haunted detective and
Cynthia, the girl of his dreams, Chris is going to have to find a way to
survive the night besieged by creeps.
Along
with The Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps is another
horror-comedy gem from Fred Dekker. There are so many honest attempts at
multiple genres with a lot of respect. But, there are very few moments in this
movie that takes itself seriously. Creeps
is an homage to B movies, a sci-fi thriller, and a zombie movie all in one. There
are even elements of slasher films and noir. Naturally, the movie feels like it’s
being pulled in about eight different directions at once. But somehow it works
and the movie becomes this joyous explosion of genre love.
The
special effects are certainly showing their years, but still look pretty good. The
alien getup looks uncomfortably close to a baby with a deformed head, but with
skin texture akin to a thick blanket. On the other hand, the slugs have
remained thoroughly disgusting and convincingly slimy. The zombies look pretty
great, especially whenever their heads are split open and there’s just an alien
slug hanging out. The effects remain mostly grossly enjoyable.
There
aren’t a lot of great performances in Creeps,
but there are two worth mentioning. Jill Whitlow gives her character something
very few supporting women have in horror: depth. Her Cynthia is independent,
smart, sensual, and able to handle a flame thrower on her own. Tom Atkins hams
it up hard by fully committing to the detective being a true blue noir
character. He spits out cheese ball lines like a champ and treats everything
seriously. His performance adds so much humor to the film.
Night of the Creeps
is silly, disgusting, and a raucous good time. The kitchen sink approach to
storytelling makes the film ludicrously fun. It’s one of the reasons you wonder
why Fred Dekker didn’t have a bigger career.
8 out of 10
