The Laser Age: 'Night of the Comet' with Jen Chaney

It's 1984: Do you know where your parents are? For that matter, do you know where your friends or, really, anyone else has gotten to? Written and directed by Thom Eberhardt (Gross Anatomy), this low-budget apocalyptic sci-fi comedy/quasi-zombie movie imagines a world in which almost everyone has disappeared, as seen through the eyes of a pair of Valley Girl sisters played by Kelli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart. But Night of the Comet is much more than a collection of gag me with a spoon gags. It's an unexpectedly thoughtful depiction of teenage life after the apocalypse, made in an era in which the apocalypse always seemed just around the corner for one reason or another (even if it wouldn't be the much-trumpeted 1986 return of Halley's Comet ushering it in). Critic Jen Chaney— whose work includes an extensive look at another film about teen girls, As If!: An Oral History of Clueless, joins the podcast to discuss this endearing cult oddity.

Night of the Comet is currently streaming for free on Tubi. It's also streaming on MGM+ and available on Blu-ray and DVD via Shout! Factory.

In two weeks: The Laser Age pays a visit to the world of David Cronenberg's eXistenZ with special guest Scott Tobias.