One of the worst movies I've ever seen

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

"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.

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?

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.

Something about those 80's horror movies that gets me is the killer is almost always dressed in some animal costume. This movie is well worth a watch, but I wouldn't watch it again. The story line is dull and it took me three days in watch it in between stop and re-wind and play. But what I liked the most about this film is the reveling of the killers identity came as a surprise to me. It had you guessing and it wasn't predictable just who the killer could be; it could be a number of people in the film. I bought this movie mostly because of Hal Halbrook playing in it and I do enjoy a little cheesy acting in my 80's movies. It's a good movie for those into "Friday13th" type of movies but not worth it if you only have but so much money with you to rent videos at your local video store.