Night of the Comet (1984)

A comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls to fight the evil types who survive.

Director:

Thom E. Eberhardt

Writer:

Thom E. Eberhardt

Stars:

Robert Beltran, Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Beltran	...	Hector
Catherine Mary Stewart	...	Regina
Kelli Maroney	...	Samantha
Sharon Farrell	...	Doris
Mary Woronov	...	Audrey
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Carter
Peter Fox	...	Wilson
John Achorn	...	Oscar
Michael Bowen	...	Larry
Devon Ericson	...	Minder
Lissa Layng	...	Davenport
Ivan E. Roth	...	Willy
Janice Kawaye	...	Sarah
Chance Boyer	...	Brian
Andrew Boyer	...	Rogers

Storyline

Two pretty high school girls (one a cheerleader!) don't like their stepmother or her new boyfriend ("Daddy would have gotten us Uzis!"). One morning, they wake up to find that everybody in Los Angeles has been turned to dust by a Comet except them, a guy who looks like Erik Estrada, some zombies and the occupants of a secret underground government installation.

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Plot Keywords:

comet | scientist | dead | radio station | cult film | 

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Taglines:

It was the last thing on earth they ever expected.

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Teenage Mutant Horror Comet Zombies

Filming Locations:

5515 Wilshire Blvd., Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Thomas Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt Productions, Film Development Fund

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the start of the movie, Regina is upset because the player "DMK" has upset her perfect list of wins on the video game in the theater lobby. The car the almost runs over Samantha at the end of the movie is driven by Danny Mason Keener -- "DMK" is his license plate.

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Goofs

When Reggie first returns home the morning after the comet, the entryway carpet is clean and clear, yet after finding Sam upstairs and then dragging her toward the front door, there is a pet leash and a small spot of red dust in the middle of the carpet at the bottom of the stairs.

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Quotes

Willy: If bachlorette number one isn't out here in half a tick I'm gonna ice bachlorette number two, got it?

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Connections

References On the Waterfront (1954)

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Soundtracks

"Learn to Love Again"
Written by Chris Farren
Performed by Chris Farren & Amy Holland
Produced by Don Perry and Bob Summers

User Reviews

It's, like, the end of the world and I don't have anything to wear!

"Night of the Comet" is a truly fun and engaging little genre effort of the 80's, but surely some of its hardcore fans are slightly overestimating the value and significance of this film. I've encountered reviews stating that "Night of the Comet" is a quintessential gem of 80's horror and that it's easily one of the most intelligent tributes/parodies to older B-movies ever made. Okay, the script is quite clever and writer/director Thom Eberhardt definitely knows a lot about all the post-apocalyptic classics of the 50's and 60's, but I honestly doubt it ever was his intention to direct the ULTIMATE homage. "Night of the Comet" is more like a miniature-tribute! All the obligatory story lines and sub plots to create an end-of-the-world epic are present, but Eberhardt's only disposed of a limited budget and thus the elaboration is only small-scaled and rather cheesy. There are mutated zombies, crazed scientists and hostile groups of survivors on the rampage, but all just in small doses. The movie opens during a bright summer evening, when the entire world is preparing to see a mesmerizing and once-in-a-lifetime ecological phenomenon, namely the passing of a comet. Two high-school teenagers who missed out on the event (sisters, moreover, what are the odds?) wake up the next morning and slowly realize that the comet's radiation killed every human being in L.A, only leaving behind small piles of red dust. They entrench themselves in an abandoned radio station, meet up with another sole (and male) survivor, battle the occasional mutated zombie and – of course – go shopping without credit cards. Things get slightly more dangerous when a bunch of dying scientists, who predicted the extinction of the human race, try to abduct the survivors to steal their still uncontaminated blood. The tone of "Night of the Comet" is continuously light-headed, still director Ebarhardt manages to maintain a more or less sinister atmosphere which never allow you to forget that the whole of mankind just got wiped out. The girls, although mostly concerned about fashion trends and pop music, understand the seriousness of the situation and deal with it the best way they possibly can. There are still a handful of creepy sequences (the confrontation in the mall) and well-developed Sci-Fi ideas (the diabolical scientists), but the emphasis largely lies on the two girls and their typically 80's pop-culture life-styles. I've never heard this many campy pop-songs in one movie, not even in a musical, and the special & make-up effects are kept to a minimum. The acting performances of Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney are more adequate than you'd expect, as it certainly isn't easy for young actresses to portray teenage character that are stereotypical, ignorant, fashionable and yet likable at the same time. "Night of the Comet" certainly isn't brilliant, probably even a bit overrated by its fans, but still worth a peek in case you have a weakness for 80's cinema.