Night of the Creeps

1986, US, Directed by Fred Dekker
Colour, Running Time: 89 minutes
Review Source: Blu-ray, Region A, Sony; Video: 1.85:1 24fps 1080p, Audio: DTS HD

Distant space: a chase around an alien spacecraft results in the launching of a capsule containing some unexplained test project deep into the cosmos. 1950s, Earth: two lovers see a ‘meteorite’ crash in the nearby woods; the guy goes off to investigate it just in time to witness hundreds of slug-like creatures crawl from the impact site - he never returns. 1980s/the present: a motley pair of college outcasts, Chris and JC, decide to join a fraternity of popular dudes so Chris can impress the new girl of his creams, sorry, dreams: Cindy. The trouble is, their initiation prank involves obtaining a dead body and leaving it outside one of the student buildings. Their adventurous desire to impress brings them to the local science facility as they stumble upon a laboratory where a cadaver appears to be stored in a state of suspended animation. Fooling around with the controls they manage to unlock the chamber and decide this is the body they’ll use for the prank. Much to their shock the corpse opens its eyes - they panic and run (screaming like banshees...), but when the cops arrive at the scene they find the cryogenic specimen has ‘disappeared’. Meanwhile, outside the girls’ student quarters, Cindy sees a man staggering around by one of the windows; his head explodes and out crawl dozens of slug-like creatures. These things seem to have an attraction for gestating within human or animal brains leaving the host to walk around in virtual living death until the slugs are ready to escape into the outside world to find more hosts and therefore multiply even further…

Approached in a tongue-in-cheek manner the material functions adeptly on several levels, juxtaposing fun and frights whilst unfolding a well considered story that weaves a surprising number of its own narrative elements together. Its refusal to take itself overly seriously (indicated, for example, by naming the characters after genre directors that were popular at the time, and still are in some cases…) actually enhances the drama and tension in places. College dorks, Chris and JC, make for an amusing and endearing pair of leads that are easy to identify with for anyone who didn’t exactly fit in with the main crowd during their educational years, although I find Chris’s evolution from total nerd to hero a bit corny and implausible even in the context of this kind of movie. Embedded comfortably in the 80s the film might prove nostalgic for anyone who happened to be a teenager during the period. Delivering some of the best lines, Tom Atkins is brilliant as the cynical cop who hides a past that intricately plays an active part in the story. Dekker must have stretched the budget to its limits with the early sequence set on the spacecraft (which lasts a mere couple of minutes) followed by some excellent special effects work later on. Incorporating many elements of genre convention, from the walking dead to exploding heads and alien slugs, and combining them with a fast-paced adventure populated by great characters and some cool set-pieces, you get your money’s worth and Night of the Creeps remains a notable 80s B Movie that’s accumulated deserved cult status over the decades.

I don’t believe this even received a sell-through release on video in the UK - I purchased the tape in a rental-size box via mail order for £25 around 1992 and was glad I did as I watched it many times since. Following the surprise release of Dekker’s other fan favourite a few years ago, Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps was finally announced for not only DVD but Blu-ray as well - this was amazing news for myself and many other Creeps fans who had waited too long. Finally I could see this film as it was probably projected in theatres back in the 80s, possibly in better quality. The image, it goes without saying, is not the same as what you’d expect from a slick big budget film of the last decade or so but looks great as far as the source will allow. There’s plenty of detail and colour to saviour, the original aspect ratio is maintained, and it’s really like seeing the film for the first time. Wonderful! The real surprise is a full-blown DTS Master Audio surround track - it is limited but comes alive for the music and a plethora of sound effects. Eternal thanks, Sony! The film on the disc is the ‘director’s cut’ which basically ends differently to the theatrical edition and the cut on the original video tape. Not wishing to spoil anything it’s less polished but adds an interesting dimension to the outcome of the story. The original ending is there for your perusal, along with plenty of other extras, making this a fantastic Blu-ray Disc release of an adorable cult sci-fi horror that holds up well 25 years later. However, you‘ll have to import it as, just like in the video days, there‘s no off-the-shelf sign of it in the UK.