User reviews

Girls Nite Out probably doesn't get talked about as much as many of the other slasher films of the early 80's and for good reason. There's not a lot of suspense, many of the kills are unimaginative, and it never gives us a stable protagonist to root for.

It's much more of an ensemble film than anything else with the film's focus shifting from one person to the next as the coeds on a college campus are picked off one by one by a psycho in their school's bear mascot costume during a scavenger hunt.

A late in the game twist does redeem the film slightly and closes the film on a really creepy note, but by that point, it's a little too late to liven things up much. Hal Holbrook looks like he shot all of his scenes in one day and doesn't seem too happy about it.

The early '80s was a boom-time for slasher films, which is how a cheesy-kill fest like this one made it to the big screen. Girls Nite Out is about the average expectation of a low-budget 80's slasher.

It's a dark night at Dewitt College in rural Ohio. The basketball team is on cloud nine. The students are clowning (and fooling) around. The disk jokey is belting out golden oldies at the campus radio station. And a scavenger hunt as been planned for the evening. What could go wrong? Well... it seems that an insane man is loose, or is it someone else who is running around killing people in a bear suit? Yes, I typed bear suit. *Laugh here* Anyway, it seems that the scavenger search party may just be in danger of getting sliced.

Yep, business as usual in body count world - only this time there's little gore and no nudity. There's plenty of college kids goofing around though. Still, the young cast is energetic and likable enough to keep the movie from completely sinking and the murder scenes have a kind of amusing tongue-in-cheekness to them.

It's certainly not the best of the '80s slash boom, but it's not the worst either. It's worth a look, if only for laughs.

** out of ****

A pretty by-the-numbers slasher entry from the early '80's. A maniac in a bear suit with steak knives for claws (Freddy?) prowls around a college campus on the night of a coed scavenger hunt. There's a small body-count, a really dumb ending and a little blood. The film is pretty dark-looking, but there are some good atmospheric shots, and the acting is above average for this type of film. The story moves fast enough, but the murder scenes seem poorly executed, leaving little to offer slasher fans. The bear costume is original though. Too bad the ending is incredibly stupid (that dubbed-in voice just does not work). Features a few messy neck shreddings, but little else. Two Stars.

Great dialogue there coming from David Halbrook's character. Wait a minute, HAL Holbrook plays the security guard in this movie. I wonder how that happened? Actually, I found it very funny that in practically every scene Hal Holbrook is in he doesn't appear in the same shot with any other character, like he shot all his scenes in one day and they edited him in where needed. I gave this movie a 1. There is no suspense, the killings look stupid, there are no characters to care about, it's just a mess. Julia Montgomery looked better at the bottom of a pie in Revenge of the Nerds. They even put in an interrogation/flashback sequence to fill the audience in on events we witnessed just 20 MINUTES AGO. I fast forwarded through the last half hour just so I could find out who the killer was. . .What a waste of time. OK, the bear suit was cool.

I remember back in high school, there was an English teacher who flunked me once because I deliberately spelled "night" as "nite" in an essay. I wish I knew about the existence of "Girls Nite Out" back then already, so that I could have told him even films use this spelling. Anyways, right after winning a high-school basketball match, the whole insufferable cast of teenage dorks is preparing for a big house party. Imagine yourself the type of flamboyant and outrageous party where the deejay plays irresistible hits like "Yummy, yummy, Yummy, I've got love in my tummy" and where the loudest, most annoying guy of the bunch tells eerie stories to petrify the girls. He tells about Dickie Cavanaugh, a former war veteran who went bonkers, killed a local girl and got put away in the loony bin. Naturally the killer escapes right in time to join the fun, as the very next day the school's famous annual scavenger hunt contest kicks off. The killer wears the basketball team mascot suit – a bear – and ingeniously replaced the fake plastic claws with genuine knives. He also phones the school radio whenever he makes a kill. The school's security guard is the father of crazy Dickie's very first murder victim and he's no less than Hal Holbrook! It's quite an accomplishment for a film like this to cast Hal Holbrook! Whoo! I really can't be too harsh on "Girls Nite Out", actually, because it's full of good intentions and potentially interesting ideas. The scavenger hunt sub plot, for example, is imaginative and the killer's outfit is hilarious. It's a bloke in a bear suit coming gruesome murders! How awesome is that? Makes you think differently of all those people in Disneyland and other theme parks, doesn't it? Ever wondered there could be psychopaths underneath those smiling, friendly faces?

Well, I came across this little number in Greenwich at the Exchange shop and although the sleeve was an awfully painted picture that "bears" little to no resemblence to any scene in the film I thought I'd pay the £3 and give it a twirl. I'm glad I did. It's good little slasher flick compared to most of the low budget teen horrors of the time. The plot is a little thin as are the not-so-special effects and the killer's stupid costume, but all this adds to the charm. It's the kind of film you'd get from the video man on a friday night and watch with your cousins. And there's loads of almost familar faces that we've all seen in horror films from the era including "Vicky" from "Friday The 13th Part 2". Watchable if you can actually find this title anywhere anymore.

I had high hopes for this slasher flick after learning that the killer wears a bear suit. Afterall, there's not many slasher flicks out there where the killer wears a bear suit is there? However, Girls Nite Out is very dull and nothing much seems to happen. There's a few nice death scenes, but they are spread out too much and there's loads of boring scenes in-between. The outside scene in the trees is quite good, especially the part where the killer attacks the girl in the cabin. The ending is one of those that makes you think "huh?" - I imagine the film makers thought it was clever - but really it was just silly.

If you're a slasher completist then you may want to seek this out, but for anyone looking for an Entertaining Nite In - avoid it.

After reading the reviews here on the imdb for this movie, I feel I have to step in the redress the balance somewhat! Sure, this isn't "Gladiator" but it's one of the better teen slashers from the eighties and doesn't deserve the mauling it's received here.

The plot - a menacing killer picking off university co-eds during a scavenger hunt - is just a credible as the more popular storylines in slashers like "Prom Night" and "Friday The 13th" and the direction from Robert Deubel generates many decent jolts and suspense. Everything moves at an entertaining pace upto a satisfying finale with a neat little twist.

I'm a big fan of these campus slasher pics - other fine examples being "Final Exam" and "Graduation Day" - and, for me, this was one of the best ones from the eighties. It may look a little dated now we've seen the "Scream"s and "I Know.."s of the late nineties but I'm sure most fans of this nifty horror subgenre will enjoy. Recommended.

**** / *****

If you were to tell me that there was a slasher movie out there where the killer worse a bear mascot suit with Freddy Krueger claws and shouting obscenities every time they killed, I'd have said "that sounds ridiculous." Yet, here I am having just watched Girls Nite Out and, sure enough, that's exactly how the killer in this looks and behaves.

It should be silly. It should be campy. It should be ridiculous. And yet...somehow...it's surprisingly effective. Maybe it's the gritty film stock and low lighting. Maybe its the mostly naturalistic performances. Maybe its the genuinely unnerving final 5 minutes. I'm not sure what it is, but it works.

Girls Nite Out is light on plot and is in desperate need of a main character. Most of the time, the film cuts from one person to the next as if we're watching a series of random vignettes. The usual "final girl" trope is thrown out for the most part and it seems as if the last ones standing are only doing so because the writer threw darts at all the characters.

There's an odd vibe running throughout Girls Nite Out that's hard to shake off. It has moments that are almost bafflingly unnerving and there's a mean streak a mile wide. That's certainly enough to separate itself from some of the other slashers from around the same time.

Set at Dewitt University, a small Ohio college, this one starts out as a routine drama after a basketball game which Dewitt U wins the title cup. Afterwards, the first 30 or more minutes has the guys of the team partying, drinking, talking and talking with their co-ed girlfriends, etc. Then, an unseen killer, posing as the mascot for the basketball team, begins stalking and killing a number of young girls from the cheerleading squad. Mostly riping their throats out with a hand-made 'claw' in one of the paws made from kitchen knifes. Meanwhile, Mac (Hal Holbrook) is the campus security guard, looking very puzzled to what's going on, who wades through a series of red herrings.

Not the best of the early 1980's slasher flicks, with the bear costume the only original thing about this one. Worth a look for horror fans, with some nice touches to the low-budget.

Contents: seven killings; inferior slaughter; one psycho in a bearsuit; no sex or nudity; lots of Golden Oldies on the soundtrack; much duller and dumber than usual. Note: proper punctuation is not all this one is missing.

Frat brothers and Sorority sisters prove to be claw fodder for a serial killer dressed in the basketball team's bear mascot suit. See, at DeWitt college a few decades ago a dude killed a girl after he got jealous and said dude apparently just broke out of a mental hospital. So now Lynn (Julie Montgomery of REVENGE OF THE NERDS) has to deal with a killer and a cheating boyfriend. Thankfully, security guard MacVey (Hal Holbrook...no really, Hal Holbrook!) is on the case and it has special meaning to him as it was his daughter killed years prior.

This is a pretty tame slasher entry. Originally shot in 82, it didn't see release until 1984 and it sorely lacks the requirements of the genre at the time (remember this was going up against heavy hitters like Friday THE 13th: THE FINAL CHAPTER). Even worse, the main characters are so annoying that you want the killer to off them. The attempt at mystery is a bust as you'll guess the killer when they say a key line and then disappear for a majority of the running time. The oddest thing about this is seeing freakin' Hal Holbrook here. His stuff was obviously shot solo and quickly as he appears with no other major characters in the same frame, but they manage to space his character out over the entire movie. I would love to hear how he got involved in this. Hal's son David - who is a dead ringer for Hal except chunkier - has a larger role as one of the suspects.

Girls Nite Out is one of those films that could have great if just a few extra touches would have been used. The acting is good for the most part, Hal Holbrook solidifies the cast as a stern campus security head. The story is fair, nothing you haven't seen in a horror film a million times. The look and atmosphere of the film is very good. With alittle less stupid comedy, some more graphic killing (eye gougings, decapitation, gut spilling), alittle more suspense leading up to each killing, and an overhauled ending, this could have been a real winner. Pass on this one unless you just want to see it for the 80's campus nostalgia. Oh yeah, the whole film is chock full of the worst mind numbing oldies music, UUUGGGHHH!!!

There wasn't exactly a shortage of slashers in the eighties, and consequently a lot of the non-memorable ones are just there to bulk out the numbers. This is one such film. Girls Nite Out is yet another slasher flick that takes place on a school campus, and as such; all the characters in the film are your common set of teens. I couldn't detect much comedy in the film, which is odd because the killer is one of the most ridiculous I've ever seen, in that he goes around slashing people while wearing a giant bear suit! There's a bit of decent gore, but it's not nearly enough to mask the drivel of the rest of the film. Strangely, considering that the main characters are all teenagers, there's not a great deal of sex and director Robert Deubel generally fails to create any atmosphere or generate any suspense at every interval. Of course, the fact that the film works from a poor script that doesn't deliver any characters that we can care about has a lot to do with the film's lack of suspense. Overall, Girls Nite Out is not a slasher worth tracking down, and should be actively avoided!

A group of college kids are killed by someone wearing their school's bear mascot costume during a scavenger hunt go amok.

Girls Nite Out has a lot going for it, but the episodic story structure and ensemble cast end up hurting it more than making it stand out from its contemporaries. There are still some inspired moments and the killer's getup complete with pre-Freddy Krueger razor claws is inspired. The murders are usually scored with a string of hateful, deranged, and sexist phrases coming out of the killer's mouth which gives the film a sleazy and gross flair. The ending, while off the wall, is definitely not one you'll soon forget either.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Girls Nite Out; before launching into my critique, here's a breakdown of my ratings:

Story - 1.00 Direction - 1.00 Pace - 1.00 Acting - 1.00 Enjoyment - 1.25

TOTAL - 5.25 out of 10

When I saw Hal Holbrook and Rutanya Alda on the roll call, I was hoping and praying this would be better than the usual slasher flicks. Sadly, it wasn't. Girls Nite Out has slasher mediocrity running through its veins.

The story is the worst perpetrator for this lacklustre approach. By 1982 writers were already starting to regurgitate others' ideas as their own. Refreshing the repetition was usually done by adding appealing characters and an absorbing storyline. Sadly, the writers of this University murderer did neither, causing the story to grow staler with every scene. Albeit, I have to pay respect to a few of the characterisations. Hagen and Dancer are superb. These guys are the Bill and Ted of their time. Clever and witty repartee that is timed and delivered with perfection. Well-written and performed vigorously. There are a couple of similar scenes between Teddy and Maniac. Regrettably, the remainder of the comedic dialogue gets weighed down with stereotypical college humour.

The director also takes the road most travelled, though it's littered with infrequent glimmers of hope. We have the standard shots such as the close-up of feet walking, a gloved hand holding a deadly weapon ominously, and a few jump scares. But then he slips in the murder victim reveal, and two of these are noteworthy - The hanged woman in the showers, the way the killer has trussed her up is ingenious, and the slashed teen in the belfry, the way the body is displayed is chilling. Even with these shining moments, the film doesn't lift itself out of the quagmire of averageness. The director even tries to vary the flow of the picture. At its worst, it's too slow, and at its best, it's only a smidgen faster. That, along with the banal college clowning, gives too many scenes the feeling of being overlong and tedious.

The cast is okay, but none are outstanding, not even Holbrook or Alda. In fact, there's one particular scene where Alda is truly terrible. The other performers range from mediocre to agreeable.

All of which produce an average film, worthy of one viewing - But only if there's nowt else on the telly. Girls Nite Out, like so many films of this ilk, could have been better. More was needed, but less was given.

Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chiller list to see where I ranked Girls Nite Out.

Take Care & Stay Well.

At a college in Westerville, Ohio, bodies start mounting up during an all-night scavenger hunt for the female students in which the killer is dressed in the mascot costume. Hal Holbrook is on hand as the chief security guard.

"Girls Nite Out" (1982) is a slasher in the mold of "Final Exam" and "Happy Birthday to Me" from the year prior, which were two of the first slashers to take place at a college campus (or prep school in the latter case), not counting "Black Christmas" (1974), which focused on a sorority house. The milieu is similar to the contemporaneous "Pieces," a Euro-slasher. These flicks paved the way for college slashers of the future, such as the "Urban Legends" trilogy (1998, 2000 & 2005).

The production values are superior to "Final Exam" and about on par with, say, "Silent Night, Bloody Night" (1972). The no-name cast are surprisingly good with zesty performances, verging on over-the-top, which I chalked up to youthful enthusiasm after winning a big basketball game.

The female cast is fine (for example, Julia Montgomery as Lynn and Suzanne Barnes as Dawn), but the director evidently didn't know how to shoot women (not talkin' 'bout nudity or sleaze).

Despite being a bit obscure, this is a decent early 80's slasher. But, for some strange reason, the story didn't pull me in, like with the other ones mentioned. I also had a hard time distinguishing some of the key characters. It's okay, though, and certainly worth checking out for aficionados of the genre.

The film runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot at Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey, and Dobbs Ferry, New York.

GRADE: B-/C+

Students at Dewitt University are all getting ready for the annual all night Scavenger Hunt unaware a psycho dressed as the bear mascot and armed with a fist full of steak knives is stalking the young ladies of Dewitt. It sounds like such a simple premise, but director Robert Deubel gives the viewer so much more than a slasher. Severe overacting, bad dialog, unlikable characters, and the lack of a central heroic figure turns a routine slasher into a garbled mess. I suppose the director tried breaking new ground by throwing away most of the Slasher formula unfortunately he threw away the parts that make slasher films great.

The first thirty minutes is more soap opera than slasher. Guys complain about their girlfriends, girls brag about screwing other guys. Far too much screen time is given to characters that vanish midway into the film. The middle section focuses on the killer stalking the girls while on the scavenger hunt. One can tell the hunt is a big event because there are five, count'em, five girls involved. The bear costume is rubbish and the third act plays like a police procedural. Drag in the red herrings, ask them a question, then show flashbacks while they answer.

Hal Holbrook literally "phones" in his performance. He spends most of his screen time behind a desk clutching a receiver instead of patrolling the campus. His son, David Holbrook, plays red herring #3. David growls and stomps through his scenes. Lauren-Marie (Friday the 13th Part 2) Taylor is a welcome sight as one of the bad girls, but fans might cringe when she brags about having great sex with her cousin. Her line "It hurts when I sit down." is one of the worst in the film.

All in all I found this movie quite disappointing, no nudity which didn't really bother me, no gore, low on suspense and plus there is no final girl showdown with the killer a first in the slasher genre which I find a major letdown and what we're left with is a totally stupid ending which kind went out with a whimper instead of a bang. I suppose only die hard Slasher movie fans will want to watch this.

"Girls Nite Out" focuses on an isolated Ohio college campus where a group of cheerleaders are preparing for an annual all-night sorority scavenger hunt after the university's victory basketball game. What would be a fun evening for these young women is everything but when a killer dressed in the school's mascot bear suit is stalking and murdering them throughout the night, and the suspicious death of a local asylum patient and former student has the campus security guard (Hal Holbrook) on high lookout.

I had been curious about this film for a long time, and when I finally decided to get a hold of it, my expectations were low due to an overwhelming amount of negative reviews on the internet. While the title "Girls Nite Out" doesn't exactly paint this movie as a class act, I was extremely surprised at how "usual" the film was in terms of slasher protocol, and un-trashy it actually was. I went in expecting something along the lines of "Slumber Party Massacre", and ended up getting a film that had more in common with "Friday the 13th" and "Prom Night" than anything else.

Despite its little-known reputation and apparent sleaze cinema status, the film benefits greatly from slick production values, decent camera work, and surprisingly good acting. Add to that list a handful of unexpectedly bloody murder scenes at the hands of a bear mascot (wielding multiple claw-knives in hand, ala Freddy Krueger, no less), and this is actually a well-rounded slasher movie.

Despite the film's quality production, I think what makes "Girls Nite Out" most unique (and successful) is the killer himself. The bear suit, which might sound corny if you haven't seen it, is actually quite eerie. With large, yellow/green cartoonish eyes, the image of it lurking around the campus is actually really terrifying. Of course, the girls all think that it's the jokester mascot who they know all too well, and that dramatic irony adds a sense of tension to the confrontation scenes. The dark college campus is a perfect setting for the film, and the accompanying score provides heavy doses of unease.

While the film is actually something of a slow burner (the first murder doesn't take place until a good 45 minutes into the film, and the first act is made up of college kid charades which gives the audience a little time to understand the characters, and the writers to flesh out a couple of infidelity subplots), the murder sequences are a payoff for slice-and-dice horror fans. The second murder actually caught me off guard by how graphic it was, and the fact that the killer screams at the female victims, calling them "sluts" and "whores" while digging serrated knives into their necks is pretty disturbing. Like I said before, some of the scenes are surprisingly bloody, while a couple of others are suggestive rather than gratuitous (namely the scene in the chapel attic), but they are all equally effective.

As I mentioned before, the acting in this film is surprisingly good, especially for a movie of this calibre. Hal Holbrook plays a stern campus cop, and the rest of the cast is fleshed out by a group of lively college-aged kids who are more believable than they need to be in an '80s slasher flick. The only real quip I have with the film is that it loses a focal point near the end— in fact, it's hard to tell if it had one in the first place. There are a lot of characters and the script keeps the audience well-acquainted with several of them, but it's difficult to pinpoint a central protagonist, which is mildly problematic once the police and investigators enter the film in the last half hour to try and solve the murders. That said, the absence of one discernible protagonist eliminates the clichéd "final girl", so there is equal playing ground.

The reveal at the end of the film is slightly anticlimactic, but besides that is actually well-handled and bizarre, and greatly acted by the villain (whom I'm not going to name). The final frame of the film is definitely up there as far as "creepy endings" go. Overall, "Girls Nite Out" is overlooked and underrated among its counterparts, and is a lot better than it should be and a hell of a lot better than its reputation. If you like slasher films and appreciate the genre, then give this one a go. 8/10.

No pun intended - the original title was supposed to be Scaremaker. I don't think that would have been a good idea. On the other hand I imagine going with a killer dressed the way the killer is in the movie ... well probably did sound like a mad idea too. And yet they went for and with it. And why not you may ask. They did the right thing I reckon.

Also predating Nightmare on Elm Street (or Edward for that matter) you did have blades ... Wolverine probably did exist back then, right? I am not as comic book savvy to know the answer, but I would imagine he existed. Anyway, that is not the point. The point is, the movie really set a few things or made others aware of them. While it also build on psycho-logy that already existed (sorry for the pun, I just had to).

An odd movie that has not aged particularly well in some regards - a more woke and sensible generation surely will have issues with certain sexual and non-sexual depictions - especially when it comes to how women are treated. If you can cut this some slack (enough to "enjoy" the madness of the movie), you should be ok. It is not about absolving the movie or the makers. It is about recognizing when it was made and what the status quo was back then ... we've come a long way. But we still have a long way to go - just remember that. Also this is just a movie ... a horror movie at that.