The Outing

source: The Outing

This movie sucks its not fun to watch. There are some funny parts but they are unintentional. Like when I saw the trailer for this movie as a kid back in the day, this movie seemed super scary and I was wary. Saw it as an adult and yeah it sucked. I guess they made movies in Texas back in the 80's like it was a real thing and I feel like this movie was filmed in the lone star state. Its has that 80's Texas feel. Also, as a kid I might have gone to the museum that is the location where this movie was filmed. If that is the case there is an awesome T-rex skull like right as you walk in. Its huge too, like a live T-rex would be killing motherf*ckers, so if you ever go to Huston check it out. Oh yeah acting was bad directing was bad lighting was sh*tty story was sh*tty you know the drill.

I was attracted to this film through the very pretty VHS box artwork which made it look like something different, something new. But the truth is that THE LAMP plays more like a typical '80s slasher than an actual monster movie. The standard plot can be categorised in two halves: the first has a build-up to the events; the killer is introduced; there are typical high school fights and stuff. The second half is the isolated group of teenagers having sex and getting killed. Just substitute the genie for a masked killer and you've got your Friday the 13th, you've got The Burning, and countless others. So did I like this film? Yes, I did. It's nothing above average of course, but it has a sense of fun and you have to give the makers credit for creating a mildly entertaining film on such a low budget (even the boom mike shows a couple of times). I liked watching this film because it's so bad. Actress Deborah Winters plays four characters and is the assistant producer, which gives you some idea of the home made feel to this film. There are lots of things to watch for, be it the stupid deaths or high school punks, or perhaps the genie himself, an absurd creation which looks like Yoda on steroids and is obviously being wheeled along on a trolley. If you like cheesy slasher movies then THE LAMP is for you. It's got all the right ingredients from nudity to gore to atrocious dialogue, which come together to make a satisfying, if not particularly tasty, meal. If you're into this genie lark then you might want to check out WISHMASTER, too.

A deadly and powerful evil genie terrorizes a handful of high school kids trapped inside a closed museum at night after it gets unleashed from its lamp. Director Tom Daley maintains a brisk pace throughout and makes good use of the central museum location. The cheesy gore, tacky (not so) special effects, plenty of laughably lousy acting from a lame no-name cast, Warren Chaney's silly script, an opera-singing security guard, and a giant hokey demon puppet all give this honey a certain lovably rinky-dink charm. Moreover, the murder set pieces are quite gruesome and imaginative, with the definite splatter highlights being when one hapless lass is attacked in a bathtub by a gaggle of poisonous snakes and a reanimated mummy biting a guy's throat out. Better still, three fetching females all bare their * in the name of leering exploitation. The attractive Andra St. Ivanyi makes a favorable impression with her winningly perky portrayal of the spunky heroine. The bouncy ooga-booga synthesizer score by Bruce Miller and Joel Rosenbaum hits the spirited shivery spot. Herbert Raditschnig's sound cinematography provides a neat polished look. A fun slice of prime low-budget junk.

Evil genie freed after years of captivity murders some teenagers having an overnight party in a museum. Good premise, let down by a routine script that transforms the film into a teenagers in danger picture. Poor performances, scant special effects, and sloppy editing don't help much either. Rated R; Rape, Graphic Nudity, Sexual Situations, Graphic Violence, Adult Themes, and Profanity.

One thing I have noticed about B movies over the years that are made in Texas by Texan filmmakers - they aren't very good. "The Outing" is one of the better Texan efforts I have seen, though that's really not saying that much. It did have a higher budget than usual, which results in a slicker and more expensive look, and also results in a variety of locations as well as a fairly impressive (for the budget) monster revealed at the very end. But is it worth sitting through the 70 or so minutes before the monster is revealed? Unfortunately, no. The movie boasts a number of problems. The acting ranges from mediocre to hammy, but the real problems with the movie are that (1) the movie moves at an extremely slow pace, and (2) the moments of horror come across as "soft", lacking bite and impact. Making matters worse for home viewers is that the DVD transfer uses an old tape master, which doesn't make the movie visually impressive. Believe me, I wanted to like this movie - I love a lot of independent horror movies - but this just didn't do it for me.

Not bad, seen it a couple of times. If you like splatter flicks with mediocre acting, watch this one. Those poor teens get to die in some pretty nasty ways.

There's no denying that The Lamp has its fair share of clichés and silliness but if you're a fan of the genre you can't help but love it. The story behind it is actually quite original and interesting, there's not many films out there about killer genies is there? And of course there's the typical "3 wishes" trap with the moral of be careful what you wish for (the girl at one point wishes her father was dead). The genie effects used at the end are ultra cheesy, but cool at the same time. I love the camera angles from the perspective of the genie as it floats along corridors. The best camera view is one that is apparently from 'inside' the lamp. Obviously they would have done this with a piece of red plastic over the screen, but it's still a cool trick. The deaths are decent, but weren't very gory (at least in the VHS version I watched). If you're a fan of slasher films, I would add this to your collection. It's unique in its own way and probably one of the only slasher films with a killer genie in it!

Teenagers spending the night in a museum are attacked by an evil genie intent on world destruction. A very creative idea ( remember this came out way before Wishmaster ), is given the standard 80's teen horror film treatment. But still isn't all the bad. The first half is so-so, but once there in the museum, it is nothing but good times from then on out. 7 out of 10.

I was worried that this film might be just an eighties version of the crappy nineties horror 'Wishmaster', but as it happens; it would have been a better film if it were. The problem with this film, ironically considering it's a trashy eighties horror film, is simply that it's boring. It starts out slow, and even when the rudimentary bunch of dumb teens start to get picked off, the film never really picks up. It's a shame really as the idea of an evil genie wreaking havoc is actually quite a good one, but this film just doesn't do it justice. The plot focuses on a magic lamp which is stolen from an old woman's house. The lamp ends up in a museum when the thieves are killed. When the museum curator's daughter is possessed, she invites a bunch of friends for fun and games in the museum basement, and everyone ends up coming a cropper. I can live with bad acting and nauseating dialogue, even crappy special effects...but the story needs to be good to compensate, and this film is far too simple. The genie itself looks about as scary as your average lump of plasticine, and while the film features a few moments of gory horror; overall, it's not good enough. The Lamp certainly doesn't come recommended.