Out Of The Dark
Back in the 80s, a LOT of low-budget filmmakers tried to do their version of the All-American slasher film, and most of them failed because of a pretentious attitude and / or they didn’t have the balls to push the genre as far as it could go. Thankfully, this 1989 entry in the sweepstakes overcomes much of that, even if it has it’s fair share of flaws. The plot concerns beautiful girls at a phone sex agency (remember those?) who are being called, then later stalked and murdered by a twisted psycho in a clown mask who calls himself Bobo. The cops suspect a young photographer (Cameron Dye) who is dating one of the employees (Lynn Danielson) and knows most of the girls by taking professional modeling and head shots of them for their potential careers, leading the two of them to have to clear his name by finding the real killer. As one views the film, it has to be noted that at times it is quite poorly directed, with cheesy sets, lighting, and the occasional spot of bad acting, but hardcore movie buffs will be entertained by seeing a number of name actors which make this film an all-star lineup by 80s b-movie standards: Karen Black (most recently Mama Firefly in House Of 1000 Corpses) is the boss of the agency who gets more torn up as the psycho claims the lives of each of her girls; Bud (Harold And Maude) Cort is the perverted accountant with an office next door who obviously lusts after the young ladies; 80s horror starlet Starr Andreef is the new girl at the agency who agrees to help the cops catch the nut; John Waters mainstay Divine (in his last role) has a cameo as a police detective on a related case; Geoffrey Lewis is a drunken photographer rival to the young hero; and there are cameos on hand for Lainie Kazan, Paul Bartel, and even Tab Hunter; but it is character acting legend Tracey Walter (best known as Bob The Goon from Burton’s Batman) who gets the best role of his career here as the hard-bitten cop investigating the case who ultimately brings the killer down. As one can see, this whodunit has a fair share of red herrings and potential bad guys and some cool twists in the story (like a brutal murder that MAY have been committed by a different killer), but in the end what’s it all about is the villain: Bobo is one of the most evil and easily most underrated slashers ever, a clear inspiration for the Ghostface Killer in the Scream franchise, only with a added twist of sexual perversion, as he calls the girls and says the sickest possible things to them before hunting them down and killing them. In short, he makes the film entertaining (in a demented way) and then there is that ending, where Bobo’s true identity and motives are revealed, leading up to one of the greatest and most spectacular denouements in the history of horror, which should be more than enough to satisfy any fan of the genre. In the end, one of the most entertaining of the straight to video, straight to cable movies of the era, and one whose DVD release is very long overdue…
9/10