MOVIE REVIEW: Night of the Creeps

I've been waiting for a long time for this DVD to come out. The first time I saw it was when I was young and popped an old VHS into the VCR. I can't remember why, maybe to see what was on it before I taped over it, and Night of the Creeps was on it. My mom used to tape movies off TV all the time. I'm so glad she did because it has become one of my favourite horror films. I still have that VHS, but I'm glad it came out on DVD so I don't have to fast forward through commercials every time I watch it.

Night of the Creeps begins in black & white in 1959, with an alien expelling an experiment from its spaceship. It lands on Earth, near Corman University, where a couple is parking. The guy goes to investigate, ending up being infected by space slugs. Fast forward to full-colour 1986. Chris Romero has a crush on Cindy Cronenberg, and he thinks the only way he can get her is by joining a fraternity. So Chris and his best friend James Carpenter-Hooper (J.C.) are asked by the fraternity brothers to get a dead body from the morgue. They end up unfreezing the body of the man infected with the space slugs and inadvertently unleashing the space slugs upon the community.

I don't want to give too much of the film away if you haven't seen it yet (I probably already have). I love how the plot is a mixture of different B-movie plots (aliens, zombies, axe murderers). The dialogue is witty and hilarious ("The good news is your dates are here. The bad news is they're dead."). The characters are very likable and interesting (I had a huge crush on J.C.).

The Special Features on the DVD are amazing. There's an alternate ending, deleted scenes, a commentary with writer/director Fred Dekker and a commentary with the cast, an interview with Tom Atkins, and a lengthy feature on the making of the film titled Thrill Me: Making Night of the Creeps, featuring interviews with the cast, crew and fans. There's also a really cool feature called Trivia Track. When you turn it on, trivia facts will come up on the screen like subtitles while you watch the film.

If this review doesn't convince you to watch Night of the Creeps, check out Stacie Ponder's 10 Reasons Why Night of the Creeps Rules.

Rating: 5/5