A host of familiar genre faces including Hal Holbrook (Creepshow), Rutanya Alda (Amityville II: The Possession), Julia Montgomery (The Kindred) and Lauren-Marie Taylor (Friday the 13th Part 2) rounds out the cast of this gloriously mean-spirited slice from the slasher golden age, Girls Nite Out! 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. Originally released under the only marginally more appropriate title of The Scaremaker, Girls Nite Out is a decidedly singular slasher flick which comes on like a frenetic cross between Animal House and Friday the 13th – veering from jovial frat antics to jarringly disturbing scenes of the killer shrieking obscenities as he slices up his victims. On this nite out, no one is coming home!
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Video Quality
Girls Nite Out comes to Blu-Ray courtesy of Arrow Video in its original 1.85:1 that looks pretty decent, but due to the alleged quality of the source material we are lucky to have this one in high definition at all. The information accompanying this release states that the film was restored from the best available film elements, which were a selection of 35mm release prints from the producer’s personal vaults. These prints were scanned in 2K and assembled from the highest quality sections with some brief sections sourced from a SD tape master. While this is not ideal, Arrow is never less than forthright about the inconsistent quality which makes you forgive some of the shortcomings. As many cast members attest to in the supplements, this film has largely been forgotten over the years outside of some die hard slasher fans, but it is really great to see such effort put forth to make this presentation look as stable as possible.
The opening of the film is probably the roughest stretch in terms of quality, but things improve greatly after the first ten minutes or so. The natural grain remains intact and nicely resolved even in the face of some more coarse moments. This allows for a surprising amount of detail present with nice textures on the clothing and production design. The new transfer shows off a solid amount of depth to each environment. Of course, there are moments during the presentation that take a downturn in quality in terms of clarity, but things remain stable more than they don’t. Color temperature also runs a bit inconsistent, but not so much as to ruin the experience. Black levels are passable but some shadowy scenes struggle with crush and detail. The contrast is well defined, and print damage has been cleaned up quite a bit. Arrow Video has done some admirable work to rescue this one.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with a LPCM 1.0 mono track in the original English that thankfully holds up much better than the video side of things. The film is much more of a dialogue-driven affair than most slashers with only sporadic scenes of violence where the track gets a bit more active. This dialogue sounds very clear without music cues or sound effects drowning out important information. The film employs some creepy sound effects in the form of heavy breathing and steady footsteps that are given the appropriate presence within the mix. The score comes through well in relation to the competing sounds. This presentation mostly presents without damage or other unwanted issues as fidelity rarely falters. This disc provides optional English subtitles.
Special Features
The first-pressing of the Arrow Video Blu-Ray of Girls Nite Out includes a booklet featuring the essay “Can You Bear It?: The Story Of Girls Nite Out” by author Michael Gingold. This piece provides a great analysis and history of the film in the context of the slasher genre, its themes, the roles that each performer inhabits and more. The booklet also contains the details of the restoration. The on-disc special features are as follows:
- Audio Commentary: Genre film critic/author Justin Kerswell and film historian/author Amanda Reyes deliver a fun and informative commentary track in which they discusses the era in which this film was released, the mixing of the horror and comedic elements, how the film was marketed, the performances in the film, the tonal shifts within the film, how this feature connects stylistically to future works, the conflicting feelings about how things have aged and more. These two have a good rapport and work well with one another.
- Staying Alive: A 20-minute interview with actress Julia Montgomery in which she discusses her reasons for getting into acting, getting involved with Girls Nite Out, her favorite scenes to film, memories of her costars, issues she had with the marketing, the fun of shooting on location, the friendships she has formed while filming, the film’s cult following, her work on Revenge Of The Nerds and more.
- A Savage Mauling: A nearly 16-minute interview with actress Laura Summer in which she recalls memorable moments from the production, why it was so special to shoot in New York, the costume she wore at the party, memories of the ensemble, the cold reality of acting dead and more.
- Alone In The Dark: A nine-minute interview with actress Lois Robbins in which she jokes about how she secured her role, breaks down the personality of her character, awkward costumes, the creepy nature of shooting certain scenes, her appreciation for the film and more.
- It Was A Party!: A 21-minute interview with actor Paul Christie in which he talks about getting into performing, how he got involved with Girls Nite Out, his impression of his character, the fun he had on set with his costars, the unexpected audience interest in the film and more.
- Love & Death: A 17-minute video interview with actors Lauren-Marie Taylor and John Didrichsen, who got married after meeting on the set of Girls Nite Out, in which they recall auditioning for the film, the direction they received for their characters, improvised moments in the film, seeing the film during its initial run, what they think about the film now and more. It is nice to see these two bouncing off one another.
- Archival Interview: A seven-minute archival piece with Julia Montgomery in which she reflects upon her time shooting Girls Nite Out, making her parents proud, and more.
- Alternate Title Card: A nearly 30-second title card that goes under the alternate title of The Scaremaker.
- Original Trailers: This disc provides both The Scaremaker Trailer (2:52) and the Girls Nite Out Trailer (1:10).
Final Thoughts
Girls Nite Out is a slasher that attempts to lull you into a false sense of security with its college party backdrop where the interpersonal drama piques your interest. The trouble with this feature is that it rarely goes for broke when it comes to delivering the tenets of the genre: gore, sex and thrills. You don’t have to have all three of these to make a classic picture, but this one rarely quickens your pulse in any real way. The personal drama is fairly entertaining, but true slasher fans may feel this is not enough to justify the time spent with this one. Arrow Video has released a Blu-Ray featuring an admirable A/V presentation and a top-notch array of special features that really up the value of the overall package. Fans excited about otherwise forgotten slasher films will be excited to have this one more readily available.
Girls Nite Out is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Arrow Video has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.