Horror Movie Review: Night of the Comet (1984)

A mix of sci-fi & horror, Night of the Comet sees the Earth about to pass through the tail of a comet. This is happening in the days leading up to Christmas & sees huge crowds of people gathering on the streets to watch the event. It’s a celebratory time but not for Reggie & her sister Sam.

Reggie works at the movie theatre where she spends most of her time trying to top the leader boards of an arcade game. She ends up staying the night there with her boyfriend inside the projection booth which happens to be steel-lined (the steel part is pretty important). Sam tries to cover for her & ends up having a row with her step-mother. After being punched in the face Sam leaves & spends the night in a steel shed.

See where this is going?

The next morning Reggie & her boyfriend wake up, he goes to see a friend & finds the outside world deserted. No signs of life, red dust & clothing litter the streets & the sky has a reddish haze. Before he can drive off he is attacked by a zombie looking man & killed.

Reggie accidentally gets herself locked out while exploring & also runs into the zombie. She manages to fight him off, escape on her boyfriend’s bike & head home. There she runs into Sam who doesn’t initially believe what is going on.

The effects of the comet seemed to have obliterated everyone that wasn’t protected by a steel shell. The city is deserted & as far as the girls know, so is the whole world.

The city is theirs to enjoy but they aren’t the only ones to have survived & not all of them are friendly.

Night of the Comet is a huge amount of fun but very dated, it’s 80’s soundtrack, outfits & hair are very cheesy. It does a great job of combining sci-fi, horror & comedy to make a wonderful cult classic.

Praise has to be given to the acting with the sisters in particular being funny yet not your stereo-typical damsels in distress. They crack-wise when put in life-threatening situations & are more than happy to get their hands dirty when it comes to fighting back. It makes them easy to get behind.

They even get a montage of trying on clothes in a store to the sound of ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ by Cindi Lauper!

Robert Beltran as Hector struggles to connect as well as they do but he is a likable character who means well. A trip back to his family home is one of the best parts of the movie adding some emotional weight to what is mostly a comedic affair.

The scares are few & far between with the film choosing to build up more of an empty world atmosphere which it does really well. The sight of an empty city with red dust coating the streets is eerie.

The film begins to lose it’s way nearer the end as a group of scientists emerge from a hidden bunker hoping to find a cure using the blood of the survivors. Their sanctuary was exposed when they forgot to close up their ventilation ducts & now their getting desperate.

The fun disappears & it becomes a more darker, edgier movie something that doesn’t work as well.