Out of the Dark
Out of the Dark
R | 05 May 1989 (USA)
Out of the Dark Trailers

A deranged killer wearing a clown mask begins preying on a group of young women working at a phone-sex company.

Reviews
jamie_likeskylie

I had wanted to see this move for awhile and finally found an old VHS copy for 50p. It started out as quite a promising cheap thriller with some interesting cameo appearances promised in the main titles (Divine, Tab Hunter, Lainie Kazan, etc -- all from the movie Lust In The Dust). The first two thirds of the movie were good but the last part really spoiled it with a ridiculous ending and a poorly handled twist. That said i'll probably watch it again one of these days. Incidentally, the 1992 cable movie Intimate Stranger starring Deborah Harry totally 'borrows' the beginning to this film, virtually scene for scene/word for word too. If you like this movie, you'll like that one too.

... View More
lost-in-limbo

A telephone sex service named "Suite Nothings" is being tormented by an insane killer, who knocks off the beautiful woman on the other end of the phone one by one, in many brutal ways. So now, one of the women and their boyfriend who is a prime suspect of these sex-related crimes by the police try to work who is this killer that hides behind a clown's mask with their twisted sense of humour. This leads them too so many unexpected clues and suspicious suspects, which just keep on popping up.Well, this is my second viewing of this film and it hasn't improved on my first one bit, but its mildly amusing despite we've seen it all before. What we got here is a reasonably sub-standard slasher with A LOT of sleaze, sex and added nastiness, with some very twisted humour along the way too. Although some things actually don't work, and you'll be snickering at how ridiculous certain set-ups are and how outrageous the violence is. Even the oh so many coincidences and why would you do that scenarios that crop up doesn't help either. Its main problem was that it took itself FAR to seriously in spots, making it funny in parts that it shouldn't have been. But then again, this is what really keeps you watching this particular film. I'm hoping its trying to be a parody on the sub-genre. Hold on, I almost forgot… a cheesy, but sometimes-erotic soundtrack helps you get into the 80's spirit! The actual plot has so many twists, turns and plenty of red herrings, with certain sub-plots being left up in the air and characters disappearing from on screen. Such as one of b-grades finest Karen Black, one of the film's strong points… her character just vanishes after the halfway point. This is why certain things you pick up don't make too much sense and why at times it tries to be a moving drama, then comedy and a sudden u-turn into horror. Please make your mind up! It just seems there was too much going on at times, which gave it a padded feel. When it finally comes to the outlandish climax the killer's identity is a real let down in my opinion. Overall, the killer was just too goofy and cracked too many lame one-liners.Fine performances from an exceptional b-cast (Cameron Dye, Bud Cort, Tracy Walter, Geoffery Lewis, Starr Andreeff, Paul Bartel, Tab Hunter). There was your occasional flat or eccentric performance and the cross dresser Divine makes a small cameo as a police detective. It's just that most of the characters were unlikeable and the dialogue that came from their mouths was shallow trite. The actual production wasn't too shabby and there were some well setup sequences. But where's was the suspense? Actually, what am I going on about? Oh right, it's a cheesy 80s slasher film.Overall, there's some fun to be had with it providing enough nudity and cheap violence, which you expect from this type of film.

... View More
ABBA84

I don't like this movie! There's too much sex scenes. If they took away some sex and put in some more plot it would be better. Friday the 13:th (1980) has enough sex and doesn't show too much. I think it ruined the movie for me. :) Bye!

... View More
Quetzl

Pretty standard stuff, serial killer dressed as clown terrorizes phone sex girls, yada yada yada. It is more unintentionally humorous than most though, and has some disturbing moments, so its not a complete waste. Also, it has Divine's last performance (not in drag!). Don't go out of your way to see it, but if you have friends over and need a laugh, you could do worse.

... View More