Extras
  • Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Thom Eberhardt
  • Audio Commentary with Stars Kelli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart
  • Audio Commentary with Production Designer John Muto
  • Valley Girls At The End Of The World – Interviews with Stars Kelli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart
  • The Last Man On Earth? – An Interview with Actor Robert Beltran
  • Curse of the Comet – An Interview with Special Make-Up Effects Creator David B. Miller
  • Still Galleries (Behind the Scenes and Official Stills)
  • Theatrical Trailer

Night of the Comet is one of those films that a sci-fi fan nor a horror fan should miss out on. It does a great job blending the two genres together (though it’s debatable to some if they’re even separate at times) without ever feeling like they tried too hard on either of them to make it work. The story is one that just begs to be both further blurring the confusing lines when asked the question, “Is it horror? What defines horror?”.

I thought it was great how we weren’t forced into getting to know a lot of characters we wouldn’t eventually have anything to do with. I feel like too often the setup is longer than the meat of films, this one actually goes into it really quickly so as to focus most of it’s 90 (roughly) minutes towards the main attraction; the effect of what happened to this desert neighboring town. You literally hardly even know the main characters by the time everything happens, the entire film is post-apocalyptic, just not in the usual sense.

mnsh_notc (17)What do we usually get in post-apocalyptic scenarios? Zombies running the towns by the hundreds or everything is a desolate wasteland with nuclear ooze and deformed hybrids, gangs of unruly biker mutants and so on. In Night of the Comet, you get very little of anything to be honest. That’s actually a refreshing part of the story, there isn’t a slew of horrible things coming at the very limited survivors. Everything hasn’t been looted to death, people aren’t hiding in bushes, guns aren’t blazing constantly, everyone is just gone and the few that still exist are trying to figure it out and embrace it.

The two main characters are a pair of sisters who aren’t going to take any trouble, they’re tough and willing to fight to keep it together. Another lovely thing about this film is that they aren’t your now typical Milla Jovovich from Resident Evil types, they’re a type of real girl who won’t be pushed around. Some of the dialogue can be a slight bit cheesy here and there but for the most part, these girls are tough and it isn’t over the top, it’s just as it should be.

As the main character Regina AKA Reggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) has a run in with a very unpleasant zombie-type fellow, she starts realizing things aren’t quite the same as the night before the comet. It isn’t clear if she realizes just how off things are but she starts to really pull the details together as she heads across town to find her sister. There’s a great scene where we see Reg sitting on her missing boyfriend’s motorcycle at a stoplight beside a car with no one in it. It’s an eerie scene. Nothing is moving anywhere in the city yet the car sits there with the lights on and the radio playing Christmas music as if whatever happened just removed them without a trace. The film is brilliant at building an odd atmosphere that makes you feel concern for what’s next.

As she gets to her house to find her sister, everything is once again completely still. Fortunately, her sister pops out in a pretty typical jump scare scene and has survived. Regina explains to Samantha AKA Sam (Kelli Maroney) that things aren’t right, but of course it gets shrugged off until she gets her outside and lets her see it for herself.

From here, the sisters have a look around and try to figure out what’s happened and if there’s anyone else still in town. They do what most of us would probably do given the circumstance and play around a seemingly abandoned city and toss some silly banter back and forth thinking they’re all that’s living there currently. They eventually find that they indeed aren’t alone as other characters, both good and bad, pop into the story.

So without giving the entire storyline away, which I always hate to do since most read reviews to decide whether they want to see the film or not, I’m going to jump into the thick of the problem that’s overlaying the situation; a group of scientists who want to find a cure for what’s happened. Sounds great, right? You’d think so, but it’s pretty realistic in my eyes as to how things would happen if the film were a reality. Their reasons are selfish mostly, definitely disturbing at times and, I can say personally, even influence a moral debate on what’s best versus what’s right. Apparently, bring exposed to the incident means you’re going to become a zombie and die. There we go! Now it sounds a bit horrific!

My biggest problem with the film is that you’re never made to fully understand exactly why things were how they were. Igot it well enough but never fully grasped why some became zombies and others turned to dust while inside of homes or vehicles. Some were infected while others just became dry puddles. They explained why some weren’t infected at all though, which was nice. Maybe I need to watch it again to see if I missed something, it was extremely late and maybe I just missed it.

mnsh_notc (40)I also felt it could’ve been a bit longer to allow more fun for exploration and also for explanation of things. But it was a great film for the right kind of audience (myself included) nevertheless.

Can the scientists manage a cure? Are they really bad guys? Are Reg and Sam infected? Who else survived? Watch and find out!

I haven’t actually watched all of the extras on the set just yet but the ones I’ve seen are great. In typical SF fashion, there are some great commentaries and interviews to see. As a new fan to this 30 year old film, I have to tell you that I’m extremely thankful they took the time to put together this set and let the world love it in HD!