31 Days of Hell: Night of the Comet (1984) - Reviewed

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Courtesy of Shout Factory
The second feature of writer-director Thom Eberhardt Night of the Comet, following the cult success of his microbudget Final Destination progenitor Sole Survivor, arrived on the heels of such 80s cult science-fiction/horror infused comedies as Valley Girl, Repo Man and eventually The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension as a neon-fluorescent colored post-apocalyptic action adventure. 
 
One of the first PG-13 films to be released mainstream and following in the footsteps of such directors as Russ Meyer, Jack Hill or recently Ridley Scott with its cast of strong independent female characters, Night of the Comet is probably the most playful unserious romp ever made about the coming of an extraterrestrial zombie apocalypse.  Moreover it went on to spawn the celebrated Buffy Summers in Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

Courtesy of Shout Factory

Every 65 million years or so, the Earth passes through the tail of a comet, an event that previously wiped out all the dinosaurs.  Upon the anniversary of the comet’s passing, large groups of people gather outside to watch the cosmic event, not knowing they’re signing their own death warrants.  Meanwhile Regina Belmont (Catherine Mary Stewart) whiles away her time working the local movie theater while her younger sister Samantha (Kelli Maroney), not caring in the slightest about the comet scare. 
 
The following morning, the two awaken to find their cities and neighborhoods desolated save for some piles of red dust human remnants and a small populace of zombies intent on killing off the last surviving humans, the comet having wiped out most of humanity while transforming the rest into the undead.  As they venture out into the world taking out zombies right and left, their journey leads them to a secret scientific base which may hold the key to the strange phenomenon afflicting the planet.

Courtesy of Shout Factory

With a key montage of the two sisters partying inside an abandoned shopping mall trying out clothing and enjoying the unattended amenities being offered, set to Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want to Have Fun, the attitude one gets is that of impish playful glee.  For being in the middle of a cataclysmic near-extinction Earthly disaster, they’re just tickled pink about it and couldn’t have a care in the world.  Particularly Kelli Maroney who singlehandedly influenced the creation of Buffy Summers with her plucky, sassy and quick-witted heroine who doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by the conflagration around her.  Much of the film’s charm is the attitude of the two leading characters playing against the gravity of their situation and surroundings.
 
Let’s talk about the film’s visual look which feels somewhat like the neon-lit dance clubs of Liquid Sky filtered through the apocalyptic visual style of The Terminator.  Often shot through a red filter post-comet passing with the Earth looking rather Mars-like by Dirty Work cinematographer Arthur Albert, the film has the sort of barren irradiated landscape and temperatures felt in Val Guest’s The Day the Earth Caught Fire.  It feels deathly hot, but then the film moves indoors into a disc jockey radio station and it takes full advantage of the fluorescent lighting and black walls which seem to make the colorful characters pop off the screen.  Also helps that against a low budget the film sports more than a few wild effects shots.

Courtesy of Shout Factory

Soundwise the film, while boasting an original score by arranger David Richard Campbell, is mostly reliant on preexisting pop 80s hit tunes like the aforementioned Cyndi Lauper, John Townsend, Revolver, Bobby Caldwell and Diana DeWitt.  If there’s any single component that spells out the attitude of the film, it’s the selection of preexisting hit tracks which play out over the apocalyptic proceedings.  Visually we’re presented with a broken world still picking up the pieces but musically we feel alive and free. 
 
Performance wise, Catherine Mary Stewart fresh off of The Last Starfighter makes a physically strong lead and looks like a younger Sigourney Weaver who would fit in nicely in the Alien universe though arguably the real star of the show is Kelli Maroney who steals every scene she’s is in onscreen.  Take for instance an introductory scene to Maroney’s character at home, the next morning following the comet passing.  Everyone is dead and zombies are running amok but the camera frames the shot so we only see her legs and sneakers as she struts about, her body language saying such end-of-the-world annoyances aren’t about to spoil her carefree happy-go-lucky day.  Also both femme fatales don’t cower in fear at the sight of the undead but engage their adversaries head on soon as their eyes meet.

Courtesy of Shout Factory

On the one hand the film is indeed a pastiche of numerous prior post-apocalyptic sci-fi/horror flicks but it introduced a new kind of plucky heroine unfazed by interplanetary terrors who doesn’t take their predicament all that seriously.  Most certainly paving the way for later films like Zombieland for its carefree attitude towards fending off flesh eating undead humans and use of pop satire and camp, Night of the Comet won’t necessarily scare you but it will provide a thrilling action-adventure comedy and a lot of really fun things to look at.  Mostly though the film’s goal is to make you smile with a charming cast of characters, cool inventive filmmaking against a tight budget and a fun riff on some of our favorite world-ending monster movies.

--Andrew Kotwicki