Night of the Creeps was the debut of writer/director Fred Dekker.
His previous screen credit was for the original story...
...on the movie, House (1986).
The title sequence was designed by Ernest Farino...
...who was also responsible for the title sequences for such films as...
... The Abyss (1989) and Terminator 2 (1991).
This was the first feature film for producer Charles Gordon...
...who would later go on to produce Field of Dreams (1989)...
...Die Hard 2 (1990) and Waterworld (1995).
lf you look closely, you can see that...
...the alien carrying the container of creeps...
...has in fact been ''creeped'' himself.
His eyes are the dead giveaway.
The score for the film was composed by Barry DeVorzon.
His other credits include The Warriors (1979) and Exorcist III (1990).
He is also an accomplished rock musician.
Ken Heron, the actor playing Johnny, is the only actor to appear...
...in both the 1950s and 1980s segments of the film.
Excluding dream sequences, of course.
Alice Cadogan, who plays Pam, can also be seen...
...in the original Beverly Hills Cop (1984) as a hotel clerk.
Originally there was a scene here that introduced Johnny...
...to the other girls in the sorority.
It aired on the television version of the film.
The actor playing a young Ray Cameron is Dave Alan Johnson...
...who would later go on to create...
...the television series, Doc and Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye.
This segment is filled with classic '50s music, including...
...''Put Your Head on My Shoulder'' and ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.''
On the radio is ''The Stroll'' by The Diamonds...
...which is repeated at the end of the film.
lt was chosen by Fred Dekker due to its eerie and hypnotic quality.
The movie is chock-full of homages to other horror movies and their makers.
Corman University is named after legendary B movie producer...
...Roger Corman, who created many of the films...
...that influenced Night of the Creeps.
Roger Corman has produced hundreds of films...
...in a career that spans over 50 years in the business, including...
...Little Shop of Horrors, Battle Beyond the Stars and Carnosaur.
The creeps in this film were created by David B. Miller...
...and were made of vinyl. Hundreds were used in the film.
What looks like a direct hit with the ax is a forced-perspective shot.
The actor is actually much further away from the car than he appears...
...and the ax never came close to the actress.
Jason Lively is famously known as the second Rusty...
...in National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985).
He comes from a family of actors.
His father is actor Ernie Lively, and his sisters are...
...Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) and Robyn Lively (Teen Witch).
Actor Steve Marshall is not physically impaired. Just FYl!
The characters of J.C. and Chris were actually featured...
...in a early short film of Fred Dekker's.
He carried them over to the Creeps script.
J.C. is James Carpenter Hooper and Chris is Christopher Romero...
...an homage to horror filmmakers John Carpenter (Halloween)...
...and George Romero (Night of the Living Dead).
Actress Jill Whitlow had just come from a starring role...
...in the film, Thunder Run (1986)...
...and had been featured briefly in the classic comedy, Porky's (1982).
The actor playing the mono-browed Steve is David Oliver...
...who appeared in the horror film, The Horror Show in 1989...
...which was released as House III overseas.
A deleted moment occurred here as J.C. valiantly hits on a girl...
...only to be shut down. lt was featured in the television version of the film.
The film's director of photography was Robert C. New...
...who lensed the original Prom Night (1980) and went on to such films as...
...Lionheart (1990), Riding the Bullet (2004) and Demon Hunter (2005).
The film's soundtrack includes numerous 1980s confections...
...from such artists as lntimate Strangers and Stan Ridgway.
Cynthia Cronenberg is named after Canadian filmmaker...
...David Cronenberg (Scanners, Naked Lunch, The Fly).
The film's editor, Michael Knue, found this film coming back...
...in a strange way to him later on in his career.
He was selected by director James Wan...
...to edit his film Dead Silence (2007) because he was such a fan...
...of his work on Night of the Creeps.
Knue has since gone on to edit Wan's latest film, Death Sentence (2007).
Knue also cut the sci-fi classic, The Hidden (1987)...
...and the fourth entry in the Nightmare on Elm Street series in 1988.
Brad is played by actor Allan Kayser...
...who is best known as Bubba from the TV series, Mama's Family.
Interestingly, due to the rather off-putting nature of the character...
...Fred Dekker instructed the other actors...
...to spend as little time with Kayser as possible...
...to help create the on-screen tension between Brad and our heroes.
However, all the actors and Dekker...
...found Kayser to be friendly and professional.
The song playing in the background of this scene...
...is ''Caught Up in the Crossfire'' by The Charm Kings.
lt is also featured in another cult classic from 1986...
...Hal Needham's Rad.
Many of the frat guys are played by members of the makeup FX crew.
Since so many of the fraternity brothers were going to become zombies...
...it was decided that it would save time to just have the makeup team...
...play as many of the frat guys as possible.
Playing the lab assistant here, is actor David Paymer.
He would go on to appear in the film Mr. Saturday Night (1992)...
...for which he was nominated for an Academy Award (R) in 1993...
...for Best Supporting Actor.
He has also become one of Hollywood's...
...most notable character actors, appearing in such films as...
... The American President (1995), Payback (1999)...
...and In Good Company (2004).
Paymer recently returned to the horror genre...
...with a major role in director Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell (2009).
Another key member of the production team...
...was production designer George Costello.
He had previously worked as an art director on such films as...
...Evilspeak (1981) and the original The Terminator (1984).
Costello would later handle production design duties...
...for Problem Child (1990) and Alligator II: The Mutation (1991).
He recently returned to the horror genre...
...with the horror/comedy My Name Is Bruce (2008).
''This gives me the creeps!'' is one of many lines of dialogue...
...that reference the movie itself.
While it may appear that actor Ken Heron is naked...
...he is actually wearing underwear.
The icy frost around his midsection on the tube...
...is what gives the impression otherwise.
lt is never explained why Johnny was placed in a cryogenics facility...
...or who did it.
Fans have speculated on the back-story...
...saying that the U.S. government knew about the meteor landing...
...and was using Johnny's body for experimental purposes.
Believe it or not, there are actually cryonic labs such as this in existence.
Well, they don't look exactly like this...
...but people have been frozen for possible resuscitation in the future.
But cryonics didn't really come to fruition until the 1960s and 1970s...
...so it's still a mystery as to how Johnny got here in the late 1950s.
An earlier scene in the cryo lab was filmed...
...intending to explain the cryonics process...
...but was cut early in the editing process.
Steve Marshall wasn't sure why J.C...
...would come along on this particular trip...
...since there would be little way of him helping...
...to carry a big, heavy corpse around.
Most of the creeps are filmed in reverse motion...
...or with monofilaments to pull them from the actors' mouths.
It is not known what happened to the poor fish in this dorm room.
J.C. refers to Chris' breaking up with ''whatshername''...
...his long-term girlfriend who is never seen on-screen.
ln the original short, Chris' estranged girlfriend was named Karen.
Karen became the name for the cat-loving sorority girl.
Many of the film's fans have picked up on a possible gay subtext...
...in Chris and J.C.'s relationship.
Although Fred Dekker denies it was ever intended...
...he thinks viewers should be free to interpret the film as they wish.
It is never explained who owns the guitar...
...although it does seem to be more on J.C.'s side of the room.
Star Tom Atkins was well-known to horror and cult film fans...
...from his appearance in such films as John Carpenter's The Fog (1980)...
...and Escape From New York (1981).
This scene was shot at Castaic Lake in Castaic, California.
It is often rumored that the killer in this shot...
...is played by writer/director Fred Dekker. The jury is still out.
That was Officer Raimi...
...an homage to director Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spider-Man).
Tom Atkins has made a career of playing authority figures.
He concedes he has been cast as a policeman...
...more than any other type of role.
Wally Taylor plays Detective Landis...
...named for director John Landis (Animal House, The Blues Brothers).
Taylor also appears in Escape From New York with Tom Atkins.
The sandwich-munching coroner is played by actor Vic Polizos...
...who has also appeared in films such as C.H.U.D. (1984)...
...Prizzi's Honor (1985) and Eraser (1996).
Bruce Solomon, who plays Raimi, made his film debut...
...in the cult classic, Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (1973).
ln the television version of the film, there was a scene...
...between Cameron and Raimi where Cameron schooled...
...the younger policeman on how to report a murder over the phone.
The residence used for the sorority house...
...was in a state of disrepair before filming began.
The filmmakers did such a nice job cleaning it up...
...that the property owners decided against tearing it down...
...and today it still stands.
Evelyne Smith plays the House Mother.
Originally, she was to appear in the 1950s segment...
...looking exactly the same as she does in the 1980s...
...but the scene was cut.
Brains.... Why did it have to be brains?
Some of the scenes in the movie were shot on the UCLA campus...
...where Fred Dekker had graduated only three years earlier.
Dekker found it rewarding to return to the campus grounds...
...as a full-fledged filmmaker.
The brief nudity here by Jill Whitlow was actually her idea.
Whitlow found it too awkward to remove her bra...
...and get into the nightgown without being naked.
So she suggested they shoot it the way it is seen here.
Although decorated differently, Cynthia's room...
...is the same room as Pam's in the 1950s segment.
Cameron's brief stop to smell the rose echoes...
...a similar moment in Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space.
Tom Atkins has stated on numerous occasions...
...that this is his favorite film role.
Fans approach him about this film...
...more than any other movie or TV show that he has done.
Two of the founders of KNB EFX Co., who worked on the film...
...Robert Kurtzman and Howard Berger, also appeared as Beta Zombies.
lt is erroneously reported that the third member of KNB EFX Co...
...Greg Nicotero, appears in this film as a zombie as well.
But he didn't because he was on another project...
...during production of Night of the Creeps.
Other members of the FX crew to appear on-screen...
...include Earl Ellis and Ted Rae.
This moment ranks as Jill Whitlow's favorite character moment for Cynthia.
Why Cynthia would ever be interested in Brad...
...remains another mystery for fans of the film.
Mr. Miner, the night janitor...
...is an homage to director Steve Miner (Friday the 13th, Parts 2 & 3).
Steve Miner also handled second unit directing duties on this film.
The actor playing Mr. Miner is Robert Kino...
...who has appeared in dozens of films dating back to the early 1950s.
A deleted subplot involved J.C.'s use of the tape recorder...
...to secretly tape Brad confessing to the body prank.
Why Mr. Miner finds ''screaming like banshees'' so hilarious...
...is never explained.
A scene originally appeared here...
...with Cynthia and the other girls making cookies.
lt was cut for pacing, but it appeared in the television version.
Although a staple of horror films...
...the ''fake cat scare'' in this film is given a decided twist.
By cutting the ''Making Cookies'' scene...
...the audience is not clued into Gordon the Cat's fate.
A shot of a creep entering Gordon's recently dug grave was eliminated...
...along with the rest of the scene.
The cat was named for late producer Gordon Carroll...
...(Alien, Cool Hand Luke) who was one of Fred Dekker's mentors...
...when he started in the industry.
There was another moment...
...with Cameron and Raimi here on the phone that was cut.
Jill Whitlow and Jason Lively starred together...
...in another film in 1987 called Ghost Chase.
The bond between the cast was unusually strong on this film.
Steve Marshall actually roomed with Lively during the making of the film.
Recently, the cast reunited at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas...
...for a screening of the film, and they all remarked on how well...
...they all got along during filming.
Though their characters are supposed to be the same age...
...in reality, Steve Marshall was actually several years older than Jason Lively.
To date, Night of the Creeps is Marshall's biggest film role.
Tom Atkins' feet star here...
...in what is his first shot during production of the film.
Thanks to the wonders of high-definition...
...an insider joke on the wall is now noticeable.
Steve Marshall scribbled ''Jason works the bone'' on the stall divider.
The ''Stryper Rules'' homage is due to...
...one of the Hair and Makeup woman's relationship...
...with a member of the band, Stryper.
The creeps were often built around slot-car motors...
...and launched without strings attached.
Other shots were accomplished...
...with monofilaments pulling simple vinyl creations.
The close-ups of hands and feet in this scene...
...are not those of Steve Marshall.
These were shot later without his participation.
Notice ''Go Monster Squad'' inscribed on the facing wall.
This is a reference to Fred Dekker's next film, The Monster Squad...
...which he was planning while making this movie.
This movie was submitted to the MPAA and received an R rating.
Fred Dekker has said that the movie...
...emerged from the review largely unscathed.
The Kappa Delta house was located just off the USC campus.
It has since undergone significant renovations.
Originally, there was an extended conversation...
...between Cameron and Chris outside the house, but this was cut.
This scene is often cited by Tom Atkins and Fred Dekker...
...as their favorite in the film.
The flashbacks in this scene were shot in black and white...
...to reference the 1950s segment from the beginning of the film.
Fans of the film note that this scene marks a turning point:
The tough guy is losing his mind, and the young hero...
...will have to step up to defeat the enemy.
Steve Marshall deliberately sabotaged some takes of this scene...
...by hiding behind the couch and making funny noises.
Tom Atkins was not amused.
The house mother's cottage was actually a garage...
...on the back half of the sorority house property.
Many of the film's locations were right down the street from one another.
The axman is played by a combination...
...of an actor in a suit and an animatronic dummy.
The Phil's Diner reference can be found in various forms...
...throughout all of Fred Dekker's films.
The Phil's Diner location was something of a Hollywood landmark.
Sometime after filming, the building was moved...
...and its current location is not known.
The actor playing the cop with the flashlight is Robert Kerman...
...who appeared in many films...
...including the Italian horror classic, Cannibal Holocaust (1980).
ln this scene, Atkins calls for Burnette and Hoffman...
...his personal friends whose names he decided to throw in for fun.
When creating this film, Fred Dekker said it was a combination...
...of the various types of films he loved while growing up.
You can see alien invasion flicks, zombie movies, cop thrillers...
...buddy comedies and teen romances...
...all present and accounted for in this movie.
Fred Dekker often describes the movie as a ''stew''...
...of every type of movie he could think of.
That's Chris Dekker as one of the two dorm brothers.
This scene was actually filmed by second-unit director Steve Miner.
Steve Miner also directed House (1986)...
...which was originally created by Fred Dekker...
...and later adapted into a screenplay by friend Ethan Wiley.
ln order to get Jason Lively in the mood for this powerful scene...
...Fred Dekker placed photos of war atrocities...
...around the desk at various points...
...and instructed Jason to look at them at certain moments.
Steve Marshall's voice was altered slightly for this scene.
Fans have lamented that J.C.'s character dies...
...but Fred Dekker felt it was necessary to demonstrate that...
...anything can happen to anybody at any time. Nothing is certain.
Fred Dekker has stated that if he were to ever do a sequel to this film...
...he'd find a way to bring Steve Marshall back.
Though he would have to be another character...
...since J.C. is most definitely dead.
The body in this scene is a dummy.
The questioning jock here is John J. York...
...famously known as Mac Scorpio...
...in the longtime soap opera, General Hospital.
The bus driver in this scene is played by the film's transportation coordinator.
The accident scene was staged across the street from the CBS Studios.
Although it appears so in the film...
...you never actually see any impact between the two vehicles.
The dog appearing here is a dummy.
But the actual dog was an extremely good performer...
...which accomplished more than what Fred Dekker had expected.
A pair of exaggerated eyeballs was used...
...for the bus driver's reaction to the impending impact with the truck.
Actor Dick Miller plays Walter in the armory scene.
Miller is a longtime character actor...
...known for his appearances in cult and horror films.
The character's full name is Walter Paisley, a reference...
...to the memorable character Miller played in A Bucket of Blood (1959).
Miller played a similar role in 1984's The Terminator...
...as the owner of a gun store.
The actress answering the door is Suzanne Snyder...
...who would go on to face zombies again...
...in 1988 in Return of the Living Dead, Part II.
Snyder was fresh from a role...
...in John Hughes' classic sci-filcomedy, Weird Science (1985).
The song here, ''Smoke Gets ln Your Eyes''...
...references the 1950s segment from earlier in the film.
Brad is alternately played by an animatronic dummy...
...and actor Allan Kayser with a slug prosthesis over his tongue.
Jill Whitlow and Jason Lively both operated a real flamethrower...
...for these scenes.
The famous ''I've got good news and bad news'' line...
...was used as a tag line for the film in some territories overseas.
The tag line for the U.S. market was ''lf you scream, you're dead.''
Two poster designs for the film in North America...
...included illustrations of a zombie approaching a bedroom window...
...and Jason Lively and Jill Whitlow...
...fighting off zombies in front of the sorority house.
Tom Atkins was placed on a gimble...
...and rotated over 360 degrees for this scene.
This garden shed scene was added later in reshoots...
...after the studio decided to add to the action.
This scene features a zombie played by Beal Carrotes.
This is Carrotes only screen credit...
...and he bears a passing resemblance to writer/director Fred Dekker.
To this day, Dekker refuses to discuss Carrotes' role in the film.
The blood from the zombie's lawn-mowered face...
...is animated and was added in postproduction.
The basement scene is a combination of stop-motion animation...
...forced perspective and miniatures.
The wall of creeps is a stop-motion effect.
They even created a miniature Tom Atkins for some of the shots...
...where he looks at the creeps before igniting the blaze.
Aside from Cameron, the only other person to say ''thrill me'' is Chris.
Cameron is, interestingly enough...
...committing suicide the same way he intended to earlier in the film.
The film was released theatrically only in a few markets...
...and was retitled Homecoming Night for a time.
The ending of the film was a subject of much debate.
It was reshot to feature the zombie dog...
lt was reshot to feature the zombie dog...
...returning to ''creep'' Jill Whitlow's character.
Fred Dekker proposed this ending as a compromise, but he never liked it.
This is the original ending as scripted.
It was initially rejected by the studio because it was screened unfinished...
...making it challenging to imagine how the final effect would look.
This ending also set the stage for a potential sequel.
Why it took the aliens over 30 years to get to Earth remains a mystery.
For years, Night of the Creeps was only available...
...on home video in North America...
...with the VHS and Laserdisc releases in 1987.
Thankfully, that is no longer the case!
Special thanks to Sony Home Entertainment, Fred Dekker...
...Sean Clark, and the cast & crew of Night of the Creeps.