Starring - Jason Lively; Steve Marshall; Jill Whitlow; Tom Atkins & Wally Taylor Director - Fred Dekker MPAA - R "What is this, a homicide or a bad b-movie?" That is the prophetic question asked by one of the leads in one of the early scenes of this movie. Let me clear things up for you cupcake, this isn't a bad b-movie, it's a really bad b-movie. So bad, it's almost good. Almost, but not quite. The movie starts off in the 1950's with space aliens sending a botched experiment down to Earth. It is a bunch of slug-like creatures that kill people and take over their bodies. The slugs' first and only victim in the fifties is cryogenically frozen where he is of no danger to anybody. That is, until two loser university students unfreeze him in 1986. He, and the slugs inside him, promptly begin wreaking havoc and turning more co-eds into slug zombies. A slightly crazed cop (Tom Atkins) and the requisite girl with the face of an angel (Jill Whitlow) join these two geeky university students (Jason Lively and Steve Marshall) to do battle with the slugs. It more or less falls on the four of them to make the world safe again from the evil slugs. The acting is bad with a capital B. The story is worse. And the special effects are somewhere between an old rerun of Star Trek and what you see in a home movie. The only saving grace was the requisite tit-shot courtesy of Jill Whitlow. It had absolutely nothing to do with the story -- but I liked it. Actually, it was the high point of the movie for me. Of course, that isn't really saying much. The story moves around in a haphazard fashion, which gives it a leg up on some other horror films. Unlike most movies of this genre, there actually is a story. Not a great one, but it is there. This is one in a long line of movies from the 1980's that were thrown together to capitalize off the success of the Friday The 13th, Halloween and Nightmare On Elm Street movies. You could randomly select a movie out of the horror section of you local video store and probably luck into something just as good if not better. But Night Of The Creeps might make a nice addition to a b-movie horror marathon. Just don't be too upset if you can't find it. You really won't be missing that much. UPDATE: I take great pride in this review because it elicited the first unpleasant email that I ever received from a disgruntled director; and I treasure it to this day. The email was also far more clever that the screenplay of this movie. I will say this for Night Of The Creeps writer / director Fred Dekker; he has gone on to write some pretty good episodes of Enterprise, the latest Star Trek series. So I guess there really is hope that maybe someday all those people in Hollywood who are currently churning out crappy horror movies may produce something watchable too. (February 16, 2004) 3/10 - 2 because it is so bad it's almost good, and 1 for the gratuitous tit shot.

¶ 7/27/1999 04:36:00 PM //

Starring - Ryan Phillippe; Salma Hayek; Neve Campbell; Mike Myers & Sela Ward Director - Mark Christopher MPAA - Rated R for strong sexuality, drug use and language. 54 focuses around the character of Shane O'Shea, played by Ryan Phillippe, and how his life takes a dramatic turn after he becomes an employee of New York's infamous nightclub, Studio 54, during the 1970's. The fictitious story of the Phillippe character is quite weak, but the interesting look at the fact-based events at the club more than made up for the weaknesses of the main character. I actually didn't expect a whole lot going in, so I was very surprised at how good 54 really was. Mike Myers is brilliant as Studio 54's owner, Steve Rubell -- I had to actually remind myself a couple of times that I was watching Myers and not the real Steve Rubell. Salma Hayek and Neve Campbell fans will be disappointed. While both actresses are featured prominently in the ads for the movie, their parts are really nothing more than fairly minor supporting roles. The film's unlikely star, Phillippe (I Know What You Did Last Summer), is not a bad actor, although I'm not sure if he would have been able to carry the movie if it weren't for the 70's atmosphere. It kept my attention most of the time, thereby minimizing the possibility of catching any deficiencies in his performance. Also helping Phillippe was the fact that the entire supporting cast was strong. While Myers and Campbell have limited roles in this film, they do add significantly to it. Hayek isn't bad for the most part, but there are a couple of scenes where she is a bit painful to watch. I have to admit it -- I actually enjoyed listening to all of the 70's disco music. I feel I should be attending some sort of group therapy session after owning up to that. Although I am happy to say that I still think that everybody in the seventies had to be on some serious drugs for them to actually go out in public dressed like they did. I must say that after watching 54, I really wished that the club were still open. It looked like it was a hell of a party. I think 54 captured the reason the club became the hot spot that it was during the late 70's and early 80's. Sure, the fictitious story of Phillippe's character was not great, but just the atmosphere and look of the movie really did make me feel as though I was actually there experiencing the party times at 54 during a more carefree and swinging era. I'm sure another Mike Myers' character, Austin Powers, would have approved. 54 is worth checking out if only for the interesting look into the world of the beautiful people in the 70's. 7/10

¶ 7/16/1999 04:16:00 PM //