Night of the Creeps

Plot synopsis:
In 1959, on board a spacecraft, two aliens race to keep an experiment from being released by a third member of the crew. The seemingly possessed third alien shoots the canister into space where it crashes to Earth. Nearby, a college man takes his date to a parking spot when they see a falling star and investigate. It lands in the path of an escaped criminally insane mental patient. As his date is attacked by the axe-wielding maniac, the boy finds the canister, from which a small slug-like thing jumps out and into his mouth.
Twenty-seven years later, Chris Romero pines over a love lost, supported by his disabled friend J.C. During pledge week at Corman University, Chris spots a girl, Cynthia Cronenberg, and falls instantly in love. To get her attention, he decides to join a fraternity. Cynthia's boyfriend, who heads the Beta Epsilon fraternity, tasks them with stealing a cadaver from the university medical center and depositing it on the steps of a sorority house. Chris and J.C. find a frozen corpse in a secret room, but when it grabs them, they flee.
Meanwhile, Detective Ray Cameron, a haunted cop, is called in to the cryogenics lab break-in, where he discovers one of the bodies – the boy who discovered the alien experiment in 1959 – is now missing, set free by Chris and J.C. The corpse makes its way back to the sorority house where he picked up his date twenty-seven years ago. There, his head splits open and releases more of the slugs. Called to the scene, Det. Cameron finds the body, interpreting the condition of the head as the result of an axe wound in the face.
The next day, the fraternity brothers confront Chris and J.C., who they believe to be responsible for the previous night's incident. They are then taken in for questioning by the police. Based on the testimony of a janitor that witnessed them running out of the university medical center, "screaming like banshees," they confess to breaking in but deny moving the corpse. That night, a dead attendant rises from his slab and runs into the same janitor.
Cynthia attempts to convince Chris and J.C. that the attacks are zombie-related, but they are skeptical. When J.C. sees Cynthia leaning on Chris' shoulder, J.C. leaves the two alone and is attacked by the possessed janitor. As Chris walks Cynthia back to the sorority house, he runs into Det. Cameron, who has overheard everything. At his house, Det. Cameron explains to Chris that the escaped lunatic's 1959 victim was his ex-girlfriend, and that he secretly hunted down and killed the axe-murderer in revenge. After Det. Cameron reveals that he buried the body under what is now the sorority house, he gets a call that the same axe-wielding lunatic has killed the house mother. Det. Cameron blows off the corpse's head with his shotgun, which releases more slugs.
The next night, while everyone prepares for a formal dance, Chris finds a recorded message that J.C. posthumously left for him. J.C. says that the slugs have incubated in his brain, but he has discovered that they are susceptible to heat. Chris recruits Det. Cameron, who was in the midst of a suicide attempt, and they retrieve a flamethrower from the police armory. They arrive at the sorority house just as Cynthia breaks up with Brad, who has become possessed. After killing him, the Beta fraternity brothers show up, despite having been killed in a bus crash. Cynthia and Chris team up to destroy the outside zombies, and Det. Cameron clears the house.
After they stop the horde, Chris spots more slugs racing toward the basement; Cynthia explains that a member of the sorority had received specimen brains for biology class. In the basement, they find an enormous pile of slugs, and Det. Cameron, tape across his mouth, prepping a can of gasoline. Det. Cameron begins counting down as he splashes gasoline, and Cynthia and Chris count down in sync with him as they race out of the house. Just as several slugs leap at him, he flicks his lighter, and the house goes up in a fiery explosion. Chris and Cynthia share a kiss as they watch the house burn. The scene ends when the dog who caused the bus accident returns, opens its mouth, and a slug jumps out.
=== Alternate ending ===
Though not shown theatrically upon its original release, the original ending showed Chris and Cynthia standing in front of the burning sorority house, then moved to the street where police cars race down the street. The charred and 'zombified' Cameron is shuffling down the street when he suddenly stops and falls to the ground. His head explodes and the slugs scamper out and head into a cemetery, as the spaceship from the beginning of the film has returned with the aliens intending to retrieve their experiment, proposing a sequel.
This original ending is on the official DVD and Blu-ray release of the film, and can be seen in some television broadcast versions of the film, via Crackle's online streaming service, some US VHS copies, and on bootleg DVD copies.
=== Unofficial sequel ===
Zombie Town was marketed in some regions as a sequel, being alternatively titled Night of the Creeps 2: Zombie Town in Germany.

Tags: comedy, dark, murder, suicidal, horror, cult, violence, flashback, tragedy, revenge, prank

Review:
Granted, like all B-movies it's a bit hokey at times, and also follows along the trademark lines with films of this caliber (obligatory boob shot, corny dialogue, poor camera techniques, etc.).But give "Night of the Creeps" its due.
Given the time period of this movie's release, and it's obviously small budget, I'm quite impressed with the special-effects of the alien slugs as they race along the ground throughout the film.
At least until Chris Romero (Jason Lively) and J.C. Hooper (Steve Marshall) release him, and he begins infecting countless members of a small college town.Director and writer Fred Dekker, who has had a lamentably short career as a helmer, wrote Night of the Creeps in seven days.
Both this film and Dekker's 1987 effort, The Monster Squad, are currently only available on bootleg DVDs in the U.S.Night of the Creeps is one of the better horror/comedies of the 1980s.
He smoothly transitions from The Blob (1958) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)-styled sci-fi (with heavy Alien (1979) touches) to early 1980s slasher material, then to a more complex and fantastic collage of zombies, slugs and detectives seeking revenge.While the film isn't likely to be appreciated by those who dislike mixing their horror with comedy, and especially won't be appreciated by viewers who don't even realize that it's supposed to also be a comedy, neither type is very likely to watch it in the first place--at least not for long.
The movie begins black and white set in the early 60s, which is an awesome touch by the way, and then jumps ahead to the mid eighties where were treated to a sorority gals, frat nazis, a couple of pledge geeks(our heroes), Tom Atkins cop on the edge(who delivers some of the best lines in cinema history,i.e."Duck!
This film has it all: terrific writing, impressive acting, (especially Tom Atkins), zombies, creepy slugs, an ax-murderer, aliens, fraternity studs, sorority babes, as well as, lovable lonely dorks.
Night Of The Creeps is a brilliant and very entertaining Horror film that Sci-Fi/Horror/Comedy that combines great direction,a wonderful cast,a well-written screenplay,great special effects and a memorable soundtrack.
All of those combinations make Night Of The Creeps one of the best Horror films of the 1980s and a Cult Classic.Night Of The Creeps tells the story of two college students Chris(Jason Lively)and J.C(Steve Marshall)who are asked to pull a prank by a college fraternity by taking out a cadaver,that's been frozen since 1959,and put it on the ground of a rival fraternity.
Now Chris and J.C with the help of Chris' Dream girl Cynthia(Jill Whitlow)and Police Detective Ray Cameron(Tom Atkins)the four have to the stop the possessed zombies and save the campus.Night Of The Creeps is easily one of the best,most memorable and entertaining Horror films of the 1980s that unfortunately wasn't a big hit when it came out in 1986 because Night Of The Creeps didn't get a nationwide theatrical release but instead got a limited release grossing $591,366 not even making back it's 5 million dollar budget.
One of the reasons Night Of The Creeps is such a great Horror film is because writer-director Fred Dekker has taken his love for Horror and SCI-FI B-Movies and has put in this film making a movie that is scary,funny and at times campy and not straying away from it's purpose of making a Horror film that is clever and slick.
The Comedy and Humor in this film is hilarious because NOTC makes fun of the B-movie trademarks of the Horror and SCI-FI films of the 1950s and 60s whether it's the Alien Zombies,the style of the characters or the funny dialog that is quotable and memorable.
The Comedy in this film Pre-dates the Post Modern Humor of Scream because like Scream would do ten years later in 1996 Creeps would do as well making fun of classic Horror films while at the same time paying homage and making reference to them.
Where most Horror films have some characters that are just waiting to get killed off and wiped off the face of the earth,Chris,J.C,Cynthia and Ray Cameron are so great to watch you as a viewer want them to survive and save the day.
Fantastic effects by Miller.In final word,if you love Horror Films SCI-FI films,Cult Films or genre films in general,I highly suggest you see Night Of The Creeps,a scary and funny Horror film and a wonderful Cult Classic that deserves to be in every Horror and genre fans collection.
"Night of the Creeps" is a cult-movie by Fred Dekker with a funny story of aliens, slugs and zombies.
Memories lingered in my mind of the many scenes and hip and happening dialogue that sprung forth from the many characters that wandered through this little gem.As we fade in, we find ourselves transported to an alien spaceship travelling through the galaxy, two little aliens carrying zapper guns chasing a third, who as it happens is possessed by something sinister and is about to launch a canister containing a lethal parasite off the spaceship and off into the unknown and so it begins.Star of the show for me has to be Tom Atkins playing yet again another one of those grizzled cops, who in his time on the force has seen it, done it, could write a book about it.
However for once, unlike his role in "Maniac Cop" He is given many wonderful lines of hard boiled dialogue to chew on.Ably assisted by a then young and unknown group of young actors, Jason Lively who would later take the lead in one of Roland Emmerich's first movies "Ghost Chase" Also look out for the actress Suzanne Syder way before "The Return Of The Living Dead 2" and "Killer Klowns From Outer Space" in a small and very brief cameo.Stranger to think that Fred Dekker's career appears to have found it's way into television land, sit back and scream like a banshee at this truly fast and furious romp form the 1980's Then think about this, why can't they make them like this anymore Without any hesitation, 10 out of 10!.
Tom Atkins, the Carpenter guy, plays a police detective that lost his girl back in the 50's to the ax murderer, and while I initially felt like he was over doing things early on with his over-blown performance, I found it working shortly after and realized the B movie 50's style effect he was going for.
Directed by Fred Dekker, this landmark movie has inspired many other horror films like 2006's "Slither" by Sean Gunn.
On the night of the big formal, the frat guys run into a little bad luck, and Detective Landis (who has all the best lines) says "The good news is your dates are here, the bad new is their dead." The whole sorority house scene that follows is completely insane and fun to watch.Although made in 1986, this movie feels very modern and way ahead of it's time, even if can be very 80's at times.
After his friend is killed, Chris tries to stop the slugs & zombies with the help of a detective (Tom Atkins) whose tragic backstory ties into the alien attack in 1959.This terrific '80s horror comedy from Fred Dekker is one of the most underrated movies from that decade.
Many successful Hollywood names have used horror as a springboard to launch their careers, but for director Fred Dekker and his cast, the opposite seems to have happened: after Night of the Creeps, an affectionate homage to the schlock B-movie sci-fi/horrors of the 50s, Dekker had one other hit (with kiddie flick Monster Squad) before crashing and burning with Robocop 3; roles for stars Jason Lively, Jill Whitlow, Steve Marshall, and Allan Kayser dried up soon after (only grizzled tough guy Tom Atkins, who unsurprisingly plays a grizzled tough guy cop, has gone on to have a long film career, but then he is one of the coolest character actors in the biz).The lack of success for nearly all involved is a real shame, because based on the strength of this fun flick, they all deserved to go onto much bigger and better things (I know I'd liked to have seen much more of Whitlow, who is a total babe).Beginning with a nifty prologue, which sees an alien experiment crash land on Earth and unleash its cargo of parasitic creatures, and ending with an all-out zombie attack on a sorority house full of teens, Dekker's script is a delightfully daft but endearing slice of intentionally cheesy B-movie fun.
Lively and Marshall play college nerds Chris and J.C., who attempt to steal a dead body from a cryogenic research facility as part of a frat prank; the only problem is, the body they try to make off with is host to alien slugs that enter live humans and transform them into flesh-eating ghouls.After best bud J.C. falls victim to the brain burrowing critters, Chris sets out to rid the planet of the alien pests, aided by beautiful student Cynthia (Whitlow) and cop-with-a-tragic-history Ray Cameron (Atkins).Considering that this is his debut as director, Dekker shows great confidence and flair behind the camera, and gets solid performances from his cast, all of whom have just the right amount of tongue in their cheeks.
Working from his own script (that clearly displays both his love and understanding of the genre), Dekker pays tribute to everything from 50s sci-fi, Romero's 'Dead' movies, and teen comedies, and even has time to throw in an axe-wielding psycho and a cameo from genre great Dick Miller for good measure.Occasionally, the lack of a big budget is evident, particularly when it comes to the effects, which vary wildly in quality, and the cheese is perhaps laid on a little too thick at times—naming characters after famous horror directors ain't THAT clever, and Atkins' catchphrase ('thrill me') quickly gets tiresome—but for the most part, it all works very well, and the result is a witty, memorable, inventive, and thoroughly enjoyable time-waster..
Two teenagers named Chris Romero and James Carpenter Hooper discover an alien invasion.The invaders from outer space are slugs that enter the human body through the mouth and incubate the brain.The victims of cosmic parasites becomes zombies.A group of drunken jocks becomes living dead after lethal bus accident."Night of the Creeps" by Fred Dekker mixes "Plan 9 From Outer Space" with "Night of the Living Dead".The main characters are named after horror directors,the pacing is brisk and the makeup effects are solid.There is a zombie with a skull face and most of his skin ripped off and plenty of gore.If you enjoy screaming like banshees "Night of the Creeps" is a must-see.8 slugs out of 10..
Well, I finally can end those mix-ups, because thanks to Comcast OnDemand (where's my check?) I got my hands on Night of the Creeps.Story revolves around a couple of high-hoping geeks who accidentally unleash an alien experiment/zombie epidemic on their unsuspecting college town.Pretty cool plot, and a pretty cool flick as well.
It combines semi-naked girls, bad hairstyles, hilarious fashions, a college prom (mind you, we never get to see this) and a hilarious soundtrack that seems to have gathered Men At Work-sound-a-likes and the main theme which appears to have been recorded directly from a synthesizer!The movie starts off in the 1950's where a young man and his date decide to investigate a grounded unidentified flying object which has come to rest in the middle of a forest.
I watched it expecting a cheesy, pretty good, horror-comedy, and thats just what I got.There were some dumb parts I think, but then a lot of great scenes too.I wouldn't call this movie a classic, but its good enough that you won't feel like you wasted your time watching this.7/10.80's horror/comedy fans would like this.
The local police detective ( Tom Atkins) is baffled by these mysterious killings and dead bodies with busted heads showing some places and joins with Chris on destroying these monsters before they infect the whole university.A well made and well written horror/Sci-fi comedy with humor, exploding heads, creepy crawlies from outer space, a little splatter, and zombies what more can you want?
the acting is kind of decent and B-movie fanatics will recognize Dick Miller from "Gremlins" and "Pirahna" but the make-up and zombie effects are good for it's time.I just wish Sony would release this on DVD in a special edition with extras and the alternate ending shown n TV, if you can find this movie then you'll have yourself a good time.Also recommended: "Slugs", " Re-Animator", "Lifeforce", "Slither", " The Deadly Spawn" ( a.k.a. Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn)", " Doom", " The Return of the Living Dead Trilogy", " Night of the Living Dead ( 1968 and 1990)", " Day of the Dead", "Dawn of the Dead ( 2004)", "An American Werewolf In London", "Terrorvision", " Bride of Re-Animator", "From Beyond", " From Dusk Till Dawn", " The Toxic Avenger", "Hell of the Living Dead ( a.k.a. Night of the Zombies, Zombie Creeping Flesh)", " Dead Alive ( a.k.a. Braindead)", " Nightmare City ( a.k.a. City of the Walking Dead)", " Squirm", " The Thing ( 1982)", " Killer Klowns from Outer Space", "Critters 1 & 2", "Eight Legged Freaks", "Shivers", "Xtro", " Evil Dead II"..
Fred Dekker's Night of the Creeps is only of many 80's horror movies that failed to find much of an audience upon its initial release, but has gathered a cult following over the subsequent years through scuzzy VHS tapes passed between fans and late-night showings on cable TV.
Yet Night of the Creeps can also feel like a bunch of your favourite movies re-arranged and plastered together to form an admittedly fun 90 minutes.In the 1950s, an alien craft carrying slug-like creatures crashes down to Earth.
Naturally, the cadaver escapes, and soon enough the town is overrun with zombies and giant slugs looking for a host.There's a real energy and spirit to Dekker's film that is lacking from many low-budget horror movies from the same era, but what drags the movie down is a lack of any original ideas of its own.
There's still the other fun action scenes here that play up the inherently silly premise here, from the original flashback at the start showing the aliens landing on Earth and the eventual encounter with the teens, the early scenes of the creatures getting loose and engaging in their zombie-like shuffling around campus to the inconspicuous others around them and the incredibly fun set-ups that come into play here for the finale as the different groups led into the attack are given their conversion and prepare for the overall suspenseful final that is much higher than expected for a movie like this.
The zombie frozen in a tube is similar to the one in "Return of the living dead", only here is makes little sense why a college would have a man frozen on campus for 27 years, but once the slug monsters start leaping into peoples (as well as cats and dogs) mouths and all hell breaks loose it really doesn't matter.
No wonder something crawls up his pants.****** Night of the Creeps (8/22/86) Fred Dekker ~ Jason Lively, Steve Marshall, Jill Whitlow, Tom Atkins.
"Night of the Creeps," the much beloved debut of director Fred Dekker, is a gleeful mix of comedy and horror, with some zombies, aliens and colorful characters thrown in for good measure.
Hot on the case is hot-shot cop with a troubled past, Ray Cameron -- as played by genre hero Tom Atkins -- who is as quick with a gun as he is with his one-liners.While its campy sense of humor doesn't exactly sit well with the likes of the George Romero "Dead" films, "Night of the Creeps" is no doubt a genre classic, a b-movie that knows it's a b-movie and has a blast with it.
The only person, who believe their unlikely story is an alcoholic detective (Tom Atkins) with a dark secret.Written and Directed by Fred Dekker (Robocop 3, The Monster Squad) made an amusing Science-Fiction/Horror movie with an refreshing sense of humour and plenty of in-jokes.
Needless to say, the body comes to life and starts wondering around killing people, building a zombie army.I saw "Night of the Creeps" in the summer of 2001, the same summer in which I saw "The Monster Squad" (also helmed by "NOTC" director Fred Dekker) and "Killer Klowns from Outer Space".
Turns out, he had been infected by an alien parasite from a crashed UFO experiment, and now reanimated, infects the entire campus, turning students into zombie-like creatures who threaten to infect the world.Highly contrived and over-the-top film has appealing performances from Jill Whitlow and especially Tom Atkins as the investigating detective, but otherwise is absurd and crass, with little else to recommend it, though it is a cult classic..
but the plot is funny and entertaining, with memorable characters played by Jason Lively, Steve Marshall, Jil Whitlow and Tom Atkins."Night of the Creeps" has it all, in spite that is not perfect, actually, is other cheesy movie, but this one is not so bad as others.
Really weird.This flick has it all,boys and girls: Zombies,midget looking aliens,chicks with flamethrowers,outer-space slugs,insane axe men and a whole bunch of cool dialogs (be sure to check some (but not all) of them in the 'memorable quotes' section).Obviously, a movie containing all this kind of wicked stuff does not have to be good to still be enjoyable.
The original zombie was infected by something from outer space and then cryogenicly frozen for 27 years until two dorks (Jason Lively and Steve Marshall) release him in an effort to impress a girl (Jill Whitlow).It also appears that an escaped ax murderer disappeared about the same time 27 years ago.Now, there are people showing up without heads while some slug-looking creature run around.Things get really out of control until a detective decides to flame out with the creatures.