Night of the Comet (1984)

A comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls fighting against cannibal zombies and a sinister group of scientists.

Review

Written and directed by Thom Eberhardt (Naked Fear) the film Night of the Comet has a pretty standard setup - a comet passes overhead and most people are turned to dust, or zombies. It's one our favorites from the 80's - as we remember it, and imagine the surprise to see it on Netflix.

Initially, recalling the film as a blast a second horror / action film I have to say that it is significantly slower than I remember. But that's not really a bad thing. The plot works as well today as it did in the 80's, and unlike a number of other low budget horrors from the time, there is no reliance on hokey science fiction gadgetry, so there is little to date the film. Rogue scientists are the real villains, rather than the zombies, and they're led by Dr. Carter, played by Geoffrey Lewis - an actor renowned for being the decades most prolific bad guy on TV. He is, of course, glorious in chewing the scenery.

The acting is good across the board with leads Catherine Mary Stewart (Imitation Girl) and Kelli Maroney (Hell's Kitty) doing stand up jobs, and even a small part for Robert Beltran (Voyager).

The fx hold up well surprisingly well, too. It obviously all practical, with visual effect designer John Muto going on to do such things as Species. Because of this, it doesn't feel cheap, and with the practical abandoned cities gives any post apocalypse a run for its money.

No, it's not scary - but I don't think it ever really was. It's a fun romp and great way to pass 90 minutes. 80's sci fi / horror / action at it's somewhat cheesy best maybe overstating it - but hey, I've tried to look passed my rose tints.