Night of the Comet (1984)

Director:

Thom Eberhardt

Writer:

Thom Eberhardt (written by)

Release Date:

16 November 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

It was the last thing on earth they ever expected.

Plot:

A comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls to fight the evil types who survive.

Plot Keywords:

Comet | Scientist | Radio Station | Dead | Killer Child

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Robert Beltran	...	Hector
Catherine Mary Stewart	...	Regina
Kelli Maroney	...	Samantha
Sharon Farrell	...	Doris
Mary Woronov	...	Audrey
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Carter
Peter Fox	...	Wilson
John Achorn	...	Oscar
Michael Bowen	...	Larry
Devon Ericson	...	Minder
Lissa Layng	...	Davenport
Ivan E. Roth	...	Willy
Janice Kawaye	...	Sarah
Chance Boyer	...	Brian
Andrew Boyer	...	Rogers
Stanley Brock	...	Mel
Marc Poppel	...	Danny Mason Kenner / DMK
Raymond Lynch	...	Chuck
Bob Perlow	...	TV Reporter
John Stuart West	...	Monster Cop
Alex Brown	...	Monster in Alley (as Alex A. Brown)
Dick Rude	...	Stock Boy
Chris Pedersen	...	Stock Boy
Karl Johnson	...	Guard #1
Joel Levine	...	Guard #2
Wilson Camp	...	Party Guest
Anna Mathias	...	Party Guest
Tim Hannon	...	Party Guest
Bobby Porter	...	Monster Kid
Steve LaBeau	...	DJ (voice)
Michael Hanks	...	Narrator
Chris Chesser	...	Radio Spot Announcer
Dale E. House	...	Helicopter Pilot (as Dale House)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Helen Kelly	...	Girl at the theater (uncredited)

Directed by
Thom Eberhardt

Writing credits
Thom Eberhardt		(written by)

Produced by
Thomas Coleman	....	executive producer
Wayne Crawford	....	producer
Nancy Israel	....	associate producer
Andrew Lane	....	producer
Michael Rosenblatt	....	executive producer
Sandra Scheik	....	associate producer

Original Music by
David Richard Campbell

Cinematography by
Arthur Albert		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Fred Stafford

Casting by
Annette Benson

Production Design by
John Muto

Set Decoration by
David Wasco

Makeup Department
David B. Miller	....	makeup effects design
William Snyder	....	makeup artist

Production Management
William Fay	....	unit manager
Nancy Israel	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
H. Gordon Boos	....	first assistant director
H. Gordon Boos	....	second unit director
Gary A. Lowe	....	second assistant director
John Muto	....	second unit director

Art Department
Anne H. Ahrens	....	assistant art director (as Anne Huntley)
Paul Ahrens	....	property master
Don DeSimone	....	lead carpenter
Sherry Dreizen	....	art assistant
Vivianne Bertrand Gelbart	....	art assistant
Bernardo F. Munoz	....	construction supervisor (as Bernardo Munoz)
Bernardo F. Munoz	....	scenic artist (as Bernardo Munoz)
Bernardo F. Munoz	....	special props (as Bernardo Munoz)
John Myhre	....	assistant property master
Dave Peltz	....	art assistant
Stewart Russell	....	construction coordinator
Thierry Verrier	....	assistant set decorator

Sound Department
John L. Anderson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Doug Davey	....	sound re-recording mixer
Björn Emilsson	....	boom operator (as Bjorn Emilsson)
Lois Freeman	....	sound editor
Bill Gentry	....	sound editor
Carl Graham	....	sound editor
Chris Haire	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Christopher L. Haire)
Steve Nelson	....	sound mixer
Fred Stafford	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Rick Bugental	....	motion control camera operator
John O'Connell	....	motion control camera operator
Steven Wilzbach	....	motion control camera operator (as Steve Wilzbach)
John Eggett	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
John Muto	....	visual effects designer
Ted Rae	....	visual effects
Mark Sawicki	....	opticals: CMI

Stunts
Sandra Lee Gimpel	....	stunts
Debby Lynn Ross	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
David Birke	....	grip
Bruce Clarke	....	grip
Donne Daniels	....	key grip
John Esaki	....	second assistant camera
Chris Fenney	....	best boy
Philip Holahan	....	first assistant camera
Steve Jezewski	....	best boy grip
Shaun Madigan	....	gaffer (as Shaun McClelland)
Austin McKinney	....	plate photographer
Tom Richmond	....	camera operator: second unit
Diane Roderick	....	still photographer
Mike Townsend	....	grip
Elizabeth Webber	....	electrician (as Beth Webber)

Casting Department
Janet Cunningham	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Linda Linn	....	key costumer
Deborah Loft	....	wardrobe mistress
Regina Wrubel	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Bill Gentry	....	assistant editor
Carl Graham	....	associate editor
Joseph	....	color timer (uncredited)

Music Department
Tim Jaquette	....	music mixer
Tim Jaquette	....	songs mixer
Ross Pallone	....	music mixer
Ross Pallone	....	songs mixer
Tom Perry	....	music mixer
Tom Perry	....	songs mixer
Tom Perry	....	music supervisor
Bob Summers	....	music mixer
Bob Summers	....	songs mixer

Other crew
Nancy Battaglia	....	promotions
Rick Bugental	....	slit scan: Lumeni
Thomas Coleman	....	presenter
Dulanie M. Ellis	....	script supervisor (as Dulanie Ellis)
Dr. Gary Etting	....	specialist: contact lens
Diana Galvin	....	production coordinator
Dr. Ronald Guiley	....	specialist: contact lens
Susan Israel	....	production coordinator: New York
Richard Jenkins	....	neon
Philip Lieberman	....	video game consultant
Carla Madison	....	craft service
Gary Mascaro	....	choreographer
Peter Merwin	....	production assistant
John O'Connell	....	slit scan: Lumeni
Arthur Payne	....	production assistant
Steven Pomeroy	....	assistant to production manager
Dr. Peter Rosenberg	....	specialist: contact lens
Michael Rosenblatt	....	presenter
Peter Rutenberg	....	production accountant
Mark Sawicki	....	title opticals: CMI
Steven Wilzbach	....	slit scan: Lumeni (as Steve Wilzbach)
Harry Hauss	....	helicopter pilot (uncredited)

Thanks
Chuck Comisky	....	special thanks
Carol Geissinger	....	special thanks
Dave Hogan	....	special thanks
Ken Jones	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Thomas Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt Productions
• Film Development Fund (in association with)

Distributors

• Atlantic Releasing Corporation (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• Filmways Australasian Distributors (1986) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Norstar Releasing (198?) (Canada) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• GoodTimes Home Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Oy Europa Vision AB (1986) (Finland) (VHS)
• Paramount Television (19??) (worldwide) (TV)

Special Effects

• Court Wizard Special Effects (as Court Wizard)

Other Companies

• One to One Sound  production sound
• The Time Lapse Company  time-lapse photography
• Lumeni Productions  slit scan/motion control (as Lumeni)
• CMI (II)  title opticals
• Ultra Film Services Inc.  negative cutting
• Otto Nemenz International  Arriflex camera (as Otto Nemenz Int'l, Inc.)
• Filmtrucks  locations
• Atari  Atari Tempest coin video game courtesy of
• Malibu Sport  additional sportswear
• Nike  additional sportswear
• Banana Republic  additional sportswear
• L.A. Air Force  radio jingles
• Ford Motor Company  vehicles
• Larry Edmunds Booksellers  special thanks (as Larry Edmunds Book Shop)
• Dream Quest Images  special thanks (as Dreamquest)
• Health Valley Natural Foods  special thanks
• Tenneco West  special thanks
• Western Bagels  special thanks
• Dean Foods  special thanks
• Thunderbird Marketing  special thanks
• Trader Joe's Markets  special thanks
• Pervo Paint  special thanks
• Hickory's Best  special thanks
• BDR Sound  songs recorded at
• Hollywood Sound  songs recorded at
• Studio Masters  songs recorded at

Also Known As:

Teenage Mutant Horror Comet Zombies (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-16 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #27376) | Australia:M | UK:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

5515 Wilshire Blvd., Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Thomas Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt Productions

Trivia:

On the wall at the movie theater is a poster for "Valley Girl", also starring Michael Bowen.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Regina and Sam are talking on the bridge, the position of the Diet Pepsi can sitting on the railing between them changes several times between shots.

Quotes:

Party Guest: In 1910, Haley's Comet Returned. Everyone thought they were going to die then.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

Virgin in Love

It's valley girls vs. zombies and evil scientists tonight on Schlock Wars!!

Cheesy, but enjoyable satire is like the poor man's version of 28 Days Later (2002) with a big chunk of '80's vibe for flavor!

Comet eliminates the worlds population, leaving surviving sisters to fend against a group of demented scientists.

While many peg Night of the Comet as a zombie picture, and granted two or three zombies do show up along the way, this film really has much more in common with the old B sci-fi movies of the 1950s. In fact, one could make a good case that the film is meant to be a comical parody of those old schlock films, after all it does have a nice comic book feel! From any view, this is an entertaining film even with its silly moments. It manages to stir up a few chills along with the laughs.

The films cast is only decent, but their performances do hold their own. The special FX, mostly the zombies, are pretty decent. The music score is composed mainly of electronic tunes that perfect that great '80's feel!

For those seeking a bit of fun humor with their horror, Night of the Comet isn't a bad choice.

*** out of ****