SCREAM FACTORY PICK OF THE WEEK: NIGHT OF THE COMET

If I have to pick one movie that rocked my childhood it’s Night of the Comet. Love me some Night of the Comet. Anyone who’s had HBO in the 80’s knows that they played the same handful of movies over and over everyday. Beastmaster, Swamp Thing, Tex, Cloak and Dagger, Clash of the Titans, etc. Night of the Comet was one of those movies. I think Night of the Comet is more relevant today than it was in the 80’s. Smothered in darker, more realistic post apocalyptic modern films (trying watching The Road), Night of the Comet has more of a “what would you do if it was the end of the world?” fun approach. “Oh you know, hang out at a radio station, shopping spree at the mall, shoot up a car, drunk drive, the little things.”

Kelli Maroney, Catherine Mary Stewart make an amazing duo, and are believable as hell as sisters. Both these actresses will appear in my “Real Stars of Hollywood” segment. Already seeing Kelli in Fast Times, Chopping Mall, and Slayground. Already seeing Catherine in Nighthawks, Apple, and Last Starfighter they were already familiar faces. Comet is a good time colorful, partytime movie. It’s got plenty of funny moments, but also has some good jumps.

This movie does not get nearly enough credit for it’s make up effects. David Miller (Nightmare On Elm Street) really delivers. Everything from the alley zombie, to the cop, to the warehouse employees. Wait…are they zombies? Technically they’re not dead. Fuck…I don’t want to get into that topic. Kelli and Catherine are naturalistic as hell in they’re performance, that I sit back and wonder why they’re not more popular today? Have you seen today’s A list stars? Give me a fucking break. Bringing flawless performances by Robert Beltran, Mary Woronov, Geoffrey Lewis and Michael Bowen really balance and make the movie full.

Even the soundtrack kicks ass. I find myself listening to it a lot more today. Probably for nostalgia. Funny thing about these 80’s horror soundtracks is that the songs weren’t hits. You never heard them on the radio, you never saw them on Mtv. But these were my favorite soundtracks. Comet, the Wraith, both Return of the Living Deads, Shocker…I owned all these soundtracks and played the shit out of them.

For all you new Horror fans…essentially Zombieland is Night of the Comet. Watch them both back to back, and you’ll get what I’m saying.

As usual…Scream Factory delivers. You can tell Scream Factory is run by fans, not corporate blood suckers. The interviews are fun to watch. I much prefer seeing the cast talk about the movie today, as oppose to original footage. Audio commentary with Kelli and Catherine is my goto audio track. They just had so much fun looking back on this movie, and they reveal some great stories ex. The guns weren’t suppose to stick when they shot the car, so they improvised.

This movie gets played a lot in my home (especially in the Summer), and is usually the movie I show friends, when they want to see something they don’t know. This movie was a big deal in my childhood. I watched it so much on HBO that it pissed my mother off.

This is a highlight blu-ray in my 678 blu-ray collection. Thanks Kelli and Catherine.

– G.R.E.E.N.B.A.N.K.