I recall this being one of my favorite teen movies from the 1980s along with
Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Adventures in Babysitting. All three that
I have been meaning to revisit decades later. This doesn't seem as great
as I recalled but it is still endearingly sweet, funny and whimsical. It
had the Walking Dead before The Walking Dead. It had zombies before there
was a zombie movie on every street corner. It was made with a budget that
had to nearly all go to keeping traffic from being seen on the roads. Otherwise
it is a few small houses, a shopping mall, a radio station and an underground
bunker. I mean really on the cheap but that makes perfect sense. Nearly
everyone is dead. I recalled more zombies before - my memory playing tricks
on me. They only had enough money for a few. I also wonder whether I liked
the soundtrack all those years ago - because it is awful - like bottom of
the barrel stuff by unknowns who remained unknown. The one song I knew played
in a cute music type video with the sisters shopping ala Pretty Woman is
Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Sung by that great artist Tami Holbrook. Tami
who? But it is a cute little film that felt very refreshing back then but
time has rusted it over a bit. The sisters are still fab.
A comet is heading towards earth and parties and sightings are organized
all over the world. One broadcaster mentions that it has just gone over Newfoundland
- but for some reason communications have gone down. Regina (Catherine Mary
Stewart) is having a roll with her boyfriend in the projection room of a
movie theater when the comet passes. Her sister Samantha (Kelli Maroney)
has locked herself into a metal shed because she is pissed at her step-mother.
When Regina wakes up the next morning still in the projection room she goes
out into the day and there is nobody except what seems like a wino who wants
her blood. She goes home. Nobody on the streets. Almost everyone turned into
ash. Those who didn't are degenerating. But Samantha is fine. A cutie air-head
blonde who doesn't quite get it - but who turns out to be much more resilient
then expected in her cheerleading outfit - as does Regina.
Which is good because not only are there flesh-eating zombies around - again
not as many as I thought - but hooligans in the mall who are slowly turning
into monsters and want to play games with them. Good she brought that Uzi
with her. And some scientists - Mary Woronov and Geoffrey Lewis - who went
into their bunkers to shield themselves from the comet - but forgot to shut
the air ventilators off. They are slowly turning into zombies and need blood
for a serum. Young blood. They hear our girls on the radio and an addition
- Hector (Robert Beltran - Star Trek Voyager) who had been screwing a girl
in the back of his truck. The girl ran off and he found her body half eaten.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine. Directed by Thom
Eberhardt who also directed Without a Clue.
