The Outing (film)

The Outing

Theatrical poster by Drew Struzan
Directed by Tom Daley
Warren Chaney (2nd Unit Director)
Produced by Warren Chaney
Written by Warren Chaney
Starring Deborah Winters
James Huston
Andra St. Ivanyi
Scott Bankston
Red Mitchell
Music by Bruce Miller
Joel Rosenbaum
Cinematography Herbert Raditschnig
Edited by Claudio M. Cutry
Distributed by Moviestore Entertainment
Release dates
  • September 11, 1987
Running time
 87 min
Country United States
Language English
Budget $3,700,000
Box office $34,000,000

The Outing is a 1987 horror film that is an edited and shortened version of the original motion picture, titled The Lamp. The picture was written and produced by Warren Chaney, directed by Tom Daley, and stars Deborah Winters and James Huston. The movie was filmed in Houston, Galveston, Texas and Los Angeles.[1][2][3]

The film as edited, concerns local teenagers who decide to spend the night in a museum. During this, an evil genie, or djinn, is released and possesses the body of the museum curator's daughter and hunts down the teenagers, who have now split up for various reasons. Other people are caught up in the murderous escapades as well.

The movie has gained a substantial cult following over the years.[4][5]

Plot

A young Arab woman is sleeping on her house when her bracelet falls from her ankle. A security officer is running from an unseen assailant when it corners him and kills him. years later, a group of rednecks including Faylene, Harley and Max break into a house owned by an elderly woman of Arabic origins. They stumble upon a magic lamp. they killed the old Arab woman by stabbing her with an axe to death. Faylene and Max stole the old woman's things while Harley was investigating the Lamp and he releases the genie. It possesses the dead body of the old woman, and while Harley looks at her she rises up and pulls Harley with the axe on her head killing him. Max was cut in to half on the pool when the genie pulls him down, Fayelene who failed to help Max, runs inside the house only to be strangled to death by the genie. Police investigators send the lamp to a museum along with an unusual bracelet found at the scene. The teenage daughter of the Museum's curator - Alex, finds the bracelet, puts it on and is unable to remove it. Afterwards, the bracelet seems to exert a strange power over her.

Alex and her high school history class take a field trip to the museum. Her teacher who dates the father after her mother's death, accompanies the group. Once at the museum, Alex stumbles across the lamp and inadvertently releases the genie. Under the influence of the creature, the girl convinces six of her close friends including Ted, Babs, Ross, Gwen and Terry, to slip away from the group and hide in the museum until closing time. Mike and Tony were following the group and waiting for them to be separated. Dr. Theo goes into the office, and the genie appears and kills him by levitating him into a spinning ceiling fan, which beheads him. Once the museum closes and night falls, Alex's friends return to the museum to spend the night there. the possessed Alex leads them down to the basement so they can sleep there, as Mike and Tony follows. now the plan was done, the genie releases into Alex's body and begins killing everyone inside the museum. As Bob the security guard checks the office, the body of Dr. Theo falls on him, as he panics, the spear tosses on him, impaling him on the glass cabinet.

The group then separated, Babs will took a shower while Ross escorts her, Gwen and Terry will go to a place for them to spend the night and Alex and Ted who stayed at the place. Mike and Tony barricade the door where Alex and Ted stayed. The genie then makes it way to the room where Ross was waiting, and kills him cutting him into half. Babs keeps taking a bath and calls Ross. The genie releases the jars full of venomous snakes, which bit the screaming Babs to death while taking a bath. Terry check the other couple and found them dead, while on panic a cobra makes its way into his pants which bit him. while alone, Gwen took the Thai dance costume, while dressing up, the door opens up and Mike and Tony who was wearing a scary costume tries to scare Gwen. The genie follows them and kills Tony by squeezing the iron mask on his head, follows by Mike where the mask horn he was wearing was tossed and impaled on his chest and a screaming Gwen was attacked by the genie. Alex and Ted hears Gwen's screams and tries to open the barricaded door. Alex unlocks the other door where she sees the dead bodies of her friends. Alex and ted make their way to Jeff's office and found out him dead. Dr.Wallace and Eve make their way to the museum, unknown to what is happening, the door suddenly opens allowing them to come inside but it immediately closes. Alex and Ted stumbles on a mummy where it bit Ted's hands and snaps his neck. Alex runs and found her dad and Eve on the hallway and suddenly the genie appears. they run down again to the basement where the genie follows. they barricaded themselves and closed all the doors for a shield, Dr.Wallace discovers in the museum curator which a translations of the earlier scientist has made which contains the words, "Destroy the lamp and destroy the Jinn!". they open a small opening and runs out of the museum, and they go into the woods where Alex's dad was killed and takes Eve. Alex makes her way again inside the museum and finds the lamp. she sets a fire and destroys the lamp there. After the genie was destroyed the bracelet falls by itself from her wrist. Eve then appears and was revealed to be alive, and comforts Alex. in the last scene, they make out of the museum but Alex has still predictions that the genie was not yet dead.

Cast

Reviews

The Outing's early reviews were unfavorable. Richard Harrington of the Washington Post said it was "stupid and senseless, and the special effects look as if they were shot on a family's weekly shopping budget."[6] The Boston Globe called it "a hokey loser".[7] However, in recent years The Outing has received more favorable reviews as the original picture, The Lamp, was discovered by American movie goers.[8][9]

Distribution

The original, The Lamp had a long distribution period in Europe, Asia and other overseas' markets. As of the first decade of the 21st Century, The Lamp remains in distribution. The edited and shorted version, The Outing, was distributed in the United States by The Movie Store (TMS).[10] The USA Network played the movie on a regular basis for several years after its release to television.

After the film's fall 1987 theatrical run, the movie was released on videocassette in the United States in 1988 by International Video Entertainment and in Canada by Cineplex Odeon. A DVD has been released in the United Kingdom, under its original title "The Lamp". The pre-certification British VHS version, released as "The Lamp" by Braveworld & IVS Video UK features a three minute pre-titles sequence with back story trimmed from the North American home video release, but a rape scene in the film is cut by 14 seconds .[11]

On August 20, 2013, Shout! Factory, under license from MGM Home Entertainment, will release the film for the first time on DVD in an All Night Horror Marathon Collection, with the films The Vagrant, The Godsend & What's The Matter With Helen? On July 14, 2015, Scream Factory will release it on Blu-ray for the first time; it will be bundled with The Godsend as a double feature.

References

  1. ↑ New York Times (Movies)
  2. ↑ Internet Movie Database
  3. ↑ InBaseline Database
  4. ↑ Theopolis Cinema (The Lamp)
  5. ↑ Horror Watch (Review)
  6. ↑ Richard Harrington (1987-09-05). "‘The Outing’ (R)". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  7. ↑ Michael Blowen (1987-12-05). "'THE OUTING' IS A HOKEY LOSER". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  8. ↑ Theopolis Cinema (The Lamp)
  9. ↑ Answers.com
  10. ↑ Internet Movie Database (The Movie Store)
  11. ↑ InBaseline Database

External links