Night of the Comet

That's a problem I have with movies that come on television, when there is nothing else to watch. I somehow get sucked into really bad movies. But this one was fairly watchable. The concept of being the only ones left on Earth after a comet, then finding out zombies are around makes me laugh. And that's why I gave this movie a 2, instead of 1. The story was stupid...but in that way that makes you laugh (too stupid >funny). I think I only watched it because the guy from Star Trek was the lead. I was surprised to see him as a younger guy...and he was the only funny character anyway.

This movie was bad. This movie was horrible. The acting was bad. The setting was unrealistic. The story was absurd: A comet that appears once in eons is set to appear one night. Most of the world's population decided to watch this comet. Then, the next morning everyone but a select few of people has been turned to dust from the comet's radiation. People's clothes are still intact, there are plants which are still alive, but the people were turned to dust. No bones, nothing. Thats ridiculous. How can radiation incinerate people but leave their clothes and other biological substances intact? Even better, the comet mutated some people into zombie flesh eating monsters. Their makeup would not have even looked frightening to a newborn child. The Insane Clown Posse scare me more...and they're supposed to look stupid. Then there were the survivors. People who had been surrounded by steel when the comet passed were spared from zombie-dom and death. How can steel block a comet's radiation that supposedly incinerates people in their tracks? Equally insulting is the 60's horror music playing in the background through parts of the movie, or the 80's hair rock which serves no purpose in the film and makes you want to shoot your television. The stupidest part of the movie, however, are the characters it focuses on: two Valley Girls and Chakotay from Star Trek: Voyager. These three characters were totally unrealistic. Who would go looting the day after an apocalypse with flesh eating mutants running everywhere? There were four 5 minute horror scenes in the entire movie, and most of them were dreams. In between these scenes is unsophisticated dialog which makes South Park seem intelligent. The silence in between the elementary dialog was painful. I could have made a better movie with four monkeys and a bag of Cheetos. Don't see this movie, ever.

This was the only time I ever walked out on a movie. Years later, I saw it in the cable listings and thought, "Maybe I should give it another try." Suffice to say that I was right the first time. This ranks second only to Godzilla 1998 as the worst movie I've ever seen.

I am still so in love with this movie! I was in the 7th grade when I saw it at a matinée on a Saturday afternoon in early December 1984. I didn't have any friends and went by myself. Great film-making is when a movie TRULY lets you escape and makes you WANT to be a part of it. That happened with me in the theater when I saw this. I SO wanted to be Kelli Maroney. Some may say I am putting a little too much into this film. But isn't that the point of a good movie, to let you escape? NIGHT OF THE COMET accomplished that, and still does. You probably know what its about. Two popular teenage girls are left in Los Angeles, California after a comet comes and destroys everyone. Or so we THINK they're alone. Adventure, horror, and hijinx follow. I highly recommend this movie particularly if you are in desperate need to escape your own problems for awhile. Kelli Maroney is incredible as the cheerleading sister and B movie queen Mary Woronov is sweet as a guilt plagued scientist. A 10.

Night of the Comet (1984) ** (out of 4) Everyone on Earth is awaiting a comet to come close but what no one knows is that it's going to have catastrophic consequences. The morning after the comet Regina (Catherine Mary Stewart) and Samantha (Kelli Maaroney) find that they're the only ones alive and they must try and survive the zombies that have overtaken the land. NIGHT OF THE COMET is a movie that a lot of people love. It wasn't the biggest box office hit but it gained a nice cult following over the years but I must admit that it just didn't work for me. I can honestly look at the movie and understand why some might love it but personally speaking there really wasn't anything here that kept me glued to the movie. While nothing in it is horrible there's also nothing good either. The film is a homage to those horror and science fiction films that would play in drive-ins back in the 1950s. There are a couple nice winks to those types of movies scattered throughout the running time but these things certainly can't save the picture. Both Stewart and Maroney are good in their parts but I can't say I loved either character. There certainly wasn't enough zombie action. Again, if you love this picture then I can understand why. At the same time, I really don't think there's anything great here.

The earth passes through the tail of an unnamed comet. It's been 65 million years since the last time when the dinosaurs died off. There is a party atmosphere. Regina (Catherine Mary Stewart) working at the movie theater spends the night in the projection booth with a co-worker. Her cheerleader sister Samantha (Kelli Maroney) gets into a fistfight with stepmother Doris and hides out in the lawn storage shed. The comet turns most people into dust and the rest into brutal zombies of varying abilities. The steel protected both girls. They drive to a radio station which is still broadcasting but it's all automated and they run into truck driver Hector (Robert Beltran). Then a secret underground military base makes contact with the trio. This is a terrific end-of-the-world B-movie. The lines are fun. Samantha is funny. Regina has attitude. I loved CMS. It's LA without people around. There is something very compelling about an empty large city. It works as a fun apocalyptic movie but also so campy when needed.

Hey, you can complain about it all you want folks, but this is classic 80s!!! Those of you who feel nostalgic when you hear synth music, see super fluffy layered hair with LOTS of Aqua net, and skintight SV's or Jordache, this is for you. Robert Beltran is our Ponchlike hero, we who are Trekkers have come to know him as Chakotay from ST: Voyager, but some of you 80s buffs might remember him as "RAOUL" from a little picture from around the same year called "Eating Raoul" with the great Mary Waronov, who is also briefly in this movie as a mad scientist/zombie gone good with a conscience. Her part I wish had been larger, and that her interaction with Beltran had been more detailed... they are great on screen together, and she fits right in with this 80s camp. Catherine Mary Stewart who used to be Kayla Brady on Days of our Lives shines as the tough chick, while cute Kelly Maroney of Ryan's Hope is her naive cheerleader sister. Sorry if some of you think it is awful, but if you grew up during the time this film was made, I believe you will really enjoy it. The music is really nostalgic... there's one slow song that is really reminiscent of the Frank Stallone days when he was on top with "Staying Alive"... Anyone remember "Moody Girl"? This song will remind you of that, and this movie will make you long for days before the world lost all it's creativity and started copying everything great from that time. Enjoy, Children of the 80s, this one's for you. PS... Had to edit this upon just watching it again... How funny and predictive is it that Kelly says "Beam me up Scotty"... As The future Chakotay is listening!" :)

I really wanted to like this movie, but in the end I just couldn't. The film has no real direction and despite certain comedic attempts most jokes falls flat. The idea behind the movie seems very farsical, but somehow the script doesn't fill the shoes well. Jokes or various 'ha-ha' nudges are mostly weak. Additionally the movie progresses slowly with little or no scary moments, whilst dramatic scenes are laughable. In the end we have a movie, where the director has no real clue of what genre he is trying to fill. I must say that the film ends at a very high note and I gave the movie two extra stars for the absurd 'future of the human race' outro. The best sold idea in a movie, that gets caught up in the undertow of its hype.

Tough, smart Los Angeles resident Regina (smoking hot brunette Catherine Mary Stewart of "The Last Starfighter") and her flighty younger sister Samantha (adorably bubbly blonde sprite Kelli Maroney of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High") are amongst a small handful of folks left alive after the bulk of the planet's population are turned into red dust by a passing comet. Other survivors include "Eating Raoul" 's Robert Beltran as a hunky nice guy truck driver, your standard assortment of hostile rot-faced, sunken-eyed zombies, a vicious gang of nihilistic punk psycho stock boys, and a team of evil mad scientists who include the ever-twitchy Geoffrey Lewis and ravishing femme fatale supreme Mary Woronov. Writer/director Thom Eberhardt takes an unpromisingly generic sci-fi/horror end-of-the-world premise and gives it a marvelously clever, witty and inspired tongue-in-cheek hip'n'flip 80's makeover: the characters are refreshingly humane and engaging, the witty dialogue frequently hits the sidesplitting snappy spot ("Hey, I'm sorry if the end of the world makes me nervous"), the New Wave rock soundtrack seriously smokes, and in the film's single most delightful sequence Regina and Samantha joyfully ransack a swank department store for all the gnarly fashionable clothes they can get their eager little adolescent hands on (appropriately enough, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" plays on the soundtrack during this simply spectacular sequence which speaks volumes about the shallow materialistic culture of the 80's. Instead of stockpiling essential things like food and water these girls amass a large array of trendy apparel). Better still, there's a wonderfully natural and appealing breezy'n'easy chemistry between Stewart and Maroney; their sweet, lively and often amusing rapport keeps the picture fun and bouncy throughout. Furthermore, the eerie shots of the empty and abandoned desolate city streets are quite striking and the ferocious zombies deliver several truly creepy and startling moments. Popping up in cool cameos are Michael ("Forbidden World," "Valley Girl") Bowen as an early victim, Ivan E. Roth as the terrifying leader of the psycho stock boys, and Sharon Farrell as the girls' bitchy stepmom. Arthur Albert's crisp, handsome cinematography (the use of funky dusky red filters is especially impressive and effective), David Richard Campbell's nifty spacey synthesizer score, and David Miller's neat make-up f/x are all on the money excellent. A total blast.

Although NIGHT OF THE COMET possesses a minor status as a cult zombie film, I'm sorry to say that it is totally unworthy of said respect. Truth be told, it's a dumb '80s teen comedy, with a couple of utterly irritating teenage girls as leads and not a great deal to recommend it whatsoever. The paucity of the film's budget is evident from the outset, as comet effects are achieved with flashlights and the sky turns a cheesy red colour for the rest of the movie. As for the plot, it's a direct rip-off of Day of the Triffids, as comets destroy everyone aside from a few people who weren't exposed to the radiation. And what of the zombies? Well, the director clearly loves the work of George Romero and feels it necessary to incorporate a few okay-ish zombie attacks into the film, but these takes up 5 minutes of the running time tops and half of those are padded dream sequences. Catherine Mary Stewart makes for an unlikely heroine, with a big mouth and even bigger attitude. She's matched by blonde bimbo Kelli Maroney, who character is hands down the worst thing in the movie; you'll be screaming for her death scene, but even that's a cheat. The lead is taken by Robert Beltran, later known for his starring role in STAR TREK: VOYAGER, but he doesn't really have anything to do in this film, just stand around and look dashing. Two cult movie fans appear in the flick: Mary Woronov and Geoffrey Lewis. Both are entertaining in their own right, but criminally underused. The film is slow moving and even the slim plot seems padded. It can't even use the lack of budget as an excuse, as Steve Barkett's THE AFTERMATH was done on about one tenth of this film's budget and was ten times better. The comedy is diabolical and halfway through things grind to a halt for an appalling shopping mall interlude clearly stolen from DAWN OF THE DEAD. Except this time, two obnoxious teenagers dress up to the 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' song. Words can't express how bad this is. Things do pick up for an eleventh day sub-plot about some ruthless scientists harvesting human blood to protect themselves from the radioactive ways, but it 's over quickly and without much to recommend it. Poor acting, plot, special effects, and barely any gore effects make this film one to avoid. The evil scientist plot is the only thing to stop it from being totally without merit.