Night of the Creeps

Directed by Fred Dekker, Night of the Creeps follows college friends Chris (Jason Lively) and J.C. (Steve Marshall) as they inadvertently release deadly alien slugs from a deep freeze and must subsequently battle the vicious, parasitic creatures. There’s little doubt that filmmaker Dekker, working from his own screenplay, does a superb job of immediately capturing the viewer’s interest and attention, as Night of the Creeps opens with a compelling, set-in-the-1950s first act that’s exactly as entertaining (and unabashedly tongue-in-cheek) as one might’ve hoped – with the movie, past that point, seguing into a somewhat hit-and-miss midsection that admittedly does benefit from a continuing emphasis on over-the-top horror. And although Lively and Marshall are affable as the movie’s fairly forgettable protagonists, Tom Atkins, cast as a grizzled cop with a grudge against the aforementioned creatures, turns in a compelling performance that generally remains the picture’s most entertaining and consistent attribute. The balls-to-the-wall final half hour, which details the survivors’ efforts at battling the deadly slugs, ensures that Night of the Creeps concludes on a relatively engrossing note, to be sure, thus confirming the movie’s place as a decent (if somewhat lackluster) homage/throwback from filmmaker Dekker.

**1/2 out of ****