A group of college kids are killed by someone wearing their school's bear mascot costume during a scavenger hunt go amok.

Girls Nite Out has a lot going for it, but the episodic story structure and ensemble cast end up hurting it more than making it stand out from its contemporaries. There are still some inspired moments and the killer's getup complete with pre-Freddy Krueger razor claws is inspired. The murders are usually scored with a string of hateful, deranged, and sexist phrases coming out of the killer's mouth which gives the film a sleazy and gross flair. The ending, while off the wall, is definitely not one you'll soon forget either.

Girls Nite Out probably doesn't get talked about as much as many of the other slasher films of the early 80's and for good reason. There's not a lot of suspense, many of the kills are unimaginative, and it never gives us a stable protagonist to root for.

It's much more of an ensemble film than anything else with the film's focus shifting from one person to the next as the coeds on a college campus are picked off one by one by a psycho in their school's bear mascot costume during a scavenger hunt.

A late in the game twist does redeem the film slightly and closes the film on a really creepy note, but by that point, it's a little too late to liven things up much. Hal Holbrook looks like he shot all of his scenes in one day and doesn't seem too happy about it.

The early '80s was a boom-time for slasher films, which is how a cheesy-kill fest like this one made it to the big screen. Girls Nite Out is about the average expectation of a low-budget 80's slasher.

It's a dark night at Dewitt College in rural Ohio. The basketball team is on cloud nine. The students are clowning (and fooling) around. The disk jokey is belting out golden oldies at the campus radio station. And a scavenger hunt as been planned for the evening. What could go wrong? Well... it seems that an insane man is loose, or is it someone else who is running around killing people in a bear suit? Yes, I typed bear suit. *Laugh here* Anyway, it seems that the scavenger search party may just be in danger of getting sliced.

Yep, business as usual in body count world - only this time there's little gore and no nudity. There's plenty of college kids goofing around though. Still, the young cast is energetic and likable enough to keep the movie from completely sinking and the murder scenes have a kind of amusing tongue-in-cheekness to them.

It's certainly not the best of the '80s slash boom, but it's not the worst either. It's worth a look, if only for laughs.

** out of ****