By DC Green
Last of a Series
Killer Cuts #13 - Night of The Creeps & More
If any movie can proudly stand as the perfect potpourri of
50's contrivance and 80's aesthetic, that movie is Night of the Creeps. Written
and directed by Fred Dekker (who also brought us the criminally underrated The
Monster Squad), this particular gem was originally released to VHS in 1986 only
to be lost to us for nearly 25 years until Sony finally bowed to fan requests
and released the movie to DVD and Blu-Ray in 2009.
I think of all the "lost" horror movies of my
youth, Night of the Creeps holds a special place in my heart. With overwrought
dialogue and broad performances that mesh straight-laced portentous 1950's
atomic-age invasion movie delivery with 1980's teen angst, Night of the Creeps
is frankly a hoot.
A meteor, alien slugs, zombies! If this all sounds to you
like a description of James Gunn's Slither (2006), you'd be right. Gunn claims
to have never seen Night of the Creeps, but to have been inspired by David
Cronenberg's 1975 cult-classic Shivers (aka They Came from Within). While this
may be true, all I know is that while watching Slither, I couldn't get my mind
off Night of the Creeps.
Leaving no room for debate, this movie is horror-geek heaven
--- it’s got scares (alien slugs who force their way into your body, disgusting
zombie action), it’s got laughs (the fast-talking dialogue, the ham acting, the
grotesque sight gags), and it’s got shotguns...and tits. Tits and shotguns --
yep, what a combo.
Bottom line: Night of the Creeps is a great way to start or
finish any horror marathon, and the more sleep deprived or inebriated you may
be, the better it gets.
--------------------
So that's it for this year's Killer Cuts. Stick to these
thirteen films and your scare cinema soiree can't go wrong. I hope all of you
discovered something new in this set that you've either never seen before or
had long since forgotten about -- most importantly, I hope you enjoyed yourself
while watching any of the selection on this list.
As a final bit of fun, I've made a list of my top 13
favorite horror movies, though there are MANY more where these came from. I
don't have avant-garde horror tastes (ex. no Human Centipede for me), and can
heartily recommend any of these films for the mainstream horror palette. Adding
or substituting any of these into your fright film festival will result in a
good time being had by all.
The Butcher's Dozen (in no particular order)
2. The Evil Dead Trilogy (a bit of a cheat, I know)
3. Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
5. The Exorcist
7. Halloween (1978)
9. The Shining
10. Psycho (1960)
13. Scream
No comments:
Post a Comment