Zombie movies and TV shows have always been popular with horror fans, from George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead in 1968, to the big hits of today like The Last of Us and The Walking Dead franchise. A quality so many entries share, however, is that they are often understandably dark tales about the collapse of humanity, with a theme that relates to real life. For example, Night of the Living Dead spoke about race (albeit by accident), while its follow-up, Dawn of the Dead, was about consumerism. Still, this doesn’t mean there haven’t been funny zombie stories. 1985’s Return of the Living Dead is one of the best horror comedies ever made. But a year before that, there was another, Thom Eberhardt’s Night of the Comet. It’s a smartly told story that embraces its campy nature, while also gifting us a rarity in zombie flicks: female perspective.
What Is’ Night of the Comet’ About?

Night of the Comet is the very definition of a cult horror movie. When it was released in November 1984, it made a modest $14.4 million at the box office, but over four decades later, it’s still popular with horror fans. Night of the Comet probably came out at the wrong time, as the early to mid-1980s were all about slashers and A Nightmare on Elm Street came out on the very same day! Horror in the ’80s was all about being Rated-R, filled with gore, sex, and pushing things to the edge. Night of the Comet was rated PG-13 and was one of the earlier movies saddled with this rating after the outcry the same year over the violence and gore in two PG films, The Temple of Doom and Gremlins. That didn’t matter though. Night of the Comet is far from a gory, sexed-up slasher.
The film centers on a southern California city preparing to witness a comet cross overhead just days before Christmas. When the moment comes, nearly everyone is turned to dust, with others becoming zombified monsters. Luckily, sisters Reggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) and Sam (Kelli Maroney), were inside when it happened, but now they are two of the few normal people left. They must survive the zombies, violent other survivors, and government scientists with bad intentions.
‘Night of the Comet’ Is More Campy Than Serious

With that synopsis, Night of the Comet could have been another end-of-the-world zombie flick with flesh ripped apart and a high body count, but that’s not what they went for. Instead, it leaned into camp, remembering to stay funny without making the material a joke. The acting isn’t always top-notch, there’s little blood, and the zombie effects could be better, but that only adds to the charm.

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This doesn’t mean that Night of the Comet isn’t well-made or has no stakes. Reggie’s and Sam’s lives are constantly in danger, and the comedy isn’t so thick that it diminishes the scares. Most impressive might be the cinematography, especially in outside shots. In the aftermath of the comet, the sky is red, and the city streets are empty, leading to many scenes of the young women walking through barren streets as if they were on the face of Mars. The image of Reggie and Sam sitting on a police car with the burnt horizon behind them is one of the coolest shots in horror history.
‘Night of the Comet’ Lets Its Female Protagonists Be Women

Image via Atlantic Releasing Corporation

Night of the Comet’s story isn’t anything all that original, but what is different is the portrayal of its female characters. In the early ’80s, women in horror often fell into two categories. They were either the stereotyped, overly sexualized mean girls who died in the first act, or they were the booksmart, shy, virginal final girls. Reggie and Sam don’t adhere to either of those labels. Instead, they are three-dimensional women, flaws and all, and they stay themselves through the runtime without being forced to shed their femininity. Night of the Comet is a girl-power movie. Reggie and Sam have their big hair and ’80s fashion, and Sam spends the runtime being boy-crazy and running around in a bright cheerleading skirt. They continue to be women with personalities and desires all while wielding guns.
Night of the Comet’s writer-director Thom Eberhardt framed his heroines in such an empowering light that they became the basis for another powerful female horror icon. The late ’90s and early 2000s TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers. She’s young and strong, but she never stops being a woman either. In a 2012 interview with IGN, series creator Joss Whedon said that Night of the Comet was a big influence, adding, “With a title that would actually make people take it off the video store shelves because it has to sound silly and not boring.” Night of the Comet is certainly not boring, and while it’s a little silly, it’s also a statement on female empowerment, all told with fun and some of the biggest hair you’ve ever seen on a film heroine.
Night of the Comet is available to watch on Tubi.
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Night of the Comet

Release Date

November 16, 1984

Director

Thom Eberhardt

Cast

Robert Beltran
, Catherine Mary Stewart
, Kelli Maroney
, Sharon Farrell
, Mary Woronov
, Geoffrey Lewis

Runtime

95 minutes