Night of the Creeps

Night of the Creeps is a 1986 American science fiction horror comedy film written and directed by Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad) in his feature directorial debut, starring Jason Lively (National Lampoons European Vacation), Jill Whitlow (Porky’s), and Tom Atkins (The Fog). The film is an earnest attempt at a B movie and an homage to the genre. While the main plot of the film is related to zombies, the film also mixes in takes on slashers and alien invasion films. Night of the Creeps did not perform well at the box office, but it developed a cult following.

In 1959, an alien throws an experiment from his spaceship into space and the capsule crashes on Earth. College students Pam and Johnny are dating in a parking area nearby the location and believe it is a falling star. Steve decides to investigate, but they are warned by Pam’s former boyfriend, the police officer Ray Cameron, that a maniac is killing people in that area with an axe. However Steve leaves Pam and walks in the woods looking for the star and a slug-like creature jumps into his mouth.

In 1986, college students Chris and his best friend decide to join a fraternity to impress a girl but are told that they need to bring a corpse and leave in front of another fraternity. They go to the Med School Laboratory of the University and find Johnny’s body in a cryogenic chamber. They remove the corpse from the chamber but get scared and leave the body on the floor. However, Johnny leaves the laboratory and starts releasing slug like parasites that transform people into zombies.

The film has two endings, one of which was used for the film’s theatrical release and the other is the ending originally intended by director Fred Dekker.