Director: Fred Dekker
Cast: Jason Lively, Tom Atkins, Steve Marshall, Jill Whitlow
Have I Seen it Before: Never, indeed.
Did I Like It: There’s a through line between this film and Night of the Comet (1984), and not just because I’m watching them both in quick succession for Beyond the Cabin in the Woods, and not just because they’re both irreverent, youth-oriented zombie movies of the 1980s, although it’s probably a little bit that.
No, I’m struck by the fact that these are both two films which I enjoy far more in the first quarter than I do in the rest of the following film.
Now, that might read as a fairly damning statement, as I ultimately didn’t think much of Comet by the time the end credits rolled. Instead, I’m more struck by how much I was absolutely thoroughly enchanted by the section of this film which takes place in the 1950s, and I only merely really liked the larger meat of the film taking place in the “present” (1986).
That opening is pretty stellar, with a true embrace of the space operatic elements of B movies of the era brought me into the film singularly. I even made a note for the eventual Cabin episode where I hoped the whole thing would be in black and white.
But alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
And yet, I can’t dismiss the 80s sections of the films entirely. Chris (Lively) and Hooper (Marshall) are believable as nerds neither entirely hapless nor completely angelic. Atkins brings exactly what one expects from a Tom Atkins, and I’m pretty sure he is incapable of not understanding the assignment at hand. I enjoyed how the film largely eschews any sort of impulse to make Cynthia (Whitlow) neither a preternatural hero* nor a damsel in distress. Neither she nor Chris would make it out of that sorority house without the help of the other.
It all makes one lament the fact that director Fred Dekker largely couldn’t get ahead of the stink of Robocop 3 (1993) to keep making feature length films.
*For the record, I have no trouble whatsoever with preternatural lady heroes. This counter-note is pleasantly unusual, is all.