Night of the Comet
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| Night of the Comet | |
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 Original 1984 theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Thom Eberhardt |
| Produced by | Andrew Lane Wayne Crawford |
| Written by | Thom Eberhardt |
| Starring | Catherine Mary Stewart Kelli Maroney Robert Beltran |
| Music by | David Richard Campbell |
| Cinematography | Arthur Albert |
| Editing by | Fred Stafford |
| Distributed by | Atlantic Releasing Corporation |
| Release date(s) | November 16, 1984 (USA) |
| Running time | 95 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,000,000 (estimated) (Director has stated $700,000) |
| Gross revenue | $14,418,922 (USA) (sub-total) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Night of the Comet is a 1984 science fiction comedy horror zombie film directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Beltran, and Kelli Maroney.
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[edit] Plot
The Earth passes through the tail of a comet, which dooms all human and animal life except for those who happened to be completely enclosed inside metal containers (for example, the three main protagonists spend the night in a metal shed, a steel-lined projection room, and an 18-wheeler's trailer). Unprotected people and animals quickly dehydrate and turn into piles of red calcium dust. Those only partially exposed first gradually degenerate into cannibalistic zombies for hours or days before succumbing. It is indicated that this is what wiped out the dinosaurs as the last time it passed by Earth was 65 million years ago when they went extinct.
Two sisters, eighteen-year-old Regina (Catherine Mary Stewart) and sixteen-year-old Samantha (Kelli Maroney) Belmont ("Reggie" and "Sam"), are among the few survivors. The sisters are military brats; they were taught self-defense techniques and how to use firearms by their father, an Army officer. After realizing what has happened, they hear a disk jockey on the radio and head to the station, only to find that it is only a recording. However, they do meet another survivor there, trucker Hector Gomez (Robert Beltran).
When Sam talks on the air, she attracts the attention of researchers in an underground government think tank. They had suspected and prepared for the comet's effects, but "left the vents open" during its passing. In order to save themselves, they hunt down healthy survivors to harvest their blood to hold off the mystery disease while they try to create an antidote.
Hector then leaves to see if any of his family survived. The girls, in true Valley girl fashion, take advantage of the unexpected turn of events to go shopping, to the tune of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun". After a firefight, they are taken prisoner by some slowly-dying department store stock boys, who demand payment for their "purchases". They are rescued just in time by a rescue party from the think tank.
Reggie is taken back to their facility; Audrey White (Mary Woronov), a dying, disillusioned scientist, lies to her co-workers, telling them that Sam had been exposed. She stays behind with Sam, pretending to kill the young woman with a lethal injection. When Hector returns, Audrey gives him enough information for him and Sam (who was only put to sleep) to concoct a plan to rescue Reggie; then she commits suicide. Hector and Sam free Reggie and two other survivors (a boy and a girl) also being held captive. Some of the researchers are killed in the escape, while the rest succumb to the disease. Eventually all over the world the zombies succumb as the researchers discovered that they could only survive for 36 hours at most before anyone infected would succumb to the effects and disintegrate.
Eventually rain washes away the red dust, leaving the world in pristine condition. The group turns into a conventional family unit, except for Sam, who feels left out. When she ignores Reggie's warning and crosses a deserted street against the light, she is almost run over by a car driven by Danny Mason Kenner, a boy her own age. After apologizing, he invites her to go for a ride.
[edit] References in Popular Culture
- In an episode of the television show Benson entitled "Last Man on Earth," Kraus has a crazy dream where she and Benson are the last survivors on earth. The episode is a parody of Night of the Comet right down to people being reduced to red dust.
- In an IGN review for the Game Boy Color video game platform of Grand Theft Auto, the reviewer stated: "It looks like the roads were ripped of the movie Night of the Comet."
[edit] Home video
Night of the Comet was released on VHS cassette on August 30, 1985 and distributed by CBS/FOX Video. A second US VHS printing, distributed by Goodtimes Video, was released on August 30, 1990. The film was officially released on Region 1 DVD on March 6th, 2007.[1]
[edit] Cast
- Catherine Mary Stewart as Regina Belmont
- Kelli Maroney as Samantha Belmont
- Robert Beltran as Hector Gomez
- Sharon Farrell as Doris, Reggie and Sam's stepmother
- Mary Woronov as Audrey White
- Geoffrey Lewis as Dr. Carter, the leader of the think tank
- Peter Fox as Dr. Wilson, one of the researchers
- John Achorn as Oscar
- Michael Bowen as Larry Dupree
- Devon Ericson as Minder
- Lissa Layng as Davenport
- Janice Kawaye as Sarah, the young rescued girl
[edit] External links
- Night of the Comet at the Internet Movie Database
- Night of the Comet at Rotten Tomatoes
- Unofficial fan site
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