Girls Nite Out

Girls Nite Out (made in 1982 but not released until 1984)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Directed by: Robert Deubel

Starring: Julia Montgomery, James Carroll, Rutanya Alda, Lauren-Marie Taylor, Hal Holbrook (!)

From: Concepts Unlimited

Here is a really random 80's slasher I stumbled across while looking at various links on the IMDb. I came across this movie, which I hadn't heard of, but what got my attention is that it starred Betty Childs from Revenge of the Nerds, a rather cute girl from the second Friday the 13th (Taylor), and the killer... he kills people while wearing a bear costume from the college's sports team where the movie is set! Yes, a mascot killer. I HAD to see it, and I was greatly amused once I found it in the bowels of the Internet.

To steal the plot from the IMDb: “A killer, wearing a dancing bear suit, stalks a variety of cheerleaders during an all-night scavenger hunt at a remote Ohio college.” To elaborate, the movie is set around a men's basketball team at a remote Ohio college, and it involves such things as the campus radio station (and the DJ being a magnificent middle-aged man with a great mustache), a costume party, & an old photograph. As right now the big college basketball tournament is going on right now (commonly nicknamed March Madness), it was perfect I found this when I did.

As for why an established actor like Hal Holbrook is in a random 80's slasher, his son is in the film, so there you go. The coach of the team was played by the late Al McGuire. Yes, the famous college basketball coach turned college basketball announcer for NBC Sports then CBS Sports throughout the 80's and 90's. That was inspired casting, although his screentime is like 2 to 3 minutes total.

The movie starts off and after some odd music you see a murder then you're off to a basketball game, with a guy in the crowd that looks EXACTLY like Ludacris, no exaggerating. The scene is set to some oldies-sounding song, which is appropriate as the movie is full of actual oldies songs from the 60's, such as some from The Lovin' Spoonful, Ohio Express and other bubblegum pop, and Tommy James & The Shondells. I presume that back then paying to use those songs wasn't so expensive. After the game, the cheerleaders of Taylor's character and Montgomery's character about how Taylor is bangin' some guy and apparently it was great because she said “it hurts when I sit down!” Julia mentions how “He's your cousin!” and Lauren-Marie replies, “SECOND cousin!” Really. Wow.

Speaking of wow, how the bear suit looks. It looks like a regular bear suit but with paper eyes & tongue and an awful blonde curly wig. Look at this link for the picture of the bear and try not to laugh.

As for the actual movie, due to the entertainment value I'll rate it as average. Really, there's amusing things and I did not mind at first the movie taking its time introducing everyone as there are plenty of wacky characters, some of which are asstagonists but not of the aggravating kind. I was able to laugh at their terribleness and how they did such things as act way over the top or cheat on their significant others. Unfortunately some of them vanish out of nowhere, and at times the pacing just seems totally off.

While the killer's M.O is unique and they use steak knives for claws, the kills are sadly of the “meh” kind and seem to be hampered by a low budget; maybe they spent too much cash on all those golden oldies... I won't reveal any details about the killer except that it was surprising to me. It was also creepy, but... it seems like the movie stopped rather than had a proper ending, which was disappointing. I guess there's a reason this is a forgotten slasher despite its wacky concept.

I shall return on Tuesday night.