'80s Trash: Girls Nite Out (1982)

After all these years, I finally saw the Movie!  It's...okay, I guess.  Today's Film is Girls Nite Out, a 1982 Slasher with almost a more interesting History than itself.  For me, I rented it from Netflix some 5-6 years ago.  The disc was broken, so I requested a replacement.  That was broken too, so I gave up for like another year.  That disc was not broken, but scratched to hell and wouldn't finish the Film.  As for the actual Film, it was made in 1982, but released in 1984...under a different Title.  It later reclaimed its title on VHS and DVD, but now rests in this odd line of Films with Multiple Titles in the same Format.  Hurray?  I'll cover that alternate Title in some later Posts, so keep an eye out for that.  In the meantime, let's discuss the actual Film.  A College decides to do a Campus-wide Scavenger Hunt- what could go wrong?  The answer involves a seemingly-dead Student with a figurative axe to grind and a person in a bear suit with literal claws to kill with.  Is it really the crazy ex-student?  Is it someone else?  Will the reveal be both ridiculous and a total cop-out?  I will also note that the Film features one surprising Star...but I'll get to that later.  To see how years of build-up amount to little, read on...

In the opening, a mental patient hangs himself and seemingly dies.  They don't show the face for a really dumb reasons.

Nearby, his old College is celebrating the winning of a Basketball Game and tonight's festivities- a Scavenger Hunt.

Based on your hair, I dub you Young Randall and Dante.

We also get some truly terrible Comic Relief.  The pay-off to them- not much.  They don't die.

So who's the big Star they got- Hal Holbrook.

The Story- he agreed to do it since they hired his Son (see 2nd picture down).  His condition- he only shot there for one day, almost entirely by himself.  That even includes this Scene with his Son!

*Seriously- he even shot this Scene separately and it was awkwardly-cut together*

The Mascot is killed for his costume (after the usual 'Hey, it's you' Death Scene) and he starts picking off girls, since he stole all the answers to the Hunt.

Please ignore the silly tuft of 'hair' and the eyes on the mask.  Embrace the terror!

The Film takes a quick break before Act 3.  It resumes with the killer kidnapping the 'girl on the side' from our Lead to make him come to them.

So here's the big reveal- Holbrook (in his Alternate Shooting Reality) sees the face of the alleged killer...and realizes that it is the twin brother of the Cafeteria Worker.  He uses a marker to draw hair on the picture, in case someone in the back didn't figure it out.

The killer confronts our Lead, but is stopped by semi-matching footage of Holbrook being cut in, whereupon she reveals his dead brother in the freezer.  The End...apparently.

Seriously, it just stops there!  I guess if Sleepaway Camp can do it, you can too.  This one is...alright, but nothing more.  So many of these Films really have no interesting hook or Characters that you really like.  It's kind of a shame just how many of these are passable, but not much more.  Quantity over quality for the win!  The gimmick of the killer being in a bear suit makes it stand out a little, but obviously not that much.  After all, they wouldn't have rebranded the Film and held it for 2 years if it did!  The big problems is that the Characters really aren't that interesting or likable.  Our Lead is juggling two women and never has a real moment of comeuppance for it.  Sure, he's stabbed, but everyone else is too- plus they actually die.  I guess I just want the inexplicable ending of Pieces to happen to him.  The whole thing hinges upon a really dumb twist.  The only way it works is by literally withholding information from the audience- not good.  The other big thing is how they used Hal Holbrook.  The fact that his part is so disconnected- he shares one Scene with other Actors- that it makes the Movie look cheaper than it would have without him.  Was it worth it?  I went a long time without thinking about this- until someone mentioned it on Facebook- and probably will again pretty soon.  Oh look- a wild Holbrook has appeared.  Catch him!

Next time, I actually do a Film from the 1970s.  Damn my easily distracted nature!  Stay tuned...