Cast:
Jason Lively (Chris Romero), Steve Marshall (James Carpenter "J.C." Hooper), Tom Atkins (Det. Ray Cameron), Jill Whitlow (Cynthia Cronenberg), Allan Kayser (Brad), Wally Taylor (Det. Landis), Bruce Solomon (Sgt. Raimi), David Paymer (Hollister), David Oliver (Steve), Dick Miller (Walt), Ken Heron (Johnny), and Alice Cadogan (Pam) Written and Directed by Fred Dekker (#006 - RoboCop 3)
Review:
“It’s an odd movie. Nobody ever sets out to make a cult movie, but there are movies a wide audience will immediately take to, and there’s NIGHT OF THE CREEPS which is a strange mish-mash of detective story, horror movie, romance, science fiction and comedy. But that’s what special about it. At the end of the day, I’m pleased with it. I pulled it off.“
Admittedly, B-movie tributes or pastiches are perhaps a dime a dozen. Apparently, Dekker came up with the script for the film in less than four weeks. He stated an aim for a "1950s sorority movie", complete with a handful of B-movie cliches, whether that involves nerds, corny characters or monsters. Dekker's first credit was House (1986), which was directed by Steve Miner. Dekker had written scripts for films that hadn't come to fruition (such as one for an America version of Godzilla), but one he did helped get him an agent. When it came to Creeps, the agent gave the script to a number of producers, and Charles Gordon happened to show interest, which eventually led to a production at TriStar for six million dollars (this was the first production for Gordon, who would go on to produce for films such as Die Hard). Aside from a few reshoots (such as a sequence involving a toolshed) and a different ending, the film went off mostly without a hitch, but a limited release of less than a thousand theaters meant that the film was not a hit on release, but it has endured as a cult favorite in some circles. Dekker went on to see two of his scripts turned into films the year after the release of this one with The Monster Squad (which he directed) and House II: The Second Story. If you were wondering about the ending, what is different is that the studio mandated what Dekker called a "cheap scare", as opposed to his idea of an ending that involves a burnt character collapsing to the ground while the zombie slugs move away to the cemetery, where a spaceship is above it (of course the film starts with a spaceship experiment, so I think you can see how that makes sense).
For those familiar with films of its ilk with weird creatures and one-note characters to go with one distinct performances, you will be just fine here. I figured it would be a neat little average film when I first heard of it years ago ("hearing" and "getting off my butt to see it" are different things), and that assessment seems about right here. It is a microwaved dinner prepared with the right instructions and most of the patience required to make it, which involves a few decent effects and a second half that picks up the slack left by the sorority stuff (and a black-and-white opening set in the 1950s) for what you would expect. In theory, the character played by Atkins could've just been a flippant cliché that would've been just fine as the authority figure against the zombie slugs (for whatever reason, there's an axe murderer around at times, dead and alive). Oddly enough though, the performance by Atkins is the best of the whole film (go figure, Dekker recognized it from the audition), because, well, there is a tragic energy to it that is endearing and entertaining from the very get-go. Atkins apparently rates this as one of his key favorites, and it damn well makes sense ; the sequence where he explains being there on the night of finding the axe murderer is probably his highlight scene. Honestly, if you cut down on the teenagers faster and dwell right in on this oddball of fire, the movie would probably be even better, even though Marshall and Lively aren't exactly just chopped liver. Once you get someone going from talking about girls to getting things going with a flamethrower, that's almost all you need. The pursuit of figuring out what's going on is more fun when you have familiarity with the material rather than snide jokes, and for the most part, the film is engaging in grimy gore that is made by someone with spirit of passion rather than huckster spirit. In the end, those who know the machinations of the B-movie will like what they see here. It is the kind of thing you put on late at night and move along with (maybe a light chuckle at the name references because it isn't so ridiculous), one that makes quality entertainment fit for a first timer.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
Next: Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
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