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BONUS: Burning Paradise Ep. 3 "Night of The Comet" · Tales From Aztlantis

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Curly Tlapoyawa, and I love movies.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I spent a good chunk of my childhood being snuck into the drive-in by my parents, where I took in double and triple features of cinematic greatness.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: And when movies became available on home video in the 1980s, well, all bets were off.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's no exaggeration to say that my life was largely shaped by movies.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: In 2004, I opened Burning Paradise Video, where I offered a carefully curated selection of independent, foreign, underground, and cult films to the public.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Burning Paradise, my love letter to a bygone era.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Episode 3, Night of the Comet.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: I was still a snot-nosed little punk when I first saw the commercial for Night of the Comet playing on the living room TV.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: I could remember thinking to myself, oh nice, a movie where kids inherit the Earth.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: That would be awesome.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: But little did I know that the only reason these kids get handed the keys to the planet is because everyone else has either turned into a pile of dust or become zombies.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Bummer.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this was way back in 1984, and I wasn't exactly in the position to choose which movies my family went out to see at the Albuquerque 6.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: As a result, it wouldn't be until much, much later that I was able to catch the flick as a video rental.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: But for a kid who's brought up on Herschel Gordon Lewis, George Romero, and Lloyd Kaufman movies, it was well worth the wait.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: As the film opens, a really cool voiceover informs us that the Earth's orbit is about to bring it directly into the tail of a massive comet, an event which has not happened in more than 65 million years, right around the time the dinosaurs disappeared.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: This has prompted a worldwide celebration, complete with comet parties on every corner.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Enter Regina, played by Catherine Mary Stewart, and Samantha, played by Kelly Moroni.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Two Valley Girl sisters who spend their time looking out for each other while Dad is away in Central America and their slutty stepmom is busy getting it on with the neighbor.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: But while everyone else is partying the night away, Regina's stuck working a late night shift at the local movie theater, and Samantha spends the night in a storage shed after getting smacked around by the evil stepmom.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: They emerge from their confines the next morning only to find that the entire city of Los Angeles has been deserted.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there are those strange piles of dust where people used to be, and zombies.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of zombies.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: After a rough encounter with one of the zombies, the sisters hole up in a radio station where they meet Hector, played by the always awesome Roberto Beltrán, a streetwise Chicano who has also survived the comet-induced apocalypse.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Together, the trio set out to discover what the hell has happened to the rest of the world, battling various zombies and even other survivors along the way.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Add to this an underground bunker full of scientists, including the always welcome and awesome screen legend Mary Waranov, who are busy gathering survivors for some sinister purpose, and we have the ingredients for one kick-ass drive-in classic.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, not since The Toxic Avenger has a film been so recognizable as a product of the 80s.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, every frame oozes with the glossy cheese of that self-important coked-up decade.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well hell, I half expected some jack-off from VH1 to pop up in the corner of the screen to wax nostalgic about the movie a couple of times.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, one of the reasons Knight of the Comet works so well is that it plays like a really cool 80s coming-of-age flick, only with zombies and a government conspiracy.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Think of it as a John Hughes movie where John Cusack is trying to eat Molly Ringwald's brain and you're halfway there.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually, our heroes uncover a conspiracy by the group of scientists, rescue some kids from being killed for their untainted blood, and manage to find some happiness in a world gone mad.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Regina even finds out who's been kicking her ass on the high score rankings board on the Tempest machine in her movie theater.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Remember Tempest?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: That was awesome.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: The film is a bona fide cult classic, and it gets extra points for featuring a Chicano main character who manages to survive the end of the world.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the DVD that I have has a nice widescreen presentation of the flick and a pretty cherry sound mix, but that's all we get in this bare bones disc.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Considering the cult status this film has acquired, and deservedly so over the years, MGM really screwed the pooch when it came down to offering any cool extras.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Not a single interview has been done regarding this film, or the director didn't have half a day to spend recording a commentary track.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Considering the fact that Bootleg VHS was pretty much the only way you could see this movie for the longest time, I guess I should be grateful for what I wound up with.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, come on, freaking white chicks got a special edition release.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: But not this?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: I tell ya, it's a crime.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be one of the last people on earth?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Who you see?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: There's nobody.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's nobody.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: What would you do?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, I'm sorry if the end of the world makes me a little nervous.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Where would you go?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, get ready to find out because the comedy's coming into your orbit.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: The only drinking age is about 10 bucks.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's the night of the comedy.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: The night the teenagers rule the world.