Day 2: The Greatest "Night" of them All

I bet you think you've got me all figured out from that title don't you?  You probably think this is going to be about a film version of "The Night Before Christmas" or all about the biblical Christmas Story, or something else fairly traditional.  However, if you knew me better...as some of you do...you'd already know that I'm about to go completely against your expectations...BWA-HA-HA!  But seriously folks, I'm about to talk about one of the strangest films to ever have a Christmas connection.  It features a B-movie marathon, valley girl attitude, killer 80s songs, and zombies.  What could be more Christmassy than that?  So I present to you yet another Christmas horror (cause you know how much I love the stuff) by the name of Night of the Comet.  Let's go shopping and kick some zombie butt!

It's Christmas Eve in the Valley and everyone is thrilled about the reappearance of a comet that will pass so close to the Earth as to catch the planet in its tail.  Most civilians are in absolute awe, though the scientific community is frightened.  The last time the Earth passed through the tail of a comet was when the dinosaurs went extinct.  Dum...dum....DUM!!!!  We are then introduced to Regina "Reggie" Belmont and her sister Sam, who are dealing with their father's remarriage to a rather nasty stepmother, Doris.  Reggie is currently working at a midnight 'Comet' show at the local movie theater and and Sam is stuck at home helping Doris with her Comet Party.  During the night, everyone but Sam and Reggie goes out to watch the comet and in the morning the whole town has a red haze hanging over it and all the people appear to have disappeared.  Reggie and Sam discover that they are the only ones who weren't either disintegrated by the comet or turned into flesh eating zombies.  So what's a teenager in the 80s to do when everyone else in the world has evaporated?  Grab a gun, steal a car, and head to the mall of course.  As they go forward with their lives they also meet Hector Gomez, another survivor, who they may or may not be able to trust.

This doesn't really qualify as a traditional Christmas movie, but it does take place during the season and the decor is fully in view so that's why its being included in this year's rotation. At the core of the film, it is more satire than anything.  The two girls act as representations for teenagers at that time period and how more and more teens were being forced to grow up faster than they should have due to unfortunate situations such as disaster, disease, pregnancy, or any other unplanned upset in their lives.  They also represent the Me Generation's penchant for consumerism and status.  Ok, maybe I'm getting too deep here...the film is a lot of fun too.  Where else can you see two teenage girls blowing away zombies in the Los Angeles area?  Zombieland for sure, but that was more recent.  These girls were taking charge and using their street smarts to good effect and they sure didn't need any men to help them out of a jam.  In many ways, the film is a lot like a long "Twilight Zone" episode that deals with the end of the world.  I definitely think you should see it once, just to see if you see the same satire as I do, but you might want to save it for after Christmas if you'd rather watch A Christmas Carol or something with Santa Claus.  Until then, enjoy this trailer.

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