Night of the Comet

★★★

Film Review by Michelle Devereaux | 18 Sep 2014

Film title: Night of the Comet

Director: Thom Eberhardt

Starring: Sharon Farrell, Michael Bowen, Devon Ericson, Robert Beltran, Kelli Maroney, Mary Woronov, Geoffrey Lewis, Ivan E. Roth, John Achorn, Peter Fox, Lissa Leyng, Janice Kawaye, Chance Boyer, Andrew Boyer, Catherine Mary Stewart

Release date: 22 Sep

Certificate: 15

Fans of ’80s cheese will likely eat up Night of the Comet with a gag-worthy spoon. With its B-movie horror aesthetic, campy Valley Girl dialogue, and shopping montage set to Girls Just Want to Have Fun, the film veritably screams “1984” (in the fun, non-Orwellian sense).

Set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles following the titular comet’s cataclysmic brush with Earth – which turns almost everyone into red dust – the film follows the teenage Regina, her ditsy sister Samantha, and fellow survivor Hector as they fight off the zombified denizens who escaped full-on obliteration. ‘Reg’ is a rare breed in a genre film: smart, capable, unapologetically sexual, and self-possessed. Sadly, the movie’s positive representation of ‘otherness’ (including the Hispanic Hector) would shame many made in 2014, especially in horror. Comet is much more of a comedy anyway, mixed with a dash of sci-fi conspiracy and Troma-style schlock shocks. Its style is cheesy and dated, sure, but its outlook is surprisingly forward-thinking. [Michelle Devereaux]