Long before Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, Scream, and every other post-modern scarefest designed just as much for cinephiles as gorehounds, a less celebrated horror comedy treaded that fine line between self-aware and full-blown parody. Now available on 4K UHD/Blu-Ray, it’s the perfect time to revisit Night of the Creeps’ many meta charms.
Taking the director’s chair for the first of sadly only three occasions, Fred Dekker (Monster Squad, Robocop 3) wastes little time setting the monster mash tone. In the prologue alone, a possessed E.T. on a budget alien shoots a canister at planet Earth circa 1959. Then, briefly switching the action to black and white — a color palette Dekker had wanted throughout the entire movie — two college students’ romantic date is rudely interrupted by the murderous slug-like creatures sent from deep space. Oh, and then a deranged slasher enters the fray just to ensure neither party makes it out of Lovers Lane alive.
