Night of the Creeps mixes a college horror story with alien parasites, walking corpses and the weary presence of an older detective. Its genre references are affectionate, but the friendship at its center gives the jokes something to protect. The slugs are a particularly effective device because invasion becomes both an external attack and a threat hidden inside familiar bodies. Notice how quickly the film can move from adolescent embarrassment to genuine loss without abandoning its mischievous tone.