Night Of The Comet

You know it is almost freeing to not have to worry about posting photos on the blog. Don’t get me wrong I am still working trying to correct the problem. However, at least I don’t have to worry about scanning or logging in twice, once to post and once to view. All I have to worry about is the information and yes I know I have made some spelling errors. Spell check and even my proof reading can’t catch them all before I post to the internet.

This post is about one scary movie. Night of the Comet! This was really a remake of the 1968 movie Night of the Living Dead. It was directed by Thom Eberhardt and starred Catherine Mary Stewart (best known as Gwen from Weekend at Bernie’s), Kelli Maroney and a pre-Star Trek Voyager Robert Beltran and Geoffrey Lewis.

This movie came out in 1984 a few months before the return of Halley’s Comet so I imagine they were trying to cash in on that. Thankfully it was a very good movie. Catherine and Kelli play sisters who are hiding out from their step-mom. There Dad is out of town and she is having fits trying to get ready for a party that she is throwing in honor of the comets return. However, what the public didn’t realize is that the Earth was going to pass through the tail end of the comet. The over dose of radiation instantly zapped everyone to dust. Only people who were in lead rooms were safe. If you were only partly covered by lead then it affected your brain and you became like a Zombie and would soon get to the point where you would eat human flesh. Catherine was an usher at a movie theater and she stayed the night in the lead lined projection booth of the theater. He sister was hiding from step-mom that night in a neighbors lead lined tool shed. The meet with Robert Beltran who played a trucker who was sleeping in the back of his lead lined truck the night before. When the three of them try to get supplies at a deserted mall they are terrorized by some stock boys who survived but are slowly becoming zombies. They are saved by a group of scientist who survived. The scientists are led by Geoffrey Lewis. They saw this was going to happen but were not able to warn the public. So they went into their underground lead lined bunker to save themselves. However, as smart as they are they forgot to turn off the vents and now they were slowly becoming Zombies as well. The reason they saved anyone who survived intact was to kill them so they could drain their healthy blood and use it to save themselves. They break free from the evil scientist and in the process save two children who had survived the comet. In the end it starts to rain and it cleans the Earth for a fresh new start.

I saw this movie with my two friends Chuck and Mike. When the rain started I joked saying “What if all the people were just dehydrated and all these naked people started popping up?”

Later we ate dinner at Dixie Chili. The movie started a conversation. What if one day you found you were the last person on Earth because of radiation from something like a bomb or a comet? We started saying how we would not eat or drink anything unless it was canned, how we would try to find shelter if our homes were not left, etc. The one thing we all said was how we would try to find our families first. Chuck said it before anyone that he would look for his Mom and Dad. Then he said not that I would pass you guys by if I came upon you first. Maybe you had to be there but that got a laugh from all of us too.

All in all this, as you can tell, was a memorable night for me. The movie was supposed to be scary and usually it was but it was more of an adventure film in many ways. I found it in the newspaper ad when I wanted something to do with the guys. It was not a highly advertised film so I was not sure what to expect. Another reason I wanted to see it is that it was rated PG. The other movies at that time were rated R. Now I was old enough to see R films but I was raised not to go to them. It bothered my conscience when I went to them so I stopped for a long time. I have seen a couple more in the last few years. However, I still try not to in honor of my parents.

That being said if you want to see a good, scary, adventuresome movie then rent, buy or borrow Night of the Comet. You won’t be disappointed.

You can get the poster that you see above if you click on the title to go to the auction site.