"Since before recorded time, it had swung through the universe in an elliptical orbit so large that its very existence remained a secret of time and space. But now, in the last few years of the twentieth-century, the visitor was returning. The citizens of Earth would get an extra Christmas present this year, as their planet orbited through the tail of the comet. Scientists predicted a light show of stellar proportions. Something not seen on Earth for 65 million years. Indeed, not since the time that the dinosaurs disappeared, virtually overnight."

After the tail of a passing comet has turned everyone directly exposed to its radiation into red carbon dust, two teenage sisters awake the following morning to discover that they are two of the last people on Earth. In addition, those who were inside, and therefore not directly exposed, are disintegrating slower, becoming flesh-eating zombies in the process.

The girls travel to a local radio station where they meet another survivor, Hector, a truck driver who was lured to the station, like them, in the belief that the transmission was live. It isn’t, but the girls use the station in an attempt to attract help.They attract the attention of a group of scientists, who, realising that the last time the comet passed Earth, the dinosaurs disappeared, had locked themselves away in their underground facility until it passed.

Hector leaves the girls to fend for themselves while he goes back home to see if any of his family have survived the comet. But can they survive in the zombie infested world until he returns?

Released in 1984, Night of the Comet- a B-movie itself - is an affectionate homage to the sci-fi B-movies of the 50s and 60s; an end-of-the-world science fiction/horror, presented with the perfect balance of action and comedy. While the tone does get progressively more serious over the film's 95 minute running time, it still retains its sense of fun, and the wonderfully witty dialogue, much of it quotable, holds out to the end.

I first saw this film on 10 October 1989 when it was shown as part of BBC Two's Moviedrome, introduced by Alex Cox. As the film was being shown at night - and probably on a school night - I had recorded it to VHS. I'm so glad I did. I have never grown tired of it, and I've lost count of the number of times I watched that tape. With MGM finally giving Night of the Comet its long awaited release on DVD in March, hopefully it will find an even wider audience, and a new generation can discover the film.