The Outing - A Night at the Museum of Horrors

 The Outing
1987
Directed by Tom Daley
Written by Warren Chaney
Starring  Deborah Winters, James Huston & Andra St. Ivanyi

H.I.T. Films
Skouras Pictures
TMS Pictures

Rated R - Approx 87 Min


Taglines:
 - They're not coming back.
 - You'll Wish You Were Dead!
 - Don't say see you later... say goodbye.
 - It's no picnic.

 - Make a wish... if you dare.


Alternative Titles:
A Guardiã da Lâmpada Maldita (The Guardiant Lamp Curse)  Brazil
Lampa  (Lamp) Czech Republic
La lampara (The Lamp)   Spain
Το λυχναρι του δαιμονα  (The Lamp of Demons)   Greece
La lámpara    (The Lamp)   Peru

A Lâmpada do Terror  (The Lamp of Terror)   Portugal

"I never said I was a wizard with toast and coffee."
                                                           - Dr. Wallace


Most of the time when I review of a film, it's something that I am aware of already.  If nothing else I know a loose synopsis and have a general idea of what I might be in for.  Not so this time.  The Outing came as part of a four pack of horror movies from Shout Factory (The other three films being The Vagrant, What's the Matter with Helen? and The Godsend) and while I'm sure I may have heard the title once or twice, I had no idea what I was getting into.  Sure I could have read the synopsis on the back but I was feeling nostalgic for the old days.  So I watched it based solely on it's cover art.  Just like I used to do in the 80's.

Going to rob a house and only one guy brings any tools?

Ah, the lamp.  

The Outing may be more familiar to some of you under it's other moniker:  The Lamp.  After three thieves kill an old gypsy woman and steal a lamp that was hidden in a trunk in a wall, they are all killed off by the evil genie that resides inside.  The lamp is then moved to a museum and under the care of Dr. Wallace, the museums curator.  His daughter, Alex comes to visit and she finds an old bracelet that also belonged to the old woman and puts it on.  Unfortunately it binds her to the lamp and the genie and she can't get it off.

Possessed Alex sends the rest of the students on their way

Looks cozy, don't it?

The genie then possesses the girl and has her convince her friends to spend the night in the museum....which of course they do.  Much death ensues!  I've gotta say I had a lot of fun with this one.  For the price of admission you get reanimated corpses, flying spears, reanimated snakes and of course the evil genie himself.  The film doesn't skimp on the nudity either, giving a few scenes in which to ogle some nubile female flesh.

You know 90% of all household accidents occur in the bathroom....

.....yeah I've got nothing.

The characters are (as usual in this type of film) quite stereotypical but there are a few standouts, including the opera singing security guard and the two thugs that are also stalking our intrepid group of teens in the museum.  The thugs, one of which is Alex's ex-boyfriend and he's got a serious chip on his shoulder about the breakup.  Early in the film he tries to run her and her new beau off the road, then later slams her up against a locker, pulls a knife and throws racial slurs at the school principle.  Makes me wonder what the hell she was doing with him to begin with!

You ain't NEVER had a friend like me!

Midnight Cinephile Round-Up

Death Toll:  13!  Not too shabby!

Nude-O-Meter:  You flesh fiends will have some ogling to do on this flick!  Three pairs of breasts and a quick glimpse of some 80's bush!

Things That Go Bump In The Night:  Well, we've got the evil genie causing all kinda mayhem here.  We've also go undead gypsies, snakes and a re-animated mummified corpse.

Favorite Death
In this case I've got a tie between the recently murdered gypsy (she got a double sided ax to the head) pulling down the thief and slicing his head on the other end of the ax that's still stuck in her head, and the re-animated mummified corpse who sits up and bites a dudes throat.  Both are pretty awesome death scenes!

Talk about evil dead!

Final Thoughts
Like I had said before, I went into this one with no preconceived notions of what the movies was going to be.  It was quite fun to go into this completely blind and enjoy the ride and I may try to start doing that more often.  As you can see from the final tally, there's much to like here for the horror fan and the Three B's (Blood, Boobs & Beasts) are well covered!  If you're in the mood for a campy, slightly sleazy flick with some decent bloodshed, then check out The Outing!  Apparently in the UK release (which goes under The Lamp moniker) there is a different opening sequence that was cut out of subsequent releases.

Final Rating
Three out of Five Pizza Rolls