Uncovering the Cult Classic that Inspired Buffy

On Entertainment Weekly’s “100 Greatest Characters” list, Buffy Summers is hailed by her creator Joss Whedon as a concoction of iconic heroines. Whedon's recipe for a Buffy includes one cup of Sarah Connor from the Terminator, one cup of Ripley from Alien, three tablespoons of the younger sister in Night of the Comet, a few sprigs of A Little Princess, and a pinch of Jimmy Stewart. While Terminator, Alien, A Little Princess, and James Stewart are all well-known, Night of the Comet is a lesser-known classic.

Night of the Comet follows the Belmont sisters, 18-year-old Reggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) and 16-year-old Sam (Kelli Maroney). After a comet crosses Earth's path, turning most of humanity into dust or zombies, the sisters become some of the few survivors. Reggie survives by spending the night in the projection booth of the movie theater where she works, while Sam spends the night in a steel backyard shed after a fight with her stepmother. The sisters are then forced to face zombies, hostile survivors, and sinister researchers at an underground facility in the days following the apocalypse.

Sam's influence on Buffy's creation is evident. Both characters are monster hunters, but they have distinct personalities. Reggie is cool and composed, while Sam is flustered and emotional. Reggie exudes confidence, while Sam is plagued by insecurity. Sam shares Buffy's composure in the face of danger, but also shares her fear of loneliness. She is annoyed that her sister keeps stealing the guys she likes, even after the apocalypse.

Night of the Comet is a cult classic that manages to deliver a sincere take on a seemingly silly premise, which is what makes it so charming. Despite the ominous effects of the comet, the film's tone is delightfully campy and commits wholeheartedly to its daffy premise. The movie's style is very much rooted in the '80s, with its valley girl protagonists, consumerist flash, synth-heavy score, brightly colored wardrobe, and pop ballads on the soundtrack. As the last survivors of the human race, the sisters waste no time heading to the mall to pick up new clothes and plenty of guns.

Thom Eberhardt, the writer and director of Night of the Comet, is a master of tongue-in-cheek genre satire. He has previously riffed on teen movie tropes in The Night Before, where Keanu Reeves plays a high school nerd who loses his prom date and memories, and parodied the Sherlock Holmes mysteries in Without a Clue, where Dr. Watson is the real genius and Holmes is just a dim-witted actor. With Night of the Comet, Eberhardt offers his own offbeat take on the post-apocalyptic genre, where the apocalypse is almost a relief. Sam and Reggie enjoy the freedom of empty streets and an empty shopping mall, with no work commitments, needy boyfriends, or evil stepmothers. In Night of the Comet, the end of the world isn't really the end of the world.

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As per John Kenneth Muir’s Horror Films of the 1980s, Eberhardt consulted with actual teenage girls while developing the script for Night of the Comet. He asked them what they would do if they woke up and found everyone gone, and to his surprise, their immediate reaction wasn't to question their predicament, or be afraid of anything. Rather, they were excited about all the things they could do. Similarly, Sam and Reggie aren't interested in reversing the apocalypse and bringing back everyone. Instead, they're having the time of their lives. They drive around the empty streets of Los Angeles, and even get on air at an abandoned radio station.