Thrill Me

I'm so glad I took vacation days for the end of this week. A friend of mine wanted to know if I would go to see the director's cut of The Exorcist at the theater Thursday night. I did want to go, as I had never watched it on the big screen before. I decided to take Friday off as well so I wouldn't have a day off, and go back to work right away the next day. I figured I would just go with a four day weekend instead since I have the vacation days to do it. Then with the Final Girl Film Club selection coming up on Monday, I thought why not take that day off as well so I will have plenty of time to write up the review? I woke up yesterday with a head cold, but that hasn't stopped me from watching a lot of movies. I watched Revelation and The Exorcist yesterday. Even though I didn't finish my review last night for Revelation, I was still on track for this month. But then I was torn. I had already had Netflix send me Night Of The Creeps (1986) for my 750th post. Did I want to go ahead with it, or talk about The Exorcist instead? As you can see from the movie poster, I went with Night Of The Creeps.

I know Night Of The Creeps isn't just a favorite movie of mine, but for a lot of other people as well. Even though it didn't do real well when it was originally released, it has since become a classic in its own right. I have noticed that horror movie conventions have been getting the cast from the movie signed up for reunions, which is what in part inspired me to select this movie for this post. Unlike some of the other movies I have selected for my favorite posts, Night Of The Creeps isn't a movie I have watch hundreds of times. I have watched it more than a few times though. When I watched it again tonight, which I do believe was the first time seeing it on DVD, there wasn't very much about the movie that I had forgotten. I didn't remember the aliens at the start of the movie real well, and the ending was completely different from what I remembered. The ending was explained eventually in the extras for the DVD. The ending was changed after the test screening, and the ending on the DVD was how director/writer Fred Dekker originally wanted it to end. If you don't have the DVD, I highly suggest getting it if you are a fan of this movie. It has commentary by Dekker and another one by the cast. I haven't listened to those yet, and will have to wait for another time when I'm not trying to watch a different movie everyday. It also has five, I think, features to watch. I just selected the play all and let it go, which took an hour to get through them all but it was worth it. A few deleted scenes, which seemed like minor things for the most part, but was a nice add all the same.

What makes Night Of The Creeps a favorite movie of mine? Well...a lot of things really. The cast is what stand out to me the most. Even though I don't think Tom Atkins' role isn't consider the main character, it ended up being his movie. He admits in one of the features that when fans ask which movie was his favorite to make, he has to say this one. I think it shows, not only with Atkins but with the rest of the cast, in the movie how much they enjoyed making this one. Atkins wasn't top billed but was obviously the most seasoned actor there. He stole every scene he was in, I'm sure without meaning to. Not that the rest of the cast wasn't great. I can't say that I have ever been a fan of Jason Lively. I didn't really care for him in European Vacation, but I didn't think he was as bad in this movie. Turns out I haven't watched anything else he has been in. With Steve Marshall, Night Of The Creeps is the only movie I have watched with him in it. I liked his character, but he wasn't my favorite of the bunch. Jill Whitlow says she pretty much played herself in this movie. Even if she isn't like that in real life, which she seemed to be from the interviews, she was very pretty. I shouldn't say she was, since she still is actually. Dick Miller brings his all in his cameo. I also liked seeing Bubba from Mama's Family, Allan Kayser, in something different from the role he had on TV. Having watched a lot more movies since last seeing this, I can appreciate the cast all the more.

Another thing I really liked about Night Of The Creeps is how Dekker managed to mix so many genres and pull it off. There is a little bit of sci-fi thrown in with the aliens at the start. A guy killing people with an axe. Slugs that are pretty good sized wanting to get into every ones mouth. And of course he throws in some zombies as well. That is what he called them by the way, not me. They all mix very well actually. I also loved the black and white 1957 part of the movie. It may not make a lot of sense right away, but it all ties into the story nice and neat. Another thing that was nice was that there is just enough comedy to make you smile and laugh at times, but it isn't making fun of itself either. It is a fun movie without it being a straight up comedy.

One thing I have to mention as to how this became a favorite was the special effects. Even after watching it today, I was surprised at how well most of the effects hold up today. I thought some of the zombie effects looked a little silly, but I still enjoyed all of the effects. One fun thing to learn was that the Beta frat was mostly made of the guys that were doing the effects for the movie. They all got the parts in order to save time doing the effects and makeup. It was great fun seeing their heads split open and having the creeps spill out. Both endings gave the feel that there could be a sequel, but I'm glad they never did one. It is nice to see the story moving forward in a sequel, hopefully anyway, but there are just some movies that are much better as a stand alone film. I have always thought that Night Of The Creeps was one of them.

So there you have it, number 750! With my plans for this month, I should see post number 800 by the end of the year. I hope you all have enjoyed this post. Please let me know if this was one of your favorites as well.