Sunday, March 23, 2014

Night of the Comet (1984)

Predating most of the 80s classic teen comedies (John Hughes films included) was this unique film. The film is about people in the L.A. area of California who are all getting ready to watch the arrival of comet fly overhead one night, but then due to unforeseen forces (radiation or possibly some alien bacteria) all who were exposed to the comet were either immediately vaporized, or turned into zombies (those who were in a house as opposed to watching the comet outside). At first it seems only two teenage valley girls (both sisters) survived unharmed (all those who were behind steel structures remained unaffected) and all of L.A. is now their playground. The film is unique not only in its plot but also with its characters and their interactions with each other. The girls' father is in the Military Special Ops forces, and apparently he did weapon and combat training with each of them from a
very young age, so though they are typical 80s teenagers in many ways, they are different because they know their weapons and prefer Uzies, also the older sister is really into/good at video games, and nerdy things like Superman. The film is advertised as a comedy but I didn't find it that funny at all actually, (except for my favorite line of the movie: "I'm not crazy! I just don't give a fuck!") but it was still fun and enjoyable because of how unique and different it is. The movie has a very fitting 80s soundtrack and the highlight of the film (or at least most famous scene) is when the girls go on a shopping spree at an abandoned mall. As interesting as the movie was it never really built to a proper climax in my opinion and it just kind of ended without any kind of (or at least very little) resolution. I still liked it though and recommend it if you dig 80s movies, zombie movies, post-apocalyptic movies, horror comedies, or teen movies in general. The movie is now available on Instant Streaming on Netflix, or you can also find the full movie in decent quality on YouTube here. I give it a 4.25/5, and you can view the trailer below:

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