COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - 'GIRLS NITE OUT' (ARROW BLU RAY REVIEW)
Like many other horror fans, I can recall my first horror movie experience was with a slasher film. For me, it was JOHN CARPENTER’S HALLOWEEN. And in hindsight, no other slasher after that ever stood a chance. At the time I had no idea how revered HALLOWEEN already was, and that the first slasher movie I ever saw would be the best one of all time (IMO). So, I spent many years scouring video stores in strip malls and supermarkets looking for more. I don’t have the data to support any claim, but I would venture to guess that slasher films are one of the top 3 gateway genres to horror and it’s easy to see why. For those of you like me who are closer to 40 than you are 30 at this point, you will recall just how rampant slasher films were during our formative horror years.
As children of the mid-80s, we were birthed into an embarrassment of riches before we were old enough to appreciate it. Those of us who walked down the dark aisle of the horror section as youngsters will recall that the shelves were overrun with slasher films, and that’s not to mention some of the great films showing on cable channels like TNT and the premium movie channels like SHOWTIME and THE MOVIE CHANNEL. Suffice to say, it would be an impossible task to see them all.
Thankfully, we live in a day and age where companies are once again showering us with a plethora of slasher films that range from the god awful to the great. No stranger to this kind of fare, ARROW VIDEO bestows upon us slasher fans another forgotten early-80s college slasher, GIRLS NITE OUT. Thanks to MVD ENTERTAINMENT we were able to review this one for the crypt for its release on MAY 17, 2022.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The students of DeWitt University are preparing themselves for a night of fun and frolics in the form of an all-night scavenger hunt. Little do they know that they are in fact the ones being hunted… An unhinged assailant, disguised in the college’s goofy bear mascot outfit – and bearing knives for claws, two years before Freddy donned his famous gloves – is stalking the campus hellbent on carving up co-eds.
HOW IS IT?
My appreciation for slashers still persists to this day, even if my enjoyment of them varies. You see, the thing you don’t realize when you’re younger and you have all of these great movies in front of you is that not all of them are good. In fact, when it comes to slashers, the variance between bad and good is often a wide margin and not in favor of quality. Some of this is to be expected because motion pictures as a medium advances, as does the storytelling, to the extent that what worked before may not garner the same effect today. This is true with so many films across every genre with some rare examples of timelessness, and even that is debatable. In the case of GIRLS NITE OUT, everything just feels very average. Billed as a mashup-up between ANIMAL HOUSE and FRIDAY THE 13TH, it is clearly more of the former than the latter for the most part, minus the comedy. The cast of characters in this spends what seems like the entire time absolutely shitfaced, with the occasional interludes of murder. When watching older films I always try and account for the context of the time in which it was made. Considering this was released in 1982 it’s fair to say it was neither late nor early to the slasher party. It came out right around the time so many others were flocking to the scene in droves, much like how THE WALKING DEAD ushered in a slew of cheap zombie flicks to cash in on the trend. This could possibly explain just how by the numbers everything is about this.
One of the key ingredients to a slasher film, regardless of quality, is death scenes. Not all death scenes are created equal, though. The best ones provide enough setup to raise the tension and then know exactly when to wrap it up to keep the story going. GIRLS NITE OUT does provide some decent demises through the film's 97-minute runtime, but they are far from great because they all feel so rushed. It was a strange thing to reflect on because more often than not death scenes actually go on too long and not the opposite. In the case of GIRLS NITE OUT, it's the setup where things always feel rushed. The killer seems to appear rather quickly and dispatch his victims in just the same fashion, and the detriment it has to the scenes is noticeable. The scene pictured on the beautiful slipcover for example. The lack of good setup meant that when the killer attacked through the window there was no tension to set the scene, and in turn, no real impact from what should have been a good jump scare. Some of you are reading this and thinking, “yeah, but it’s a slasher film so what do you expect?”. I expect some fucking setup and then some slashing is what I expect, and I’m sorry for yelling. Anyways, the killer has a decent enough costume with the strangest looking bear mascot of all time, and despite some being overly misogynistic does have a few good moments. One, in particular, involves an attic death scene that is one of the longer, and more awkward ones. Rife with silliness like most slasher films tend to be, this one has an especially memorable one where the sheriff draws long hair over someone's picture to solve the mystery. It’s the kind of scene I’m not sure anyone took seriously in 1982, nor would anyone take it seriously today. I guess the silliness is to be expected though since it’s as much a part of the genre as masks and cutlery are. For slasher aficionados who have to see it, all this is an easy recommend as it’s better than it could’ve been, but for most others, this is a one-time watch and maybe one more when you forgot you saw it and pop it in again.
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
ARROW VIDEO has a helpful summary at the start of GIRLS NITE OUT regarding the restoration and print source quality. As is common with many films from this time, the original materials have not been given the kind of TLC we now know today is essential to preservation. Thankfully, the folks at ARROW VIDEO are absolute pros and do this kind of thing regularly. For this restoration, no pre-print materials (negatives) were available so ARROW had to use a few different 35mm release prints from the producer’s personal vaults.
The prints were scanned in 2K resolution, reviewed, and assembled with the highest quality sections. There are a few SD tape master clips intercut to make a new and complete restored master. GIRLS NITE OUT is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. While the print quality is noticeable in many parts it is never distracting and the final product is better than it could ever look considering what they had to work with. You can see some screen grabs below:
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
The soundtrack was sourced from the 35mm optical track and underwent a complete audio remastering. It is presented in mono sound with English subtitles. The soundtrack doesn’t really do a lot of work here, and most of the louder audio comes from the music in the party scenes. Again, it’s fine for a film like this and anything else considering the quality of the film as a whole would be overkill.
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
As is usual with the fine folks at ARROW VIDEO, they are not content to leave you with just a barebones release. Even obscure and forgotten slashers such as this have enough of a cult following to drudge up some good supplemental content. Not as jam-packed as other releases, the disc has a lot of new interviews with various members of the cast. The two I watched were Staying Alive: A Brand New Interview with Actress Julia Montgomery and Alone in the Dark: A Brand New Interview with Actress Lois Robbins. Both of these felt very similar in terms of tone and content with both actors speaking about how they got involved with the film, what it was like on set and fan reactions to the film over the years. Julia Montgomery’s interview is a good 10+ minutes longer than Lois’ and goes into a few other experiences in the horror genre that she had. These are nice and short, and for fans of the film, I’m sure a delight to get some insider perspective on the making. A full list of special features is below:
Brand new audio commentary with genre film critic/author Justin Kerswell and film historian/author Amanda Reyes
Staying Alive – a brand new video interview with actress Julia Montgomery
A Savage Mauling – a brand new video interview with actress Laura Summer
Alone in the Dark – a brand new video interview with actress Lois Robbins
It Was a Party! – a brand new video interview with actor Paul Christie
Love & Death – a brand new video interview with actors Lauren-Marie Taylor and John Didrichsen
Archival video interview with actress Julia Montgomery
The Scaremaker Alternate Title Card
Original Trailers
Reversible sleeve featuring original artwork and newly-commissioned artwork by Justin Osbourn
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michael Gingold
LAST RITES
GIRLS NITE OUT is an overwhelmingly average slasher film given the beyond average treatment that ARROW VIDEO does so well. Slasher enthusiasts will enjoy, everyone else, mileage will vary on the collegiate killer bear!
THE GORY DETAILS
GIRLS NITE OUT is out on MAY 17, 2022 from ARROW VIDEO in the US and CANADA!
Buy your copy via MVD ENTERTAINMENT or ARROW DIRECT
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