Night of the Comet
Encyclopedia : N : NI : NIG : Night of the Comet
Night of the Comet is a 1984 science fiction film directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Beltran, Zoe Kelli Simon, Geoffrey Lewis, and Mary Woronov.
Tagline: The last time it came the dinosaurs disappeared.
Plot
The Earth passes through the tail of a comet, which dooms all animal life except for those who happened to be completely enclosed inside metal containers (for example, one of the movie's protagonists spends the night in the trailer of an 18-wheeler). Unprotected animals quickly dehydrate and turn into piles of red dust. Those who were only partially exposed gradually degenerate into cannibalistic zombies.Two teenage sisters, Regina (Catherine Mary Stewart) and Samantha (Kelli Maroney), are among the few survivors. In true Valley girl fashion, they take advantage of the unexpected turn of events to go shopping (to the music of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"). They meet trucker Hector (Robert Beltran), and fight off some undead store clerks who demand payment for their 'purchases'. Hector then leaves to see if any of his family survived.
When Samantha talks on the air at a radio station, she attracts the attention of researchers in an underground government think tank. They had suspected and prepared for the comet's effects, but "left the vents open" during its passing. In order to save themselves, they hunt down healthy survivors to harvest their blood to hold off the mystery disease and to try to create an antidote.
Regina is lured to their facility; Samantha is left behind because a dying, disillusioned scientist lies to her co-workers, telling them that she has been exposed. When Hector returns, they concoct a plan to rescue Regina. They free her and two younger children (a boy and a girl) also being held captive. Deprived of fresh blood, the researchers finally succumb to the disease.
Eventually rain washes away the red dust, leaving the world in pristine condition. The group turns into a conventional family unit, except for Samantha, who feels left out. When she ignores Regina's warning and crosses a deserted street against the light, she is almost run over by a car driven by a boy her own age.
Analysis
Night of the Comet was not just a movie updated to fit a more modern culture (such as Cronenberg's The Fly), but was more of a comedic parody (such as the Return of the Living Dead series of films). For example, in the disaster's aftermath, the world seemed to continue as normal as a result of mass automation. A radio station, which appears to be the last bastion of humanity, is revealed to be running off of prerecorded tapes.This film can also be associated with two developing trends in cinema from the early to mid 1980's: a cultural obsession with the re-appearance of Halley's Comet (which returned in 1986), which is touched upon in other films of the period including Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce; and the profitability of low-budget 'horror/slasher' flicks which were extremely popular with teenage audiences in the early to mid 1980's. The emerging home video rental market also made lower-budget films such as this easier to make, as some money could be made back via that avenue, although it is worth noting that in the mid 1980's most movies released on VHS were priced in the hundreds of dollars, putting them out of reach of most consumers to purchase directly.
Home video
Night of the Comet was originally released on home video in 1990 on VHS. Supposedly an original print of the film was lost thus delaying the DVD release. Bootleg DVDs made from the original VHS release have been circulated.Cast
- Catherine Mary Stewart .... Regina Belmont
- Zoe Kelli Simon .... Samantha Belmont (as Kelli Maroney)
- Robert Beltran .... Hector Gomez
- Sharon Farrell .... Doris
- Mary Woronov .... Audrey White
- Geoffrey Lewis .... Dr. Carter
- Peter Fox .... Dr. Wilson
- John Achorn .... Oscar
- Michael Bowen .... Larry Dupree
- Devon Ericson .... Minder
- Lissa Layng .... Davenport
- Janice Kawaye .... Sarah
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.