Night Life (1989) User Reviews

Cult Movies 17.1

[TYLERdurden74 · 6/10 · 2 February 2002]

17.1 NIGHT LIFE (horror/comedy, 1989) Archie (Scott Grimes) works with his domineering uncle Flanders at the local mortuary. Though he hates the job, he needs the money to go to college. At school Archie is constantly bullied by the local 'jocks'. In one of their many pranks they get him fired. If that wasn't enough his only love interest is leaving town. But Flanders offers him a second chance when he asks his help with some new corpses. Archies' assignment is made all the more difficult when they unexpectedly come to life.

Critique: Horror comedy mixes youth exploitation plot with good dozes of zombie fun. In fact, the whole film seems geared at a 'Revenge of the Nerds'-type audience; as Archie gets repeatedly bullied, has failed romantic exploits and so on. The difference being that our hero turns out to be more resilient, tougher and smarter than your usual self-pitying film geek.

Film has good special effects, spooky atmosphere, action and humor. Above all it's a fairly surprising showcase from an otherwise unknown, capable cast. Particularly appealing is Scott Grimes' Archie. A cross between Michael J. Foxs' 'Marty McFly' from the 'Back to the Future' trilogy, and Macauley Caulkins' 'Home Alone' kid. He is funny, charismatic and exhumes a surprising leading man-type appeal. A fun but otherwise gory film.

Revenge of the Nerds 5: Zombie-invasion!

[Coventry · 6/10 · 28 October 2005]

Amusing and very light-headed quickie that distinguishes itself from the majority of lame and late 80's horror-comedies thanks to a couple of very ingenious jokes and the presence of cult-TV icon John Astin (The Addams Family). The typical story of nerdish underdog versus the popular high-school jocks is always fun to watch, and it gets even funnier (but more importantly: gorier) when the jocks turn into zombies that still only spend their time by playing pranks on the geek! Redhead Archie Melville and his car-technician girlfriend have no other option but to destroy the zombies in various ways. The intro, when there are still no zombies, is very lengthy but nevertheless entertaining since director David Acomba enlightens us about many specific embalming techniques. The geek hero namely works in the mortuary of his uncle and it's also there were the undead are resurrected after a thunderstorm. The film is fast-paced, the numerous clichés are forgivable and the gore often is surprisingly graphic (zombies in a wood chopper, exploding corpses…). John Astin obviously had a great time playing the ill-tempered undertaker and the young cast members do a fairly good job as well. "Night Life" is surely recommended in case you're looking for a simple, undemanding horror feast.

Oh, the night life, it ain't no good life.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 24 July 2010]

High school loser and funeral parlour assistant Archie Melville (Scott Grimes) is unable to escape persecution from a pair of preppy bullies and their beautiful girlfriends, even after all four die in a horrific car crash: a combination of toxic gas and lightning brings the malicious teens back from the dead so that they can continue to make life hell for the poor misfit.

Despite adequate performances from all involved, one or two stylish touches from director David Acomba (the dream-like, mist-shrouded crash aftermath scene being particularly effective), some fun cheesy gore from FX man Craig Reardon (including a split head, an eye being drilled, and Gomez Adams getting pumped full of oil), and the unforgettable sight of gorgeous blonde Lisa Fuller on all fours in her underwear, '80s teen zombie horror/comedy Night Life (AKA Grave Misdemeanours) must still be considered something of a disappointment: the film offers very little in the way of originality for fans of '80s horror, its outcast main character, his pretty tomboy sidekick, and the obnoxious preppy jocks all being clichéd mainstays of the genre; the pacing is terrible, with Acomba devoting far too much time depicting Archie's pathetic life both at school and at home, rather than getting on with the horror; and the laughs are rare, with lame attempts at Porky's style teen humour and woeful stabs at black comedy. Furthermore (and contrary to other comments here on IMDb), I found Archie to be an irritating character who brings much of his woes upon himself by being a smart-ass who just doesn't know when to shut up.

Unsurprisingly, the film has disappeared into relative obscurity, along with much of its cast.

"Fast Times at Walgren High."

[Backlash007 · 11 November 2001]

Night Life is something I stumbled upon one night while haunting old video stores in search of a descent flick. I found something better. I found Night Life. Scott Grimes of Critters fame stars as the underdog hero is this unheard of horror comedy. I have never even heard anyone talk about this film, which really surprised me after watching it. In it, four super jackasses turn into four super zombies by a mixture of electricity and chemicals. It sounds like the usual, but it's definitely got it's own flare. The scene of the accident is bizarre stuff, it's weirdly shot. It feels more like a dream than a movie. It's my favorite of the film. There are some truly grotesque parts in the mortuary too. If you've never seen this movie, find it. You'll be in for a treat.

Good start, fizzles by the end

[Rubbed Raw · 5/10 · 8 March 2001]

I thought that Night Life was very promising for the first half hour. The characters were likeable, and the story was interesting. But the horror aspects don't really enter the picture until the last half hour - and when they do, they are disappointing. The zombies are not like traditional zombies at all. They drive cars, operate machinery, and seem to retain much of their human personalities. What's worse, there are only four of them and they seem to be indestructible (like Jason from Friday the 13th pt 2 -?). In my opinion, the threat of zombies should be sheer numbers. As individuals, they are not very strong, fast, or coordinated. It should not have been so difficult for the heroes of this movie to deal with a paltry four walking corpses.

"I understand you knew these people. I wish I could say I gave a rat's ass, but I don't"

[Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki · 7/10 · 8 July 2013]

Review based on the full 88-minutes long, UK version, titled Grave Misdemeanours.

Well meaning, but slightly dim, high school kid Archie works at his uncle's funeral home, with a convenient explanatory scene telling us, the audience, why he works there. When four jock idiots play another prank on him at the funeral home, his cruel and mean spirited Uncle, V. J. Flanders (played superbly by John Astin, in what is basically an extended cameo) fires him.

When the four jocks are involved in a fatal accident later that night, V.J. recalls Archie to collect the bodies. Slow motion scenes of Archie coming to the crash and finding the bodies lends a surreal, hallucinatory feel, as life often does in, times of crisis like that.

But are the four boneheads really dead?

His cruel Uncle rotates one of their heads nearly 180 degrees, in a heartless effort to show that they are dead, for Archie.

But again, are they really dead, or did the lightning, and truckload of radioactive crap they plowed into do something ... *strange* to them?

Lightweight horror/ comedy fare, the real horror doesn't really kick in until the final 30 minutes, when the four do indeed come back from the dead, and seek revenge on Archie, and anyone else they happen across, in particularly gruesome fashion. Astin's Uncle character has an especially awful demise. That final 30 minutes, and John Astin's successful cast-against-type role make this a winner.

Lightning Strikes

[Uriah43 · 5/10 · 22 December 2014]

"Archie Melville" (Scott Grimes) is a high school student who works at the local mortuary during the night for his uncle "Verlin Flanders" (John Astin). Unfortunately, this severely impacts his social life and the girl of his dreams "Joanie Snowland" (Lisa Fuller) wants nothing to do with him. Not only that but two jocks at the high school have made it their mission to harass him endlessly as well. To make matters even worse the only friend he has named "Chary Dorn" (Cheryl Pollak) tells him she is leaving town permanently. But things change quickly after a fatal car accident involving a toxic spill sends his two tormentors along with Joanie and her friend "Roberta Woods" (Darcy DeMoss) to the funeral home where he works--and then lightning strikes! Now rather than reveal any more of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a peculiar zombie film which had its ups and downs. For starters, there were some parts which I thought were extremely slow and I didn't think the humor was all that keen either. But the gore factor was quite high and having 3 attractive actresses like the aforementioned Lisa Fuller, Cheryl Pollak and Darcy DeMoss certainly didn't hurt. In short, while I didn't think this was a great zombie movie by any means it was okay for the time spent and I rate it as about average.

Enjoyable though the zombies actually let it down.

[d_m_s · 6/10 · 15 January 2015]

Grave Misdemeanous is an enjoyable b-movie. The film is actually better for the first two thirds, before the zombie element comes into it. In this section it is funny (with some pretty good lines and visual gags that had me giggling, much to my surprise), entertaining and well shot with some great lighting.

It's still OK after the zombie's come into it but the quality does dip a fair bit, mainly because some daft bits start to happen and the zombie's aren't very zombie-like but act like normal people in make up. This is especially evidenced when the zombie's start using high kicks and all manner of fighting techniques to beat up some cops in one scene. Those kids didn't even do that when they were still alive! Where did that come from? It wasn't even done in a comical manner, they just turned into weird karate zombies.

Darn, These Bloody Nerds

[ccthemovieman-1 · 2/10 · 5 May 2007]

This probably got better as it went on but it so filled with obnoxious, profane bully-type high school morons that I had a hard time finishing this...and I didn't.

Typically-stupid modern-day Hollywood teen dialog (see "Scream" for better examples) turns me off, big-time, and this movie is filled with them. Four of the punks turn into zombies. Well, good for them. Do they get what's coming to them by the nerdy good guys? Of course, with a few twists but too many similarities to the theme of "Revenge Of The Nerds." The big difference is all the blood in here in this horror-comedy.

This is definitely for young adults, not for discerning, older farts like me.

Underrated zombie romp

[callanvass · 6/10 · 25 January 2014]

Poor Archie. He just can't seem to catch a break. He has to put up with his cantankerous Uncle to work at a funeral parlor, he is bullied by the school jock, has no love life, no money, seemingly no prospects. Things get worse when Archie is fired after an incident at the funeral parlor. Charlie gets a chance to redeem himself from his Uncle the next day, but Charlie gets much more than he bargained for when the bullies that torment him die in a car wreck and come back from the dead.

Going by the 15 reviews on this site and the lack of votes, I'm guessing this went unseen when it came out. It is a bit of a shame because for what it is, it is fairly enjoyable. I'm a big fan of cheesy films from the 80's, especially horror films from the 80's. Something from that time period was magical and can't be duplicated. The film's lack of budget prevents the zombies from looking all that impressive, but the flow of the film is so entertaining that it doesn't really matter. The mortuary makes for an ideal setting for this sort of thing and I thought they capitalized on it well. A big budget isn't always a necessity to make a fun movie. This is a horror/comedy and it works extremely well, giving us some good comedy, as well as decent suspense at times. There is some great slapstick involving corpses at the mortuary. My favorite suspenseful scene is the battle with a zombie on fire and Archie inside a grave. That was incredibly well done. There is a decent amount of gore. We get a severed hand in a bucket, somebody drills his eye out, bloody autopsy scenes. My personal favorite is when a guy swallows embalming fluid. I am not gonna spoil it for you. Let me just say it's memorable. Scott Grimes makes for a perfect lead as Archie, strong-willed, yet vulnerable and sensitive. He's a guy I'd have love to hang around with, minus his job at the mortuary. John Astin is excellent as the indignant uncle. You'll hate him. Cheryl Pollak is gorgeous as Archie's love interest. She's spunky and a lot of fun to watch. Overall, if you can find this one, I suggest you pick it up. It won't blow you away, but it is a fun zombie film

6.6/10

Not Bad!

[gwnightscream · 5/10 · 25 April 2018]

This 1989 horror film stars Scott Grimes and John Astin. Grimes (Critters) plays Archie, a nerdy teen who works at a mortuary for his uncle, Flanders (Astin). Archie gets picked on by 2 jocks from school who soon die in a car accident with their girlfriends. One night during a rainstorm, they're resurrected by lightning and Archie becomes terrorized by them. This isn't bad and Grimes is good in it along with the make-up effects. Give this a view at least once horror fans.

AKA- Grave Misdemeanours

[monnysmortuary · 9/10 · 26 February 2005]

I have seen this film a few times, the first of which was the day I bought it for 99p from a video store that was closing down. Initailly bought on the back of Scott Grimes sterling work in the first two Critters movies. But what a treat. This not your A-typical zombie flick. Though a lot of the rules have been preserved from the other undead features that have gone before this one adds its own twist. Scott Grimes plays Archie, the assistant to a crotchety old undertaker. Being the loser that he is, naturally he falls for the hottest girl in town who happens to date the local jock, and Archie's sworn enemy. However following a car wreck things change and now Archie must spend the night running for his life as the undead are in pursuit. All in all a good, fun film. It never takes itself seriously without resorting to being stupid. Fans of Return of the Living Dead should check this out!

If you liked this movie then I would also recommend another obscure zombie twist with THE VIDEO DEAD if you can find a copy.

Also released under the title of GRAVE MISDEMEANOURS!

Flawed but worth a watch

[WisdomsHammer · 5/10 · 3 December 2019]

For fans of B-movie horror, you'll be right at home, but you might also get annoyed in places, as I did. I think it tries to be a dark comedy but doesn't quite hit the mark. For one thing, it's just not that funny. For another, it takes itself way too seriously when it is clearly over-the-top ridiculous. There are lots of "You've got to be kidding me" moments where it's not even remotely believable but is played off as if it is. There are plenty of missed opportunities in those moments for good laughs mixed in with decent horror, but the timing is off or something. Maybe with better editing and reaction shots this would have worked. I don't know.

Also, I think we're supposed to relate to and feel sorry for the main character as a poor schmuck who just can't catch a break, but he was too much of a cowardly, bumbling, whiney idiot for me to care about him. I kinda wanted him to die.

The cherry on the top for me *MINOR SPOILER ALERT* was the downer ending. I'm not going to give it away other than to say that it's not happy. It was predictable the moment it began, too, and seemed to be more of an afterthought or an alternate ending they decided to go with rather than what I personally think the audience would have wanted. Maybe it's fitting that this movie has no reward at the end, because it sure didn't win any.

Anyway, that's my two cents. It's worth a watch because the story in general is a good one, and the effects are great. Seeing John Astin play a jerky boss was fun, too. 5 out of 10.

Not bad

[temporis · 25 April 2001]

This movie is by no means Shakespere material, but compared to the other stuff on the market..it's gold! I have to admit I enjoyed this movie because it was offbeat yet not total out of the atomsphere! Scott Grimes ( a favorite actor of mine!) is what really made this movie. If this movie had been done with a "pretty boy type" like Johnny Deep, it would have lost all value! The charecter of Archie, had to be played by a guy that had an unconventional look yet was not butt ugly! Scott was prefect for this role. As for the rest of the castings...perfect! Acting was very good, it helped move the sort of slow start of the movie to flow better. Everyone was prefect for their role. Sure, the story was a bit slow, but the directing ( especially for a horror flick) was subtle, quirky, and unobtrusive. I really like this movie, esspecially because of the mind tricks it plays on you in the second part of the movie! I urge you to rent this movie!

Boring!!!!

[Sarjenka · 1/10 · 31 August 1999]

What a boring movie!!! I have hated every minute of it. First of all, it takes almost an hour before anything will happen, and when it happens, the Zombies aren't scary at all... I think it is more like a slapstick movie than a horror.

Night of the Living Dead 3

[saint_brett · 5/10 · 6 February 2024]

Creative Movie Marketing presents 'Night Life.' It sounds like a Ponzi scheme.

The movie starts out with Richard Marx from that "Hazard" music video looking at a dead corpse in a morgue. Yeah, that very one he swore he left by the river. The victim has that whole 'Red Dragon' reflective mirror in its eyes, as Marx isn't too fond of the victims watching his handy work or something.

Marx throws a severed hand away in a bucket, and excuse me for saying, but that bucket came in handy! Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Meanwhile, outside, Roger and Joni are making out, and the dude resembles Slider at first. "Don't make me bust you up, man."

So, it's neither Slider nor Richard Marx.

There's similarities to the 'Karate Kid' scenario to kick the movie off, where jocks rule the hallways and Rupert Grint is singled out. Only ten minutes into the movie, and Grint is looking for a shortcut back to Newark again and is driven off a cliff.

Unless these jocks repeated three times, why are they in Rupert Grint's classes?

And as if a junior high student would be a medical assistant.

A lot lizard thumbs a ride out in the middle of nowhere - how'd she get out here in the first place? - and along comes Rupert Grint in a hearse and pays for the escort service, but ask me, and I'd tell you she's twice his age. Can't she see that he's underage?

Hmm, the movie's going 30 in a 100 zone. You want to step on it, please?

Keeping with the elderly theme, Grint then romanticizes a senior citizen corpse and has his way with her.

Is this a comedy?

It certainly ain't a horror movie.

Rupert Grint is found guilty of tampering with a corpse and fired on the spot, but pending an appeal, he's reinstated immediately as a corpse collector and dispatched immediately to fish out his four tormentors bodies, who all perished in a fatal car crash, which isn't shown.

I guess there'll be no All Valley Tournament at the end of this between Grint and Slider.

Do we really need this blow-by-blow in-depth autopsy procedure examination? They didn't show the car crashing, but they will go into great detail about a corpse on a gurney tray.

I did a traineeship in a hospital back in '93, where they prepped us for operation theater observation in that thick blue smock and surgical mask. (Used to be a dark green smock.) Long story short, I didn't make it in there. I pretty much got cold feet, wigged out, and practically fainted. I never returned either. I asked to be transferred to the kitchen, and washed plates and potatoes for the rest of my sentence.

I don't know what to make of this movie. It's not horror; there's comedy, but it's morbid and direct in its medical terminology.

This movie is like a pizza served in three portions. The first part was school introductions, personalities, and backgrounds. The second piece was education about funeral home procedures, and the third slice is where the movie fails as it just turns into another 'Night of the Living Dead' zombie walkathon. Been there, done that.

A thunderstorm rages, and lightning causes a bit of Jason Lives electricity to jumpstart the dead bodies back to life.

The rain is a good addition to the movie, and it'd be better to watch this movie when it's pouring late at night, but 'Return of the Living Dead 2' is far superior to this one.

That exploding cabbage guy near the end of 'Big Trouble in Little China' looked fake when he bloated, but the one in this looked half real.

So, Rupert Grint is chased around town by four dead zombies and winds up in a high school basement, or Freddy's boiler room, and Kruger has already educated us that you can't kill the dead by fire.

It takes an out-of-control BNSF locomotive from 'Under Siege 2' to wipe out the four zombies. No doubt there'll be a little 'Sometimes They Come Back' about this movie, as evident by Rupert Grint being chased around the swamp by the dead after the train collision.

Yep, they are indeed back again and have dragged Grint to a cemetery.

So, just how do you dispose of these zombies in this movie?

A handgun and fire? We have already tried fire.

There are shades of 'Drag Me to Hell' in that body-pit scene.

Grint's up to his neck in that six-foot hole.

If the dead are dead, how do you kill them?

What, with a jerrycan grenade?

Again, fire is employed for the third time, but I believe it works this time.

The movie's fine, but there's something a little stillborn about it. It kind of lacks fluent continuity, and I put it down to the miscasting of the main child actor, Rupert Grint. He seems a little too young for this more senior role.

Who should have been cast for his role is Keith Coogen. It would have been more believable.

I see the Irish band Fastway contributed a song for the movie. They provided the soundtrack for 1986's 'Trick or Treat.'

That's what was missing in 'Night Life,' a proper eerie score.

A Rare Gem That You Won't Regret Watching

[texasarcane · 9/10 · 7 December 2015]

Another poster called it the Citizen Kane of zombie movies. They were right. It's got some magic in it.

If you heard the premise you'd judge this film in advance and in doing so you'd be missing a real horror classic. There's something about it that follows you out of the end. It's scored in a very interesting way, shot in a very interesting way and the whole thing has a dreamlike quality. Scott Grimes was superb in the lead.

The very last bit really makes the film. Clever. The whole thing is well written. The dialogue is not hackneyed or trite, it's literate.

Watching it I thought the director must have been really hungry because he spun this simple story into something gold.

A rockin 80s Zombie movie!

[Ru-Dy · 10/10 · 5 March 2019]

Scott Grimes and the great John Astin, you can't go wrong! It is a solid movie, with some slap stick added, and it gets rockin in a hurry! Great for late night viewing, when it's cold outside. This is another that needs to be on DVD!

Wow, a horror comedy that's actually good

[Tampon · 9/10 · 26 September 1998]

Blimey. This one turned out to be a real surprise! Its got a half decent story, characters you care about, nice make up effects. It's scary, isn't overly gory, the funny bits never get in the way of the serious stuff. What a film!

First rate horror!

[gregbrownmail · 10/10 · 29 May 2002]

Forget everything you think this movie is going to be -- it's extremely great. John Astin gives the performance of his career...he doesn't push it at all. This is the Citizen Kane of horror. I'm not kidding -- it's a super terrific film. Don't miss it!

A thousand points of light

[peterpants66 · 10/10 · 11 September 2010]

There are never going to be enough zombie movies in the world. In the eighties it was at it's height, with everything from multi layered franchises to plenty of stand alone gory greetings that pack a punch and keep mutilating even after all these years. Scott Grimes leads the charge in a geeky way as he plays a dweeb in high school whose making ends meet by helping his uncle "Flanders" played by the unflappable John Astin, take care of a funeral home in small town middle of nowhere. His school is ruled by jocks with good genetics who have pounced on 99% of the prime real estate (chicks) in the entire school. One greasy haired diva Cheryl Pollak (pump up the volume) runs a tune-up gas station at the edge of town, she specializes in putting Scott Grimes heart on the lift. Things go wrong for the popular kids in this movie as their mangled in a horrible car wreck. But a little Frankenstein inspired lighting brings'm right back, and the outcome is AWESOME! Now from the point of the accident on, the audience is brought on a hell ride as the recently dead go on a killing spree! The special effects consist of guys wearing flame retardant gear and lots of split open dummy heads, and blood, poured on in the gallons! Lisa Fuller whose career consisted of posing in her bra and panties in plenty of eighties B movies makes an appearance, as do many other noteworthy lost in the fray artists. This one is not on DVD, it's probably online somewhere but i had to buy mine on VHS and it did cost me. Costly but worth checking out.