Night of the Comet (1984) Movie Review

Hi, welcome to the Real Generation Gap. I'm Rudy Ruiz. I'm Fred Sottoli. And today we're going to be talking about the 1984 kind of sci-fi, horror, cult, classic, Night of the Comet. So, Night of the Comet stars Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelly Maroney, and Robert Beltran, also featuring a young Michael Bowen and Mary Warrinoff, who you might know as Calamity Jane in Death Race 2000. Right. And I suggested this movie just because I think it's a fun kind of New Year's type movie. It's a New Year's Eve watch for me ever since my friend kind of made me watch it several years ago, and I just fell in love with it. I think it's a wacky, just kind of outrageous, fun popcorn movie. To give the little synopsis real quick is everyone goes outside to watch a comet. That's going to be a big news, just a big event. Everyone's going to check it out, and it disintegrates everybody, turns them into red dust, and just clothes red dust on the floor. And we get these two valley girls that survived. You know, we'll get into the reason why in a second. And it's just them navigating the kind of lone Los Angeles landscape, meeting another survivor, meeting some evil scientists, some zombie mutant people, and just some shenanigans ensues. So I know this is probably a pretty weird pick coming from me. Yes, yes. I think of you as like a sophisticated movie aficionado, you know. I just had to throw a little goofy one in there. It's the time of year, so. Yeah, yeah. It's definitely a juvenile movie. But you know, one of the things that the rest of the whole world doesn't get to appreciate the way we do is this is done in our backyard. This is done in LA. And when they're on the 10 or on the one, especially the 110 was featured in this movie, right? And it's like, I know the third street off ramp. That's when I go to court. That's how I, you know, I know that turn, you know. And the rest of the world really, when they see it, these locations aren't familiar for them. Yeah. The movie is cool for me being that I'm not really from here. I've been here 25 years. But if you don't know LA and these different, I mean, everybody knows Randy's Donuts or something. Yeah, right. They put that in lots of movies. But there are so many nuances. Like once you start to really know the streets, and especially you said they're from the Valley, you know, in the Valley is a whole universe in itself. You know, so I enjoyed seeing LA, you know, and that's something that not being from here, their perspective on the movie is different. Yeah. This is in my backyard. Now this takes place for the rest of the world. It's not, it's just in an anonymous location. Yeah. I do really love, like, I love seeing LA and, you know, some older films. I was recently watching Vice Squad from the 80s. I don't know if you've ever seen that. Kind of a little greasy movie, but all set in Hollywood, you know, and I just love seeing those movies from that era or prior. And it's like, oh yeah, there's Third Street Bridge, Sixth Street Bridge. Highway Patrol from the 60s. You know, there's Hollywood Boulevard and all that. And in this, I love seeing the kind of desolate, abandoned LA shots. And they did everything at six o'clock in the morning. Like all the shadows were real. And I can't help but feel like, I wonder if Danny Boyle, when he made 28 Days Later, took, if he saw this and took some of that influence, because 28 Days Later, like the shots of Cillian Murphy in the beginning of the movie, walking through an empty London and just trash blowing on the ground, no one's around. This, when she first kind of gets out of the movie theater, it's very reminiscent of that. And the fact that, oh, I've never been to London, but I've been to downtown LA many times. I've walked these same streets and to see it be empty. And to your point, like, I mean, this movie didn't have that big a budget. And I think they did a similar tactic of they could only close the streets off for a very finite, short period of time. So they got to run and get all these shots early in the morning at like, within probably a 30 minute window or something, you know. And, but it looks so good. I love, I love seeing that. And you know, whenever I run into that in real life, I appreciate it. I like it. Same. It's like, oh, the street's closed. You're making a movie? I'll go around. I'll wait. I'll go, I'll, you know, I really appreciate that the industry is doing that. And when you said London, you made me think of that. The Rolling Stones made that really good video during the pandemic when London was empty, you know, in the streets. Because you remember how it was when the flu came, right? That, you know, people playing volleyball on Santa Monica Boulevard. Right, right, yeah. It was, and down on the one, you know, on the beach, you know, people really, there was no traffic and people really exploited that. Yeah. But yeah, that's a strange thing to see. So we have a couple of girls that, they overslept. And the one girl was the star of the movie. She was having an affair with a projectionist in a theater and they went into like a little sealed room that was all steel and it protected them from the comet's influence. So they weren't a pile of red dust inside their clothes. Yeah. But there was clothes all over the place. And then the other girl also fell asleep, you know. And so anybody, people could survive this, but not many. Yeah. There were a few other survivors. And of course, one of them was Robert Beltran. He was the male love interest or something. And when I saw him, I recognized him, but I'm bad with that. And I was like, oh, I know that guy. I know that guy, Robert Beltran. But it was 10 years before Star Trek Voyager, this movie. So he was 10 years younger than when he was Commander Chakotay. Like if you IMDB Robert Beltran, you're going to see all pictures of him on Star Trek. Right. That's his claim to fame and everything. But as a much younger man, he was a handsome, cool guy. And he looked like he could be from San Diego. And he was inside a box truck. He was sleeping in the box of a box truck. So it was all sealed. And he woke up in the morning and everybody was gone. But yet he's still making a delivery. He came to LA. And when he met the girls, he said, I have to go see if my mom's OK in San Diego and I'll be back. And it was super cool that he came back. It looked to me like a 56 Buick Roadmaster, but actually it was an Oldsmobile. But what a beautiful car. Why don't they make that now? These federal bumper requirements and everything just ruined the level of romance when he's in there. Super cool. I thought he was a cool character. And I'd like to see him as a younger man. I really appreciated that. But anyway, and these girls, as you said, they're Valley girls. So what's their first impulse? Everybody's dead. Let's go shopping. They go to the mall. They're trying on clothes. They're putting on makeup. They're doing everything. Still worried about, oh, you always take the guy. I don't leave anyone for me. Right. Yeah. The two sisters had a rivalry, you know, you know, that reminds you leads into an interesting moment where there's, because, you know, this movie, like I said, is pretty wacky. And you almost think it's going to go one way, like a zombie film, right? Like she comes down as, oh, there's a zombie with a guy's arm. And then she's got a, you know, man, I can take care of myself. You know, you don't want to mess with me. And then she gets the best of them and rides off on the motorcycle. And then you get to ride the motorcycle and have the machine. Yeah. See, this is my first. It was like, if everybody was disintegrated, how come the zombie like, no, there was no other zombies. Yeah. You know, like he just a random zombie that somehow he made it like. Yeah. You know, which I which I don't know how comets affect zombies. So, well, yeah, I guess that part was believable. What they what those scientists say, because later it turns into, oh, now we got the evil scientists that are trying to cure themselves. Right. Kill them in the process. And, you know, they talk about how, oh, some folks were partially exposed to the comet. So they're starting to mutate and eventually will turn into dust, too. But turn into zombies. Yeah. And that, you know, there was a great movie with those evil scientists. There was a movie. It was starring Scarlett Johansson where she was in some farm in Arizona where they were keeping people. And then finally she escaped and came to L.A. It was that same like the scientists trying to figure out the cure kind of thing. I can't remember the name of that movie. Yeah. So they had the zombie issue. Then they Robert Beltran appeared out of nowhere. But in the meantime, when they were in the mall, there was a gang of like four guys that were like the rapists. Right. They were going to like antagonize these girls and tie them up and do God knows what. You know. But of course, they punched their way out of that. This movie is just full of is full of great quotes and lines. And they are. No, they are. One of the great quotes from this movie when the head. This is New Year's Eve or New Year's Day when you're coming back from New Year's Eve. Come on. Like when that guy hit me with the lead, the lead shop stalker guy at the mall, you know, when she has the other dude at gunpoint and then he shoots, he's like, you're not listening to me, lady. I can't have you taking hostages. And he shoots his boy. Right. And then she's like, oh, why would you do that? You're crazy. And he's just like, I'm not crazy. I just don't give up. That is just the funniest line. Like I is so ridiculous. And there's a couple more. There's some I'm not going to say them all. I even love there's a part when she's talking to Robert Beltran about like guns and everything. She's like Mac 10s were practically invented for housewives. Right. Just like that was a great quote. Right. Yeah. But that one with that dude just really sticks out to me. I love it when they're using these machine guns and those shells are rejecting. In real life, it comes out like water flow almost. Yeah. But anyway, that's the movies. So this is your movie. So go ahead. So what happens next? Yeah. I mean, I won't give like a whole beat by beat, but we get a little insight into the scientists, you know, and now they're coming because they're trying to find survivors. At first, you think it's going to be a sanctuary type situation. But they're just trying to cure themselves. So they're experimenting on survivors. They just need good blood. Yeah. Because they've been exposed. And of course, they want their blood. They want the brains. I want their blood. You know, they kill Kelly Maroney. Yeah. I was very unhappy about that. You know, that was a good a good take. And I'm surprised because this is Mary Warnoff coming with her guy. You know, they save the girls at the mall and they're like, OK, well, hey, we can't take her. She's probably infected. Let's take, you know, Reggie. That's the other girl, Regina Reg. Right. We'll take Reg. She's the oldest. I'm going to wait for Hector. That's Robert Beltran. And then she asked to murder her partner in crime, Mary Warnoff. This is because she doesn't agree with what they're doing to the survivors. I don't know. There's something about the aesthetic and the look with a lot of these movies in the 80s. I love one. I do like the cinematography in this movie. I love the set of the radio. Yeah, the radio station. And I like that big giant sofa. That big. That's a real L.A. thing. Yeah. Like a big custom sofa that can only be in that place. Yeah. It's like at some point the radio station had money and they put those neon things up and the weird sofa and, you know. And all the exteriors. I mean, you know, it's your typical kind of L.A. but empty shots. But they must have smeared something on like a filter in front of the lens because you get the red tint, like, but just for half of the frame and all that. So I imagine it was probably done with the optics, with the glass rather than an editing back at that time, you know, because you can even tell where it looks like they did it manually where it's like, oh, she's not covered in red, but everything around her is like they like. And I mean, they probably just smudge something on the on the glass. And when they get to the lab at the end, I just love the dark cinematography of in the purples and the greens. Yeah, it looked like it was like a lab from kind of colorful. Yeah. Like if you were in Get Smart, the TV show. Right, right. Yeah, I just love that look. And then you see where they didn't have enough money to light up a big portion of the desert because once Hector shows up in the car, like the only thing lit is them. Which I mean, hey, that's that's how it is in those film days. You're working with, you know, 200 ASA or whatever. But and then, man, I you know, they do well kind of showing how terrible the scientists are when you see that. Don't they lobotomize a guy because they're like sucking his blood? One of the survivors. Right. And they're going to kill the kids. He's like, just take care of the kids next. You're going to go see Santa. You're just going to go to sleep and it's all good. So they were pretty evil. Those scientists, you know, they're definitely out for themselves. Yeah, I don't have too much more to say about it. I just think it's a fun movie. And I and I recommend it to someone who wants a good 80s kind of sci fi doesn't take itself seriously. Oh, no, it no, it knows what it is. And it exists in that just 80s timeframe where I don't know, you don't get movies like this now, like almost like a repo, man. Right. It's the movies at the time. It's like the music at the time was the same. They had like Flock of Seagulls. Yeah, yeah, I do, I do. This movie does have a killer soundtrack too. I don't know any of the particular songs. I don't, honestly, but just the music, the vibes, everything, I just, I love it. Yeah, it really reflected the culture of the time. Yeah. Yeah, nothing was important. Everybody was on Coke. I love that opening song too. The whole world's celebrating, it's just so fun. It really lets you know the tone right off the bat, just from the first scene. Yeah, it's wacky. All everyone excited about the movie theater. She's playing the video games, DMK, which I do get a kick out of this moment at the end. They survive, they save the kids, they're all good. They're just living out in the city on their own. We have to uphold civilization. Don't cross against the light. Right, and the girl, now wait a second. The girl who did survive, Kelly Maroney, what was her name? What was her acting name? Oh, the character name. Samantha, right, Sam. Yeah, somehow she went off with the guy with the Mercedes Benz, but wasn't she already dead? No, so they gave her when the, that's right, yeah. So when Hector shows up in the car to the lab and he's putting on that Texas accent and everything, and he's luring the guard, he tells the guy, like, yeah, I found this girl, and she looks like she got a shot from one of your scientists, and he says what it is. It was some other shot that just put her to sleep and lowered her, made her appear dead. That's why she was still alive. Right, somehow I didn't catch that. I must have winked, you know, I must have, you know. Yeah, Mary Warren gave her something different that wouldn't kill her, and then she took. Then she took the lethal dose. The lethal dose, yeah, and yeah, wrote everything down so Hector would know what was going on and where to go. So yeah, so she's alive, and I do, yeah, normally juvenile, right? Like, this kind of joke would be silly to me, but in this movie it works. Yeah, but at the end, she got the guy. Yeah. That was the end of the movie. Yeah, but the fact that it's all empty and she's saying, like, there's no one here. We're the last people, and as soon as she crosses the street, this car just comes, vroom, right past her. Yeah, convertible with a handsome guy, you know, and he's like, hey, baby, what's, you know. He's like, man, are you okay? You shouldn't cross against the light. Right, that was a lie. Yeah, her sister said, don't cross against the light. She goes, there's no one here, and then she almost gets run over by the one guy, and he says, what are you, crazy? What are you, crossing against the light? I almost killed you. She's like, what's the matter with everybody? But she did get the guy, but you talked about the classic lines, and he said, hey, do you like my car? Well. Yeah, I got 23 of them. Yeah, I got 23 of these. Thanks, I got 23 of them. You can have every car in LA. Because they set up early in the movie, and it doesn't matter until this moment, but Reg is really into this arcade game at the cinema. Right, right. Oh, and his license plate. Who's DMK? Who is this guy? He's got sixth place on the letter board or whatever, and it's that guy. Okay, let's tell the audience that story, because the way we just told it, we know. But yeah, so she, I guess, Reg, Regina, which is an interesting name for a girl. Regina's playing a video game, and the top 10 people, the top scores are all her. But somewhere, number six, all of a sudden, there's DMK. She's like, who the hell's DMK? I gotta knock him off. So even though she's supposed to be working, she's playing the video game like mad, and then she goes, I got you, you're toast, DMK, whoever you are. And at the very last scene in the movie, when the handsome guy with the convertible Mercedes is driving off with her sister, the license plate says DMK. You know. The little payoff at the end there. Okay, well, we always rate these movies. I know how much you enjoyed this, and I appreciate you turning me on to this, even though I will never watch it again. Although, New Year's Eve, anything can happen, I give it a four. Four? Four. Yeah, to me, it's not a must-watch, but it is a fun watch. Yeah, just a fun, wacky movie. It takes some interesting turns. There is one point kind of in the middle where it does get a little slow, slower than I remember, but it's interesting, an interesting look at a time. I was, in fact, sober, yes, this time around. That always makes it hard. Yeah, but yeah, if you've never seen it, I think it's worth checking out. Again, not a serious movie, just a fun watch. Could be a good background movie. I don't typically like this, but you know, we're talking about this a little bit on the Christmas episode. This is one you could play in the background of a party. Right, it should be on. You know, have your champagne, you know, yeah, throw it on there. Yeah. But yeah, I'll give it, I'm going to say a six. I'm going to give it a six. Oh, I thought you were going to go higher. I'm a little disappointed. I was going to say like a 6.5, but. That is a little, that is a little bit, I meant a little bit more higher. I don't know, because again, seven I think represents a certain mark. I don't know that I can throw it up there, but I'll go at 6.5. Yeah, we'll put it right on the edge. Yeah, Night of the Comet. Most likely this will be the last Real Generation Gap episode of 2024. So everybody, if you followed us. We got good ones coming in 25. Let me tell you, really good ones. If you've followed us this far, thanks for sticking with us. Leave a comment, right? What were some of your favorite episodes of the show so far this year? Anything that you might want to see more of, you know, any movie recommendations as always, like Fred says, and yeah. Anything else you want to say to take us out? Nope, that's it. We'll see you next year. Yeah, see you next year.