This mishmash of B-movie cheese starts off with an alien virus being jettisoned into space and hitting Earth in the late 50's. The capsule breaks open and infects a young college man, but instead of starting the parasitic zombie infection that is the focus of this film, this young guy ends up frozen in a lab for 30 years so that the sluggish Creeps can be let loose in 1986.
Chris (Jason Lively) and J.C. (Steve Marshall) are two college freshmen, and when Chris spies hot young co-ed, Cynthia (Jill Whitlow) in a frat party, he figures the only way to get her attention is to join a fraternity. This decision starts Chris, J.C., Cynthia and the rest of the town on a path that will leave the entire campus overrun with zombies. You see, the frat boys decide to haze our two geeks a little by giving them a task, they need to steal a dead body and put it on the lawn of a rival house. When Chris and J.C.'s explorations lead them into the very lab where the 50's kid is being kept on ice and end up thawing him out, the infected man is finally able to let loose the slugs that enter through your mouth and turn you into a zombie.
The last hero of the movie is Detective Ray Cameron (Tom Atkins). When he first started on the force, he had just broken up with his girlfriend. Incidentally, his girlfriend had just started seeing the man who found the alien capsule and she also found herself in the path of an escaped mental patient. All of these facts have been haunting Cameron his whole career, and when the slugs resurrect a few familiar bodies, he finds himself at his wits end.
Night of the Creeps has pretty much anything a campy horror fan is looking for. Everything from gooey special effect heads blowing up to a stop-action animated wall of slugs to flamethrowers and cheesy lines is present here, and what's even better is the sheer amount of special features available for both existing and new fans alike. Not only does Night of the Creeps: Director's Cut come with both the theatrical and home video endings, but commentary by both the cast and crew, a trivia track and an hour or so of featurettes that cover everything from retrospective interviews with cast, crew and the special effects department, plus also a good bit about the following the movie has developed over the years. I was really shocked to see how much extra there was on this DVD.
Night of the Creeps is the epitome of cheese and campyness. Quite frankly, the only thing that could perfect the movie is if Bruce Campbell played in it. That being said, it is obviously not for everyone. In fact, the audience that will truly enjoy this outrageous film is pretty small, and while that group will love it, most people will pretty much scoff at it from the DVD box cover alone. So if you are interested at all, you might want to consider renting this film before purchasing.
