Night of the Creeps

With about 70% of older horror films, it's honestly hard for me to tell what "horror" films were meant to be comedy, and which were meant to scare me. Because the 70s were loaded with laugh-out-loud unintentional cheese films like Phantasm and The Omen, it's certainly not hard to see the natural evolution of horror films in the 80s. The 80s shifted from horror films intending to scare to horror films intending to make people laugh. Instead of trying to scare people with clichés, 80s horror took clichés and made people laugh at their predictability. Sadly, after you've seen this laugh-at-the-thing-that-would-have-scared-you-in-the-70s formula repeated over and over again, it stopped being funny really quickly, not to mention became as predictable as the movies it parodied. I've literally seen hundreds of 80s horror-comedies, and of them all, I can only pick out one or two that was genuinely funny or entertaining. The Evil Dead, for example, understood how to be genuinely comedic and still retain the horror elements. Night of the Creeps, however, is just . . . the same thing. If you've seen any 80s horror comedy, you've seen Night of the Creeps. Yes, it has a few comedic moments that set it apart from the crowd for a few seconds, but they're few and far between. The Star Wars parody in the opening was pretty clever, but after that Night of the Creeps just becomes like all the other 80s horror-comedies. It repeats the same lines, same pseudo-scares, same jokes, same clichés, same plot, same EVERYTHING. The main character is romantically challenged—really, who would have guessed? Have you ever seen an 80s horror-comedy where the main character is anything BUT a romantically/sexually challenged male? Over 90% of the movie is absolutely nothing but this cliché kid trying to figure out his pathetic relationship problems. It isn't funny, it's boring. I've seen the plot before in everything from 60s sitcoms to Dear Abby columns in the local newspaper. I can really care less. When the action starts, it's just a bunch of generic head-shots, then the movie goes right back to the boring, cliché dork drama. The "gore" is all done in PG-style cut-off scenes, so don't even expect any on-screen blood to make the movie more enjoyable. It starts out as a painfully forgettable movie, then quickly turns into a movie that I literally could not force myself to watch again. What else is there to say? If you grew up in the 80s, I can understand how this film may be nostalgic to you. I won't rain on your parade. If you watched this with youthful innocence as a kid, I'm not going to rain on your starry-eyed nostalgic parade. However, if you didn't grown up in the 80s, you'll have seen this material literally thousands of times in other 80s films and in the countless return-to-fun-horror films of the 2000s. By today's standards, Night of the Creeps is little more than a TV-PG-rated Disney Channel movie. 0/10

source: Night of the Creeps

Trailer—Night of the Creeps

Night of the Creeps

Viewing this particular film as a straight horror movie is a mistake. When I first saw this film (in 1989 or so) I thought it was a terrible horror movie and shut it off about half way through. I was under the impression it was a straight up zombie movie from the box art. There where some attempts at humor that fell flat. My problem was I was expecting "Dawn of the Dead" (or at least Day). On second enconter (around 1995) I laughed myself silly. I got the joke. The script is actually a joyous tribute to 50's-80's "B-Movies", Mad science, aliens, couples necking in a convertable (in black and white no less) and a catchphrase spewing hard boiled gumshoe. With out the preconceived notions I found this film quite charming. While not the best of the comedy/horror mix (Scream, American Werewolf in London...) this is a decent attempt at the cross-genre and best enjoyed with freinds.

Chris and J.C. are to college geeks. They are always the brunt of the jokes and always ready to give back a quick tongue lashing. When Chris takes a shine to one of the sorority girls both Chris and J.C. have to perform a hazing prank so they can join the fraternity and win his fair maiden. The boys are sent to the campus morgue to get a body but through a series of fowl ups reanimate a cryogenically frozen body that has an alien parasite residing in its body. It seems these parasites enter your mouth and take over your body whether you're dead or alive. Hilarity ensues as Chris and a police detective attempt to save the campus then the world. Night of the Creeps is one seriously fun film. A mixture of1950's sci-fi films mixed with some zombie action and a lot of humor. Night of the Creeps is a gem that needs to be revived in the DVD age. Tom Atkins is the highlight as the foul-mouthed and sarcastic detective that accompanies Chris during the debacle.

Fred Dekker's NIGHT OF THE CREEPS is seriously some top shelf 80's pulp horror. Great characters across the board, an exciting and unique premise, some snappy one-liners and an all around great time. Funny, charming, and utterly terrifying horror flick. It doesn't get much better than this.

This movie is so super cool. I love this movie. Even though the stars are like second - billing , this movie is still like no other - its original all in it's own right. Had to be a drive - in film from the looks of the release date. Wish I seen it there! If you have a slug in you , on you or around you - to say the least - you're totally bumming. 80s comedy - horror at its best. Makes you laugh and scares you into jumping out of your seat. Spooky. Funny and different make this a favorite of mine...and maybe yours! I rate this 9 / 10

This is a comedy horror gem!! Its corny its campy its 1980s its awesome!! Dont take it serious because you can't it's a fricking comedy horror!! I laughed a lot, I saw this way back in 1988 and enjoyed it then on VHS now I own the bluray it's in my must watch once a year collection. Like I said dont over judge and you'll enjoy this 1980s romp!!