Starring Lee Montgomery, Jonna Lee, Shari Belafonte, and Peter DeLuise
Directed by Jack Bender
Music and Lyrics by various
We remain in the mid-80's on this warm Halloween night with another 80's spoof of 50's and 60's cliches. We move the festivities to television, once again with bored teens out for kicks...but this time, their seemingly harmless antics don't merely dredge up a few well-meaning aliens and a crazed killer. These kids somehow manage to bring no less than the living dead out for some Halloween thrills...but we also have proof that the undead isn't always so scary when one of the living kids falls for a beauty from the 50's who is far from what she seems. How does this bloody romance look nowadays? Let's begin with one little boy preparing his bike and his costume for trick-or-treat and find out...
The Story: Hoping to find really cool Halloween costumes for a big party, high school kids Phil (Montgomery), Melissa (Belafonte), Mary (Deedee Pfiffer), Vinnie (LeVar Burton), and Mitch (DeLuise) steal their ancestor's clothes from the local history museum, along with an old chest containing a ring and a parchment scroll sealed in wax. They don't think it's a big deal to recite the words of the scroll at the local cemetary...until suddenly, the undead come to life and start lumbering around their New England town. Led by Melissa's witch ancestor Lucinda (Jonnelle Allen), they turn almost everyone into town into vampires and zombies.
Phil is the only person in town who avoids this fate. He spends the night with Sandy (Lee), a pretty, sweet girl in a 50's cheerleader outfit whom he finds wandering around, wondering why everything looks so different. Sandy is the one who realizes that they must find the bones of Mitch's ancestor and seal the scroll, before the vampires make Phil into one of them as well.
The Song and Dance: When the movie puts the spotlight on Sandy and Phil and their feelings for one another, it's actually kind of sweet. Montgomery and Lee have chemistry, and Lee being a 50's cheerleader instead of a lumbering zombie like some of the other creatures in this movie is unique for a horror film. I also appreciate the diverse cast, with Belafonte and Allen coming off best as the teen girl whose insistence on reading the scroll inadvertently brings in her spooky ancestress. Some of the costumes aren't bad either, including the ones they stole from the museum, Sandy's cheerleader outfit, and the very 80's outfits at the masquerade party. Killer soundtrack too, especially if you're a classic rock fan.
The Numbers: Sam the Sham and the Pharaoh's spooky hit "Little Red Riding Hood" is our first number, as a zombie wanders around town in time to the music. His "costume" is so good, no one gives him two glances, even Phil when he almost runs him over. "Clap for the Wolfman" by the Guess Who plays as Vinnie tries to get Melissa to dance with him and Phil attempts to ask Mary to join him, neither with much success. Mitch finally gets their substitute teacher to dance with him to a remake of "Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips. Bobby Vee's "Devil or Angel" accompanies Phil and Sandy as they dance in front of the mall that stands when the malt shop Sandy once hung out at used to be. Melissa turns the only original song "Get Dead" into a huge dance number with the zombified kids at the party.
Trivia: Listen for DJ Wolfman Jack in vocal cameos throughout the film, including one last request from Sandy in the finale.
What I Don't Like: Uh...did I mention this is a made-for-TV movie from 1985? At times, it's even more confused about its genre than Voyage of the Rock Aliens was. It can't decide if it wants to be a satire of teen horror flicks, an actual teen zombie horror flick with blood and gore and everyone attacking each other, or a touching supernatural romance. I wish they'd focused even more on Sandy and Phil's relationship. You don't really learn much about Sandy, other than she realizes her time is running out. They could have at least mentioned how she died so young...and didn't come back as a zombie or a vampire like the rest of the town.
There's also Phil's so-called friends being smarmy, obnoxious brats whose instance on stealing from a museum started all the trouble in the first place. Not to mention, they think of the most ridiculous excuse to get them and the costumes into a cemetery. They couldn't have tried them on anywhere else, especially on Halloween? The sets and special effects are pretty chintzy, too.
The Big Finale: Critics came down pretty hard on this in 1985, and while it's far from the best horror comedy ever, it's certainly more palatable than Voyage of the Rock Aliens. Worth checking out at least once during your Halloween party, especially if you have actual teens around.
Home Media: Out of print on DVD for years. Your best best at the moment would be YouTube.
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