27 Days of Terror: Night of the Creeps

I didn’t rave about The Monster Squad. Do you hate me already? Probably. Suck it up. I’m the one sitting here watching all these movies.

Fred Dekker’s The Monster Squad is a decent film. I like it. I just don’t love it. Dekker’s first film, Night of the Creeps, is superior.

Night of the Creeps is a about alien slugs that come to Earth and invade the minds of humans. I first saw this film when I was 13 years old. Some neighbour kids had gotten their hands on a videotaped copy of the film from someone’s satellite dish. Ahh, to be young again.

What did I learn from Night of the Creeps?

• Fred Dekker wrote the script in 7 days
• the main characters are named after horror movie directors:
  Christopher Romero, James Carpenter Hooper, Cynthia Cronenberg,
  Det. Ray Cameron, Det. Landis, Sgt. Raimi
• it’s mandatory that anyone in a morgue or involved in forensics MUST eat a sandwich while examining a dead body
• all cops have pasts that haunt them
• in the ’50s calling someone a “Gomer” was a major insult
• when you answer a phone, the correct greeting is “THRILL ME!”
• Tom Atkins rules! I already knew this after watching Halloween III: Season of the Witch but I just thought I should state that he is wicked awesome
• my favourite quote from the film:
  Detective Cameron: I got good news and bad news, girls. The good news is your dates are here.
  Sorority Sister: What’s the bad news?
  Detective Cameron: They’re dead.

Do I recommend this film?

Have you been paying attention at all? I love this movie. It’s silly, it’s cheesy, it’s an underrated classic. James Gunn’s Slither is pretty similar to Night of the Creeps. I definitely enjoy this film a lot more but Slither is worth checking out as well. If you enjoy silly movies where alien slugs land on earth and zombify people, you’ll love this movie. If not, you’re doing it wrong.

Watch the trailer here:

Watch the alternate ending of the film here: