Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Night of the Creeps’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There's an old saying in the writing world, write what you know. But I've come to find that that particular saying doesn't always ring true, because at times writers put together some pretty incredible stories that have nothing to do with what they know in life. If anything, the phrase needs an update, something more along the lines of; write what you love, and inject what you know.

Because really, that's what film writers do sometimes. The love part is often the writing itself since hey, they get to put together a movie script. But the other stuff, the magical moments that we discuss at length in both positive and negative fashion...that's the stuff coming from someplace special, and when you get the perfect blend of passion and...let's call it 'life experience' in a script, pure magic comes together on the screen, as the was the case with Writer/Director Fred Dekker's...Night of the Creeps. 

Now the plot to this film was pretty by the numbers. Strange slugs from outer space that get inside one's mind and control your corpse land on earth in the 1950's, get preserved, get loose some thirty years later on a college campus, and carnage and gore ensues. Yes. It really is that simple and while it seems as though from that description that we are about to talk about one boring by the numbers horror film...well you're half right. There is some by the numbers stuff in this flick, but for all the right reasons. Because Night of the Creeps is actually a fun and silly ride because it serves as a giant love letter and a flat-out celebration of classic horror films, with a little bit of sci fi love thrown in for good measure. 

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In fact, you learn quickly that Dekker is all about those influential films from yesteryear since in essence, you'll find the best parts of films from the 1950's in this story. From the black and white sequences early on, to the mysterious slugs from space, you're instantly reminded of those classic motion pictures and that feel of innocence corrupted by science and evil doesn't end with those direct homages...there is a classic feel to the entire film once we get into present day. From our naive and lovelorn lead, to the hard-boiled Detective Cameron, this film feels like a movie from that era, that just so happens to be filled to the brim with top notch special effects and gore.  

But Dekker does take things a step further, so the film isn't simply a rehash of old, there's some pretty heavy themes to be found here as well. For starters, one man's past looms large over this entire story. Detective Cameron is a man haunted by the death of his beloved lady and there is simply no escape from the trauma he carries around in his soul and wow...is he dark character. He is so damaged by what happened all those years ago that he's brought the point of suicide just from having to face those memories once again and oddly enough, that darkness helps the story in so many ways since without it, his heroic decision/redemption means nothing at the end at the film; and the heavy themes don't end there. Our lead college kid Chris is a big-time outcast trying to find his way in the world and that's really something you didn't see in horror films from this era and it's outright refreshing to say the least.  

The good news is however, those darker thematic concepts never once overshadow the story because they are balanced out nicely by one important thing...freaky zombies that spit slugs out of their mouths and to be perfectly honest...the gore and the scares that come with them, are outright awesome, which when you combine all of the elements we've just discussed, you're left with one thing...an outright awesome 80's horror flick that entertains, grosses you out and leaves you wanting more. Plus, you'll also find some of the best one-liners this side of Evil Dead in this movie all courtesy of Detective Cameron and really, I love this movie simply because it is truly a modern classic. One that pays proper respect to the films that came before it, all while giving us a thoughtful and terrifying story that will clearly continue to withstand the test of time. 

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