What "Night Of The Creeps" Recently Taught Me

I was listening to the commentary track of “Night Of The Creeps” and if you have the time and the stomach, it’s a classic horror film that is really underrated. Mostly, because it’s actually four genres in one. Basically, if you took all the E.C. Comics like “Tales From The Crypt” and “True Detective Stories” and some Dashielle Hammett novels, you’d have this. And science fiction stuff thrown in as well. It’s awesome.

Director Fred Dekker casted, for the sorority girl love interest, Jill Whitlow. Not sure what she’s done since, but in this commentary, Dekker mentions a moment where he basically casted a dream girl HE’D wanted when he was a college student (odd since at the time of directing this movie, he was 4 years out…how’s that for talent?). I think a lot of us who make movies do that. We cast as our lead actress, the woman we can fashion into our “dream girl.” Says a lot about me, since I cast broken down women. Or shrewish nags. Perhaps it’s my attitude towards the women I find attractive. Ugh. They mention Hitchcock definitely pulled his pud casting sophisticated blondes who do bad things (or in some cases, have bad things done to them). I think after a while, you do start to see a pattern in women.

They also mention a melancholy to “Night Of The Creeps” which I think comes from nostalgia. Broken hearts and love unrequited. Or missed opportunity. We really try our hardest to fix what’s broken in us. Acceptance, rejection, being overlooked. These are real pain I think everyone feels at one point. Like, remember when a girl you liked liked someone else? What if that person was your friend? Heartbreak. Or in Tom Atkins’ detective Cameron’s case, a lost love who dumped him, gets murdered by a crazed axe murderer. A case that haunts him to old age. These universal truths we feel, make us feel less alone.

Another observation, which I found to be true. Dekker mentioned fellow director Peter Hyams told him the majority of the time the lead actress and lead actor will establish a romantic relationship. It was a pretty high enough percentage, over 80%. I think acting is a pretty lonely position to be in. It only makes sense that the only other person that would understand the fear and loneliness would be the other person who is in the same position. Fear can be an aphrodisiac.

So my suggestion to people making movies…if you can, try to find people you are attracted to, but don’t have romantic attachments. Really hard when you’re young. Easy when you’re older. I recall in undergrad casting a girl I was infatuated with. She ended up dating my key grip. It’s devastating when you know their intention by the many times they ask about that person. Devastating. Again, the process of life. We can’t all be that to everyone. If you look back on your own life, you could at least come up with a few times you’ve also rejected people. And in case you’re too hard on yourself, remember…Sophia Loren chose Carlo Ponti OVER Cary Grant AND Frank Sinatra. Pier Angeli married Vic Damone over James Dean. None of us has the monopoly on rejection.