Year: 1989
Duration: 01:32:38
Directed by: David Acomba
Actors: Scott Grimes, John Astin, Cheryl Pollak
Language: English
Country: USA
Also known as: Campus Spirits, Grave Misdemeanours, Na Dimensão dos Mortos, Zombie Academy
Description: It’s bad enough to be a small town high school loser and to be picked on by other kids. But it’s even worse when those kids are slimey undead corpses! This is the premise of NIGHT LIFE
High School loser Archie (CRITTERS 1 & 2’s Scott Grimes) is relentlessly tormented by a group of his classmates when is isn’t busy working for his asshole Uncle Flander’s mortuary. His only friend is Charly (Cheryl Pollak), a tomboy mechanic.
Archie gets fired from the mortuary as a result of a prank played on him by the bullies. But later that night, his uncle calls and says he needs his help. It seems there has been a terrible car accident involving four high school kids and a chemical truck. Archie is stunned to find his four tormentors dead at the scene and helps his uncle prepare their bodies.
A freak lightning storm occurs, striking the mortuary and charging the four bodies with electricity. This returns the bodies to a zombie-like state of life! Was it the chemicals at the accident site, the electrical storm, or a combination of the two? Whatever it was, Archie’s tormentors have returned to life, and they aren’t quite done with him yet!
Review: “Night Life” is the youth horror-comedy with the presence of the walking dead (ie, zombies). The first hour of the movie is almost standard youth film sample 80, with all of this kind of film components. The main character (the one red guy, fight the critters in the first 2 parts) intelligent but unlucky student, seeming strange to the mainstream, and especially so for the title of “elite”, which is presented in the form of inflated and mindless classmates in blazers (a la our Gopnik). The female half of it is presented in two forms: a girl-mechanic, is the girlfriend of the hero and beauty-blonde, respectively tusuyuschayasya with “cool boys.” And as it is necessary and both are trying in every way to hurt / to pin each other. Who better, but personally I was always such a pleasant disposition, and simply close (in the main character and his problems could see myself), and for that I love movies 80. Well, all this in addition diluted humor, places, and black as the main difference from other similar bands, sort of a twist, was the fact that our main character moonlights at night in the morgue. And just because of this aspect, the last half hour of the film moved from the usual teen comedy in the zombie movie.
The approach to the zombie theme here is pretty original, as opposed to the typical representatives. First the dead come to life on the principle of the monster “Frankenstein”, that is, with a powerful charge of electricity. Secondly to kill their victims they use the means at hand and do not infect their victims. Well, the more they can say (well, not really straight talking, just to say short sentences), and even making love. You have it.
Good special effects (exploding head, his face torn wound visible through the skull, head razrubyvaetsya ax in half), but they are not quite so much, so wait a bloody mochilova in the spirit of the “Day of the Dead” or especially “Living dead bodies” – no . The level of gore, perhaps, the closest “The Return of the Living Dead”, and on the general spirit of these films are similar. And the zombies themselves are similar to those that were in the movie “Night of nightmares.”
In general, I would suggest to consider the film as a zombie horror, but first and foremost as a youth black comedy, and, then, a zombie movie. What would have been clear on what to expect for those who want to see the movie is about the living dead. I just personally like and zombie movie and a comedy horror film and youth 80, so with the audience in my face hit movie on all counts. Another thing is, how much and in what capacity are given certain components, and things are not as smooth as we would like. For example the same mochilova could have done more, especially as the budget of the movie is quite normal (2.5 million dollars), but rather because, in principle, a pretty good movie that deserves the attention of fans of what I described above.
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This is one hell of an awesome overlooked 80’s Zombie Comedy flick in the range of Return of the Living Dead, with a smaller budget. I strongly recommend it.