Out of the Dark

OUT OF THE DARK (1988) is one of the more forgettable slashers out there and it's not one you hear discussed much which is hardly surprising. The setting is a phone sex centre, where the female employees find themselves menaced by a caller who fancies him self as Bobo the Clown and uses a baseball bat to bump the women off one at a time.

This one veers more towards the erotic than the sinister, with lots of models stripping off and photo shoots that add nothing to the story and perfunctory kill scenes. They do cast old-timers Geoffrey Lewis and Karen Black for good measure, and the presence of an investigating cop adds police procedural flavour. But I found the clown's Freddy-style wisecracks and laughter ("It's time for Bobo!") more annoying than scary and the 'twist' ending is anything but.