I know last week I promised to try to elevate the nation's aesthetic sensibilities, but I lied. Because this week the 1980s returns in all its fluorescent glory. Hair is big. Cell phones are non-existent. And video games (Tempest, in this case) are the size of small refrigerators which stand in the dark corners of movie theaters and mall arcades consuming quarters (Fun fact: I was the undisputed king of Asteroids at the Van Buren train station in Chicago back in the day.)

It is giving nothing away to say that the comet in "The Night of the Comet" reduces most of the human race to red dust, leaving behind millions of piles of over-sized tops, parachute pants and leg warmers. It also leaves behind a handful of human survivors who are not particularly well-equipped for the world they have just inherited.

Because of the zombies.

Yes zombies.

Joss Whedon cited "Night of the Comet" as a big influence for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and the movie still holds up very well. I particularly like the early scenes of the lonely automated world of lawn sprinklers and pool filters waking up and diligently going about their jobs even though the humans that built and used such things is now all but gone.

Also keep an eye out for the "Red Dust" poster on the theater door through which one of the survivors exits into post-comet world for the first time. Someone in the prop department was having fun!

And now, without further ado, the end of the world.

Enjoy!