5/5 Pushing 40 and still loving it!
  by Andrew Tallackson (Michigan City, IN)
Should I be worried that I'm about to turn 40, and I can't get enough of my "Night of the Creeps" DVD? I've been waiting for this film to arrive on DVD for years, and it doesn't disappoint. The movie ages well with time. The director's cut ending, which I first caught on SyFy, is 10 times better than the theatrical version. The interviews, as was the case with director Fred Dekker's "Monster Squad" DVD, are outstanding. Dekker is so open and honest about his films. Fred - get back to making horror movies!

4/5 Night of the Creeps
  by Clinton Enlow (Kansas)
Before today I had only seen bits and pieces of Fred Dekker's cult classic, Night of the Creeps on cable channels. Before then I had heard little about the movie (I didn't even know it was the debut of Dekker who helmed the other eighties cult classic The Monster Squad) and really hadn't made any real attempt to see the movie. Not that I didn't like it, just what I saw of it seemed cheesy and uninteresting to me. Strangely enough though it was The Monster Squad connection, and the praise of several fans that drove me to make a blind purchase, and yes I'm glad I did. I didn't find the movie to be the horror comedy of horror comedy's, but it was an enjoyable mash up of bad monster movies from the fifties, an effect Dekker was going for. It even has a character watching Plan 9 From Outer Space to hammer this bit home.
The movie best aspect is that in truth it never tries to take itself seriously. From the opening color scenes interspersed with a black and white opening the movie achieves this silly little tone mixing a Pleasantville feeling, with the usual bad movie cliche of a radio advising that theres a serial killer on the loose and He's heading fast for a where a man character just happens to be parked, waiting for her boyfriend who happens to be investigating a meteorite He saw fall to the earth.
It then cuts the present day of 1986 where two happless geeks are trying to win over the affections of the prettiest girl in by joining a fraternity where they're challenged to steal a body to dump on a frat house lawn. Of course unwittingly the two geeks unleash the creeps, sluglike creatures who turn people into zombies. And and theres a police detective with a secret past played by perfection from Tom Atkins who delivers the movies catchphrase "Thrill Me". I'll admit I had seen Atkins in a dozen things before this including Lethal Weapon and The Fog, but before this I had never really given him much credit. In short Atkins Ray Cameron was a better leading character than the two leads of JC and Chris.
In summation this is a fun little film, an R rated companion piece to The Monster Squad. Theres gore, theres nudity and people perfectly delivering cheesy one liners. Unlike a recent horror comedy I couldn't get into it perfectly balances the horror aspect and the humor. And lastly its a terrific film to view, and perhaps discover this Halloween.
Not having seen the original I can't really comment on the directors cut's quality. I will say that Sony put out a perfect disc with extras galore including two seperate commentaries from the director and the cast. Theres a good making of cut up into four main sections discussing the making of the movie, an alternate ending, a trivia track and lastly the trailer. Best of all the film is beautifully presented with excellent picture and sound.

4/5 Creepy movie and features, Crummy packaging
  by Alex Faber (Northern NJ United States)
THE MOVIE:

The movie concerns two college freshmen, Chris and JC, who want to pledge a fraternity so Chris can impress a girl, the adorable Cynthia. In the process, they unleash a scourge of alien slugs upon the earth and meet the butt-kicking and one liner spewing Detective Cameron, played by the always awesome Tom Atkins. As the slug menace becomes an ever-increasing threat to the college and perhaps the world itself, Dekker manages to keep the audience entertained with lines, references, and special effects that are always jocular but never tip their hand too much by becoming overly farcical, while the action and horror are balanced with a handful of characters whose personalities and interactions actually come across as genuine. As such, we come to care greatly about Chris, JC, Cynthia, and even the haunted Detective Cameron, and when a tragedy occurs near the middle of the movie, it's truly one of the most heart-wrenching scenes I've ever witnessed in a horror film.

THE FEATURES:

This movie may've taken far too long to come out on DVD, but the abundance of features almost makes it worth it. There are commentaries, the original ending, a trivia track, an hour's worth of behind the scenes interviews and retrospectives, and a whole heck of a lot more, including 7 deleted scenes, half of which should have made the final cut, as well as a big treat for Atkins fans like myself.

THE PACKAGING:

This is the only area where this release falters. The first blow was felt months ago when fans learned that, of all of the original posters and VHS tape covers, none of those was going to be used as the artwork for this release. Instead, we got a middling cover that, while by no means is terrible, I can only view as an inferior stand-in for the original artwork.

And there's more: there's no chapter insert or booklet of any kind, and the DVD disc itself is plain-looking, with the movie title and related DVD information printed on the disc in black ink. That's it: there are no images and the print is spare, leaving most of the disc surface blank. Finally, the last blow is that this comes packaged in one of the Eco-Boxes that is proliferating among the major movie companies, so that pieces of the black part of the DVD case are cut out to save plastic. Speaking as someone who's been an environmentalist for close to two decades, this blows, and I immediately recycled this case and replaced it with a more standard one.

FINAL TALLY:

Commercially ignored upon its release, "Night of the Creeps" plays like an idiosyncrasy from the 80s, as it doesn't function as yet another straight ahead horror movie. Rather, it's a pastiche of sci-fi, horror, comedy, and more, and in an era where we're accustomed to movies that both parody and pay tribute to their respective genres, Fred Dekker's film (along with the also-overlooked 80s movie Student Bodies) seems one of the elderly statesmen of the lot, presciently helping to blaze the path that the postmodern horror and hybridized movies of today tread.

Finally released on DVD (and Blu-Ray), this movie is given a superb-looking Widescreen presentation, and instead of a weak barebones release, it's packed with an array of different special features. Unfortunately, this same devotion was not granted to the packaging, so like my Dancing Aunt Gertie, it's good to listen to and to watch, but the packaging's kind of tough to look at. Still worth a buy, though (as if you needed my advice on that!). Thanks for reading.

5/5 Must see horror film for fans of 80's cult cinema
  by EerieVonEvil (The Rabbit Hole)
I grew up with Fred Dekker's second film, Monster Squad, and always knew that he had done Night Of The Creeps previously. I never saw it on tape (my video store actually didnt carry it!) and I never tracked down a bootleg because I wanted to watch it as it should be seen.

Fast forward 15 years later and now I have the DVD. I just watched it for the first time in my life last night and I have to say it was worth the wait.

I love all kinds of B-movies, drive-in trash, and cult cinema and having seen so many different classic films in my life already there was a lot for Creeps to live up to. It did not disappoint

While not the most amazing 80's horror flick out there, you certainly get what you pay for: Slimy space slugs, zombies, some nudity, wise-crack jokes, the obligatory "bad ass" cop that spews cheesy one-liners (Thrill Me anyone?), and some decent gore. This is truly Tom Atkin's best film. I liked the sub-plot about the escaped serial killer. The whole movie has a classic vibe and could have easily been a movie from the 60's-70's. You can see where the film Slither got it's ideas from.

So if you are looking for a fun flick and love other zombie movies like Re-Animator then this film is right up your alley. Furthermore, the director's original ending is intact (as is the theatrical one for comparison) and I must say I'm glad he used it in the DVD release version.

Get this movie, a group of friends, some beer and have a great movie night!

5/5 Thrill me! I give this an extra star for it's extra content and reuniting the stars for this release!
  by Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California)
"In the words of Detective Cameron..."Thrill Me!" And for 23-years, this film has continued to thrill fans and has literally become a film that has achieved cult status. Director Frank Dekker gets his wish for a release of a Director's Cut with his original intended ending and fans of the film are treated to a reunion by the original cast 23-years later and also a tribute to the career of Tom Atkins. Definitely an enjoyable DVD release and a great tribute to one of the more hilarious comedy horror films ever created. Highly recommended!"

In 1986, a horror/zombie film called "Night of the Creeps" became a cult hit among fans due to the film's comedic nature but also how it pays homage to the horror genre.

The film is written and directed by Fred Dekker ("The Monster Squad", "RoboCop 3, "Enterprise"), produced by Charles Gordon ("Field of Dreams", "Die Hard", "Hitman"), music by Barry De Vorzon ("The Twilight Zone", "Tatoo", "Private Benjamin) and cinematography by Robert C. New ("So Weird", "Blade: The Series").

Although never considered a scary, horror film, "Night of the Creeps" was a film that caught attention for its screenplay, its special effects and its campiness but it was one of those 80's films that continues to be a fan favorite and for many years, many fans have waited for the film to be released on DVD. On Oct. 27th, the film via a director's cut receives a DVD and also a Blu-ray HD treatment and comes with the ending that Fred Dekker originally wanted and also a reunion of the cast 23 years later.

The film kicks off in a space ship where two aliens hunt down one of their own who has stolen an experiment. The alien in pursuit manages to rid of the canister and launches it out into space.

The film then transitions to 1959 where a sorority girl goes out on a date with a guy and the two go out to a make out point. The two are warned by a police officer, a young Ray Cameron (who dated the sorority girl) that a man has escaped from a mental ward and has hacked a few people with an ax. The two ignore the officer but then see a falling star which crashes near them. The guy and the girl drive to the area of where the meteorite may have crashed and the guy leaves the girl in the car. The guy discovers a canister and a slug from the canister jumps into his mouth. Meanwhile, the girl left alone in the car hears reports that the killer is headed towards their direction. While screaming for the guy to get back into the car, she is unaware that the killer is about to slaughter her.

We are then taken to 1986 where two nerdy college students: Chris (played by Jason Lively, "Mancuso, FBI", "Maximum Force", "Monday Morning) and J.C. (played by Steve Marshall, "Night Heat", "Sleeping in a Dream") are walking around the fraternity and sorority section and see a girl across the street that captures his attention. Chris is the silent type while his best friend and roommate J.C. (who has a disability and walks with crutches) is a lively jokester and tries to get the girl's attention for his buddy.

Because Chris is so shy, J.C. manages to introduce the girl named Cynthia (played by Jill Whitlow, "Mask", "Thunder Run", "Twice Dead") to his friend. But she happens to be dating a frat guy and thus, Chris's hopes are dash. Chris comes up with an idea that they should join a frat and when they try, in order to join, they are told to take a body from the science lab and drop it in the front porch of another frat.

When Chris and J.C. go to the lab to retrieve the body and releases it from its incubator, the body (which happens to be the guy who discovered the cannister back in 1959) has awaken. Startled by the body moving, Chris and J.C. run away in fear.

Meanwhile the scientist in charge of maintaining the body is killed by the zombie man and immediately, the zombie walks to the sorority where he went to visit the girl he was dating back in 1959 (the room of the girl is where Cynthia is now staying in). Immediately, the man's head blows up and slugs are released into the public. The slugs tend to possess a person's body, kills them from the inside and takes over their brain where they can breed and make more of their kind and continue the process of finding a body to breed in.

With murders happening on campus, detective Ray Cameron (played by Tom Atkins, "Halloween 3, "The Fog", "Bruiser") remembers back in 1959 of how his girlfriend was hacked into pieces by the axe murderer who was never caught and worries that these killings may be the work of the killer. He has suffered nightmares in which he sees a skeleton or zombie murdering his ex-girlfriend and with news from Chris and J.C. that the body inside the incubator moved, he worries about what is going on.

With zombie infestations now happening, the friendship of Chris and J.C. is tested, and Chris and Cynthia are brought closer together. But will they be able to survive the onslaught of the zombies during the night of the big dance?

It's important to note that "Night of the Creeps" is a Director's Cut version and that it features the original ending that Director Fred Dekker wanted (the reason why it wasn't used was because Dekker who was a new director at the time, showed an incomplete test screening to an audience and execs without the special effects and the audience and execs wanted a new ending). The original theatrical ending is included on the DVD.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Night of the Creeps" is featured in 1L85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. For a 1986 film, I have to say that the picture quality is pretty good and I didn't see any major compressions or massive warping. I can only comment on the DVD version but it doesn't look like Sony Pictures Home Entertainment used any major Digital Noise Reduction in the release, so I wonder how nice the Blu-ray transfer may have been. But for the DVD itself, fans should be happy to know that this 23-year-old film looks good.

As for the audio, the audio is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital. I was noticing mainly front and center channel dialogue and the music but nothing that caught my attention via the surrounds. So, I ended up switching the audio to "Stereo on All Channels" on my receiver for a more immersive sound. But for the most part, dialogue was clear and understandable and that 80's new wave electronic music is clear as well.

Subtitles are presented only in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Fans of "Night of the Creeps: Director's Cut" will definitely enjoy the special features included on the DVD. Included are the following:

* Commentary with Writer/Director Fred Dekker - An audio commentary with Michael, the DVD producer and Writer/Director Fred Dekker. Dekker gives a more technical insight about the film and how certain cuts were made. Especially certain scenes that Dekker enjoyed.
* Cast commentary (Jasone Lively, Steve Marshall, Jill Whitlow and Tom Atkins) - A lively, hilarious and insightful commentary by the four talent of the film. What's even more interesting is to hear the cast see the original Fred Dekker ending for the first time.
* Original Theatrical Ending - (:30) The original theatrical ending. Which one do you think is better? It's important to note that the Director's Cut ending was shown on television while those who saw the original theatrical cut, own the VHS and LD saw this ending.
* Deleted Scenes - (7:45) Seven deleted scenes: The Girls Meet Johnny, J.C.'s Positive Thinking, Cameron vs. Raimi, Making cookies, Raimi Follows Protocol, Cameron Spies Spanky, Chris Stays Behind
* Birth of the Creeps - (10:43) Director Frank Dekker, the Cast and crew talk about Frank Dekker and how the film became a reality.
* Cast of the Creeps - (15:56) Featuring a reunion of the cast (Jason Lively, Steve Marshall, Jill Whitlow and Tom Atkins) who talk about their involvement in the film and working with each other.
* Creating the Creeps - (10:31) How the special make-up FX was created and interviews with David B. Miller (Special Make-Up FX Supervisor), Howard Berger and Robert Kurtzman (Special Make-Up FX Creator) talk about their involvement of the film, the challenges due to the short pre-production schedule and more.
* Escape of the Creeps - (11:35) Charles Gordon (Producer), Michael Knue (Editor) and Director Frank Dekker talk about how the film became a hit with fans. But also why the ending was changed and how they didn't like the ending the execs wanted.
* Legend of the Creeps - (10:59) How over 23-years later, the film has a cult following and Director Frank Dekker and the cast talk about why they think the film has done so well with the fans. Fans talk about why they love the film. And how this film is so different from today's horror films.
* Tom Atkins: Man of Action - (19:53) A celebration of Tom Atkins career and talking about his film career and tidbits of the talent he worked with in various films. And how fans love to ask him questions about "Night of the Creeps".
* Trivia Track - Fans can watch the film via trivia utilizing subtitles.
* Original Theatrical Trailer - (1:32) The original theatrical trailer

JUDGMENT CALL:

"Night of the Creeps: Director's Cut" is a film that has become a cult phenomenon. Over 23-years later and fans continue to enjoy this classic zombie/horror film and it hearkens back to the days when horror films were allowed to have its share of humor and not always were created to frighten the viewer. One of the things that I enjoyed about the film is for the fact that it's hilarious, campy but I feel that in this day and age, horror films have become more or less studio cash cows and writers wanting to create the the most horrific and dark film.

Although, I'm not a horror fan by any means, I can easily remember films such as "Poltergeist", "The Monster Squad" or "The Lost Boys" and although not necessarily horror films in today's standards, back in the 80's, they were very entertaining to watch and the films had its share of scary moments. You were allowed to laugh and be entertained but the clever writing knew when to scare the hell out of you. These were films that families brought their kids out to see and a whole family can be frightened together. "Night of the Creeps" was one of those films that can easily be enjoyed by families and a lot of those kids who watched it back then, are now enjoying it today as adults.

"Night of the Creeps" is a film that pays homage to classic horror films and is a part of Frank Dekker's passion for sci-fi and horror films in the past. The film also has that 80's campiness that some have found enjoyable and some may find it not their cup of tea. But it all comes down to the viewer and if one is wanting a comedy horror film, "Night of the Creeps" is definitely one of the best out there.

As for the DVD release of "Night of the Creeps: Director's Cut", I'm sure people will have their say on what their favorite ending will be but for Frank Dekker, he never was a fan of shock endings and although losing the battle to have his original ending featured in the final theatrical cut, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has given him the thumbs up for a DVD release featuring his original intended ending for the film. Also, I found the reunion by the cast and crew to be wonderful and also fun and enjoyable to not just listen to the commentary but also to see them goof around during the interview portion of the special features. Also, Tom Atkins fans will definitely enjoy a tribute to his career and an interview where Atkins discusses his films and the talents that he has worked with. So, I have no doubt in my mind that fans will find this DVD release to be entertaining and fun to watch. It's a solid DVD release!

Overall, if you are a big fan of this film, I highly recommend "Night of the Creeps: Director's Cut" on DVD or Blu-ray. And yes, you will definitely be "thrilled".