I have to give it to Frank Dekker. He was really ambitious with his project Night of the Creeps. It felt like he wanted to do so much and pack it into an hour and a half. Maybe a little too ambitious. Creeps has a lot of problems. So many grey areas. I found myself asking "Why did that happen?" more often than not during the movie. I know it's just an eighties schlock piece, but come on! You have to pay more attention to continuity. I am still scratching my head at some parts.
The movie is about these strange parasitic slugs from space that lay eggs in your brain. Who crash land on earth back in 1959. The first victims are a young couple who were necking out at the point. (always a couple necking at the point) During this time a Psycho Ax Murderer is also wandering the streets. Needless to say. While our hero "Johnny" (Always Johnny!) goes into the woods and gets infected, leaving his girlfriend to be chopped up by the killer. While the alien eggs are incubating you walk around like a zombie, even if your dead. Cut to 1986, Chris and J.C. aren't the coolest kids on the block. When the two get mixed up in a Frat pledge prank, they mistakenly unleash the slugs. Now they have to exterminate these bugs with extreme prejudice.
The movie is pretty decently cast for the eighties. Tom Atkins stars as the grizzled detective that was there that night in '59 and is ready for the Creeps in 1986. Jason Lively, Jill Whitlow, and even a young David Paymer round out some of the starring roles as young college students at Corman University. The acting leaves a lot to be desired. However, the special effects are really cool. I love the comic book ascetic. It is done really well... so well that I think Frank Dekker might have sacrificed the storyline and continuity for it. Making this movie nothing more than fodder.
The continuity is a real problem. I am not talking about a clock that says one time in one shot and then immediately another time with the next. No, this is more than that. The continuity problems are almost Uwe Boll worthy. There needs to be more explanation as to what is going on in the movie. I don't know how half of the characters were infected in the first place. There is a scene where a person is holding a shotgun and then all of a sudden a flame thrower... It's a problem.
Overall, I like the movie. It's not the best film but it has it's moments. If your a fan of Tom Atkins then I would suggest checking this out. If you don't look too far into it, then you will see that the movie is actually really fun. It has some funny moments. Is it scary? No. It's too comic bookie to be scary.
"Thrill Me"
- All the last names of the main characters are based on famous horror and sci-fi directors: George A. Romero (Chris Romero), John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper (James Carpenter Hooper), David Cronenberg (Cynthia Cronenberg), James Cameron (Det. Ray Cameron), John Landis (Det. Landis), Sam Raimi (Sgt. Raimi) and Steve Miner (Mr. Miner - The Janitor).
- The college football team the Bulldogs was named in tribute to writer/director Fred Dekker's high school football team.
- According to director Fred Dekker the prominent "Stryper Rules" graffiti visible in the bathroom scene appeared due to makeup artist Kyle Sweet's (1956-2009) relationship with future husband, 'Stryper' (I) frontman Michael Sweet.
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