Der Komet - Der Tod kommt aus dem All

"Night of the Comet" is a truly fun and engaging little genre effort of the 80's, but surely some of its hardcore fans are slightly overestimating the value and significance of this film. I've encountered reviews stating that "Night of the Comet" is a quintessential gem of 80's horror and that it's easily one of the most intelligent tributes/parodies to older B-movies ever made. Okay, the script is quite clever and writer/director Thom Eberhardt definitely knows a lot about all the post-apocalyptic classics of the 50's and 60's, but I honestly doubt it ever was his intention to direct the ULTIMATE homage. "Night of the Comet" is more like a miniature-tribute! All the obligatory story lines and sub plots to create an end-of-the-world epic are present, but Eberhardt's only disposed of a limited budget and thus the elaboration is only small-scaled and rather cheesy. There are mutated zombies, crazed scientists and hostile groups of survivors on the rampage, but all just in small doses. The movie opens during a bright summer evening, when the entire world is preparing to see a mesmerizing and once-in-a-lifetime ecological phenomenon, namely the passing of a comet. Two high-school teenagers who missed out on the event (sisters, moreover, what are the odds?) wake up the next morning and slowly realize that the comet's radiation killed every human being in L.A, only leaving behind small piles of red dust. They entrench themselves in an abandoned radio station, meet up with another sole (and male) survivor, battle the occasional mutated zombie and – of course – go shopping without credit cards. Things get slightly more dangerous when a bunch of dying scientists, who predicted the extinction of the human race, try to abduct the survivors to steal their still uncontaminated blood. The tone of "Night of the Comet" is continuously light-headed, still director Ebarhardt manages to maintain a more or less sinister atmosphere which never allow you to forget that the whole of mankind just got wiped out. The girls, although mostly concerned about fashion trends and pop music, understand the seriousness of the situation and deal with it the best way they possibly can. There are still a handful of creepy sequences (the confrontation in the mall) and well-developed Sci-Fi ideas (the diabolical scientists), but the emphasis largely lies on the two girls and their typically 80's pop-culture life-styles. I've never heard this many campy pop-songs in one movie, not even in a musical, and the special & make-up effects are kept to a minimum. The acting performances of Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney are more adequate than you'd expect, as it certainly isn't easy for young actresses to portray teenage character that are stereotypical, ignorant, fashionable and yet likable at the same time. "Night of the Comet" certainly isn't brilliant, probably even a bit overrated by its fans, but still worth a peek in case you have a weakness for 80's cinema.

Hey, you can complain about it all you want folks, but this is classic 80s!!! Those of you who feel nostalgic when you hear synth music, see super fluffy layered hair with LOTS of Aqua net, and skintight SV's or Jordache, this is for you.

Robert Beltran is our Ponchlike hero, we who are Trekkers have come to know him as Chakotay from ST: Voyager, but some of you 80s buffs might remember him as "RAOUL" from a little picture from around the same year called "Eating Raoul" with the great Mary Waronov, who is also briefly in this movie as a mad scientist/zombie gone good with a conscience. Her part I wish had been larger, and that her interaction with Beltran had been more detailed... they are great on screen together, and she fits right in with this 80s camp.

Catherine Mary Stewart who used to be Kayla Brady on Days of our Lives shines as the tough chick, while cute Kelly Maroney of Ryan's Hope is her naive cheerleader sister. Sorry if some of you think it is awful, but if you grew up during the time this film was made, I believe you will really enjoy it. The music is really nostalgic... there's one slow song that is really reminiscent of the Frank Stallone days when he was on top with "Staying Alive"... Anyone remember "Moody Girl"? This song will remind you of that, and this movie will make you long for days before the world lost all it's creativity and started copying everything great from that time.

Enjoy, Children of the 80s, this one's for you.

PS... Had to edit this upon just watching it again... How funny and predictive is it that Kelly says "Beam me up Scotty"... As The future Chakotay is listening!" :)

I originally saw this movie in the theater, and I LOVED it! I had often fantasized about the end of the world where only myself a few others had survived.

Well, I'm 16 years older now, and not quite as misanthropic, but I still got a kick out of watching this again the other night. Sure, the soundtrack was atrocious, and some of the acting was sub-par, but the sheer aplomb that "Samantha" has carries the film, I thought.

Plus, it was fun to see Robert Beltran (ST: Voyager's second in command), so much younger!

Quite a few laughs, and a pretty good plot twist or two to keep you guessing makes this an easy movie to enjoy.

My rating: 7

A comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls (Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney) to fight the evil types who survive.

This came from producer Wayne Crawford, who also co-wrote and co-produced the film "Valley Girl" (as well as being the primary creative force behind "Barracuda"). I like to think Crawford had some important contributions to "Comet", but who knows? This was directed by Thom Eberhardt, who went on to make "Captain Ron" (1992).

Many people love this film, and Stewart and Maroney are always big hits on the convention circuit. I liked it, too, though perhaps not as much as some people. The film was funny, quirky and entertaining, though it never quite escalates from "good" to "cult classic", and I am curious to see if this will get some new eyes looking on it with the amazing Scream Factory release.

I will say the script is more clever than it first appears, though, once you begin to connect the dots on subtle jokes (such as when the comet struck and who has been playing the arcade game).

All of you who said this movie was dumb, unrealistic, or not scary, that is the point of a B-movie, as others have pointed out. What made this movie great was that it knew it was cheesy. A valley-girl cheerleader and her movie-theater-employee sister running around with machine guns, raiding the mall and saving the world while hiding out as radio DJ's, is not supposed to be taken seriously. Of course it is ridiculous that people would be instantly incinerated, yet plant life, clothes, and the electric company would be untouched. A lot of Academy-Award winning movies are not realistic either. This is supposed to be entertaining, and make you think about what you would do if you were one of the few people left in the world. This film was a classic 80's comedy. And I for one found the zombies pretty creepy, except for the junior zombie that breaks into Hector's mom's house, that was just hilarious. Catherine Mary Stewart (Regina) is great as the older sister, I was always surprised that she didn't become a bigger star after this one. If you grew up in the 80's, and you never saw this movie, see it now! It is an 80's classic! To this day I can't jaywalk without hearing the line, "The future of civilization is on us, we do not CROSS against the LIGHT!!"