NIGHT OF THE COMET (1984) – Episode 200 – Decades of Horror 1980s

“See, this is the problem with these things. Daddy would have gotten us Uzis.” Yeah, those darn MAC-10s are always jamming. Join your faithful Grue-Crew - Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr  - as they lovingly review Night of the Comet (1984), the feel-good horror movie of the 1980s. Episode 200 is upon us and our viewers have spoken! Be sure to check out Doc Rotten’s short history of the podcast at the end of this blog entry!

Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 200 – Night of the Comet (1984)

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A comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls fighting against cannibal zombies and a sinister group of scientists.

IMDb

 

• Writer/Director: Thom Eberhardt 
• Makeup effects designer: David B. Miller
• Cast
  • Catherine Mary Stewart as Regina "Reggie" Belmont
  • Kelli Maroney as Samantha "Sam" 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
  • Chance Boyer as Brian, the young rescued boy
  • Ivan E. Roth as Willy
  • Dick Rude and Chris Pedersen as Stockboys
  • Marc Poppel as Danny Mason Keener / DMK

The topic for Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 200 was chosen by Grue-Believers through a poll placed on YouTube, Facebook, and Patreon. When we came up with the list of films to be included in the poll -- Altered States, Cat People, Night of the Comet, Scanners, and Sleepaway Camp -- Crystal boldly predicted the winner would be Night of the Comet and indeed it was.

As usual, Crystal has a crush on one of the actors, and this time it’s Robert Beltran. She loves the story concept of Night of the Comet and the concise way that story is told populated by likable characters. And how awesome would it be to go on that shopping spree? 

Chad sought out the VHS after learning that the makeup effects were provided by David Miller (A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984). For him, Night of the Comet is quintessential 1980s – dumb, but straight-up fun with likable characters – and it takes him right back to that time. 

Bill agrees, calling Night of the Comet one of the most 80s movies we’ve ever done, literally screaming, “1980s!” No one gets too broken up about the deaths of the entire population, but, hey, the shopping! Bill also chimes in on the likable characters, and, of course, Mary Woronov is incredible.

Following the principle of “condemnation prior to investigation,” Jeff had never seen Night of the Comet until now and he is so glad the viewers chose it. He is amazed by how likable the characters are and is impressed that the filmmakers stayed away from the annoying teenager trope. He loves where it goes and admits there is really no reason to dislike this movie.

Bearing witness to the 1980s-ness of Night of the Comet, your Grue-Crew digress in a nostalgic way about a crush on Sharon Farrell, Art Bell’s radio show, and bicycles with colored tires and “mag” wheels.

The 1980s Grue-Crew would like to thank the Grue-Believers for viewing and/or listening and making this wonderful choice for their 200th episode. As of this writing,  Night of the Comet is available to stream on Tubi, PlutoTV, and PPV from Amazon. It is also available on physical media as a Collector's Edition [BluRay/DVD Combo] from Shout Factory.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Jeff, will be Chopping Mall (1986), with Kelli Maroney, Mary Woronov, Barbara Crampton, and the Sherman Oaks Galleria. It’s déjà vu all over again.

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans:  leave them a message or leave a comment on the gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the website or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at [email protected]

A NOTE ON PODCAST HISTORY FROM DOC ROTTEN
A quick history about Decades of Horror 1980s podcast for those who may be wondering where some of the "early" episodes are. Decades of Horror 1980s is actually our longest-running podcast, predating the start of HORROR NEWS RADIO. A podcast that has changed names many times as well as its format.

Starting off as DOC ROTTEN'S HORROR DRIVE-IN PODCAST in the summer of 2011, the show was solo-hosted by Doc with occasional guest-hosts. As guest-hosts became co-hosts - thank you, Thomas Mariani - the show was renamed THE MONSTER MOVIE PODCAST in May of 2012. At this point, it was basically the model for HORROR NEWS RADIO when it launched in April of 2013 when The Black Saint and Dave Dreher joined Doc and Thomas.

THE MONSTER MOVIE PODCAST shifted its format to lists and special episodes, featuring Top 10 Haunted House Movies, "Let's Remake Everything", the history of Godzilla movies and Top 10 Horror Films of the 1970s AND 1980s. The latter two being two-part episodes each.

With the advent of GRUESOME MAGAZINE, Santos and Doc launched DECADES OF HORROR 1970s and over time Thomas and Doc transformed THE MONSTER MOVIE PODCAST into DECADES OF HORROR 1980s. This name change roughly coincided with the launch of DECADES OF HORROR 1990s lead by Thomas and DECADES OF HORROR The Classic Era lead by Jeff Mohr and Chad Hunt.

It is a joy to know that we have so many fans of each of these podcast adventures diving into the horror films we all love and enjoy with a passion. 10 Years and going strong, ups and downs, losses and rewards. And you! We hope you enjoy episode 200 of DECADES OF HORROR 1980s… and many more episodes to come.

Thank you all so very much and with love,
Doc Rotten, Jeff Mohr, and the Grue-Crew
Dave Dreher, Christopher G. Moore, Vanessa Thompson, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, Chris Slattery, Whitney Collazo, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Brian W. Smith, and many previous cohosts and guest-hosts.

The Black Saint, Santos Ellin Jr., we miss you always…