Movies - Night of the Comet

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	Movies - Night of the Comet

Night of the Comet is a 1984 science fiction film directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Beltran, Zoe Kelli Simon, Geoffrey Lewis, and Mary Woronov.

Plotline

The Earth passes through the tail of a comet, which covers Earth with a layer of red dust that wipes out all animal life except for those who happened to be completely enclosed inside metal containers (for example, the trailer of an 18-wheeler, where one of the movie's protagonists spends the night). The dust, according to the movie, dehydrates animals and turns their bodies to piles of calcium.

People and animals that were only partially exposed to the dust degenerate into cannibalistic zombies. Among the survivors are two girls left to find other survivors and fight off the undead. A government think tank, who knew of the comet's damaging effects but "left the vents open" during the comet's passing, try to hunt down survivors to harvest their blood in an attempt to create an antidote for the mystery illness.

The motion picture ends after rain washes away the red dust and calcium remains, leaving the world in pristine condition.

Analysis

The movie Night of the Comet was among the dozens of 1980s horror flicks and remakes that was not just a movie updated to fit a more modern culture (such as Cronenburg's The Fly
), but was more of a comedic parody (such as the Return of the Living Dead series of films).

For example, directly after the night of the comet's aftermath, the world seemed to continue as normal as a result of mass automation. A radio station appears to be the last bastion of humanity, though is revealed to be running off of programmed tapes (according to the movie, everything in the world, except the phone system, is able to run on its own). The teenage girls later travel downtown to the mall (complete with Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" in the soundtrack), only to be confronted with partially-decayed teenage zombie store clerks who demand credit cards to pay for their stolen goods more than they do flesh.

Home video

Night of the Comet was originally released on home video in 1990 on VHS. Supposedly an original print of the film was lost thus delaying the DVD release. Bootleg DVDs made from the original VHS release have been circulated.

Cast

Catherine Mary Stewart
.... Regina Belmont
Zoe Kelli Simon
.... Samantha Belmont (as Kelli Maroney)
Robert Beltran
.... Hector Gomez
Sharon Farrell .... Doris
Mary Woronov
.... Audrey White
Geoffrey Lewis
.... Dr. Carter
Peter Fox .... Dr. Wilson
John Achorn .... Oscar
Michael Bowen .... Larry Dupree
Devon Ericson .... Minder
Lissa Layng .... Davenport

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Night of the Comet ]

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Movies - Night of the Comet

Plotline

Analysis

Home video

Cast

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