By Stephen Pytak 

     A slasher in a dancing bear suit stalks a group
of college kids in Ohio.
     One of them is Lauren-Marie Taylor, who played
"Vickie" in "Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)."
     And the on-campus security guard, played by
Hal Holbrook, suspects it's the same whack job who
killed his daughter some years back.
     That's the gist of "Girls Nite Out," which is 
basically just a run-of-the-mill psycho movie from the
early 1980s.
     The acting isn't so hot. I've seen high school plays 
that were better. Some scenes are hard to sit through,
especially ones featuring the male lead, "Teddy
(James Carroll)." A hot-shot, over confident 
college basketball player who's fooling around on
his hot doe-eyed girlfriend, he thinks he's funny. His
scenes are annoying. He should have been flayed.
But I think the killer only nicked 'em.
     This isn't a great slasher film by any means.
Sometimes it's got a so-bad-it's-good quality, but not
always. You could say "it sucks" and you wouldn't
be wrong. Taylor, Holbrook, the golden oldies on
the soundtrack and the killer in the bear suit are
the only reasons I still remember it.
     The story starts in a mental institution. One of the
inmates, the whack job who killed the security guard's
daughter,  hangs himself. At his interment, a
shadowy figure emerges and kills the grave diggers
with a shovel.
     This same mysterious figure finds its way onto the
campus of a small college in Ohio, where some 
students are playing scavenger hunt using clues 
provided by a local oldies dee jay. One by one they're 
led into attics and basements. And there waiting for
them is someone dressed up as the mascot of the
school basketball team, a brown Teddy bear with
big yellow eyes and drooping tongue. But the person
behind the mask isn't who they think it is.
     The killer in the bear suit is hilarious. It's the best
part of whole thing. And the psycho made claws for 
it using a set of steak knives. Nifty!
     There are a few jump scares that work all right.
There's also a twisted ending which is kind of 
chilling. 
     One thing the film attempts to do is develop its
young characters. There are a few subplots, which I 
think all involve screwing around. In the end it's all
fodder which is pretty boring and stupid.
     And there's no T&A, so perverts are out of luck.
     Taylor doesn't get much to do here except die. 
But fans of "Friday the 13th Part 2" will appreciate
her screen time.
      I'm not sure what Hal Holbrook is doing in this
film. His son, David, is in it too. Hal's a fine actor, 
but he's not given much to do. But he does get to 
have a show down with our killer. And that part's 
not too bad.
     I am glad however that Media Blasters has 
decided to release this film on DVD as part of "The
Slasher Collection," which is part of its Guilty
Pleasures division.
     The DVD features the trailer and an interview
with actress Julia Montgomery.
     If you're a fan of golden oldies, this flick's got
a lot of them. The radio station near the college,
WDBX, cranks out a slew of them. They include
classics from The Lovin' Spoonful, Ohio Express,
John Fred and The Playboy Band and more.
     In the credits, there is a song listing. But I don't
recall hearing some of those songs in the film, like 
"1,2,3 Red Light" by 1910 FruitGum Company.
If you're bored some night and curious, go to the
credits first, write down the songs listed and go on
a scavenger hunt of your own by keeping an ear out
to see if they're all in this flick.
     If you can't find "1,2,3 Red Light" either, let
me know.