NIGHT OF THE COMET: EIGHTIES SHELL-SUIT SCI-FI

I caught a flick I'd never seen the other night, The Night of The Comet, from 1984. I really enjoyed the opening half hour with the build up to the comet passing by and the immediate aftermath. The rest was a bit boring but....

the Eighties setting was iconic for that decade. Video arcades, shell suits, legwarmers and techno-beats abound and captures the spirit of the age really well.

The central device has been done a million times before: certain people are immune to the apocalypse because of where they where when the catastrophe hit, but its done with aplomb and the desiccation of the victims is a neat twist and reminiscent of the Andromeda Strain, taking it even further and turning everyone to dust.

The star billing of video arcade games is almost a sub-genre of Eighties films in its own right and Night of the Comet nudges right up to those other zapfests of the decade, The Last Starfighter, Tron and War Games to name a few.

With all the big hair, drum machines and padded shoulders, I can see why this film has a cult following and why it has its own fan site. Alas, I couldn't see any toys to speak of, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Has anyone else seen it?