The story here is simple enough: on a college campus, coeds find their good-hearted fun, in the form of a scavenger hunt, hampered by the activities of a brutal killer who has murdered the basketball team's mascot, appropriated his goofy bear costume, and is using it to escape detection while slaughtering the participants. To add to that, there's a melodramatic sub plot about the killing of campus security head Jim MacVey's (Hal Holbrook) daughter once upon a time, which is going to prove to be important to the story later. Name actor Holbrook is clearly slumming here, and looks rather weary; his appearance certainly must have something to do with the fact that his son David is also in the movie playing the pivotal role of Mike Prior, a volatile athlete. But it is great novelty to see him here, and it's a treat to see the other adult actors, lovely Rutanya Alda as Barney (!), and her husband Richard Bright as the detective who shows up on the scene. Other familiar faces include some slasher alumni: Lauren-Marie Taylor ("Friday the 13th Part 2") and Carrick Glenn ("The Burning"), and of course ravishing lead Julia Montgomery was Betty Childs in "Revenge of the Nerds". The problem that this viewer has with this movie is that it gets a little tiresome after a while. Yes, it does have some things going for it: the addition of a scavenger hunt helps to create a somewhat playful approach, as well as the bear costume (it is a hoot to see a slasher villain wearing something like this), the soundtrack features golden oldies like "Summer in the City" and "Do You Believe in Magic", and the killer's weapon of choice automatically calls to mind the glove made famous by Freddy in "A Nightmare on Elm Street" two years later. There is some atmosphere and suspense and a little bit of gore. However, in order to get to this movie's good stuff, one has to sit through a lot of dopey comedy & tomfoolery, and emphasis on character relationships before the pacing picks up at all. The beginning is pretty good, but the ending, once our psycho's identity is revealed, is fairly abrupt and not altogether satisfying. At least the calls that this person places to both campus DJ Kaiser (Larry Mintz) and MacVey are good for major amusement. Underwhelming overall, but does have its moments here and there. Five out of 10.
Review of Girls Nite Out
