Week 6 - Cyril & The Girls

One thing I like more than spending time with me (quality time) is time spent with the “cinema.” Certain things make one feel nice, like sugar and spice, and for me, this week, it was “Girls Nite Out.” The new film down at the Rialto.

An effortless twist and turn to a form one second away from repeating itself: the school slasher film.

Life springs anew from this gracious fountain. “Hollywood Lives!”

First off, let’s have a gander at that title: “Girls Nite Out.” Oh, Mrs. Margusson, my 2nd grade teacher, trying to teach me punctuation and sundries. How very, very wrong you were. She would have made this “Girls’ Night Out.” Even our spelling is insufficient. When a film can entertain and teach like this, well, there’s nowhere to go but up as far as I’m concerned.

This one has it all: men, women, killers, rock ‘n’ roll, Hal Holbrook, bear suits, drunks who teach us a thing or two about ourselves, David Holbrook, basketball, scavenger hunts, police procedurals and, dare I say it, all that jazz?!

What a thing this film is and all who sail on her!

Small college (or maybe a large one, it’s tough to say (part of the Wonder)) at the time of their annual Scavenger hunt. Several men and, yes, several women join in the reverie. What a time! I tell you!

We start with a basketball game and then one hell of a frat party! This is magic incarnate! My goodness! It’s a costumed frat party, too. As you can imagine, these are some of the most delightful outfits I’ve ever seen.

Well, not everything remains so delightful because one outfit is evil. It is not one of the costumes from the party...it is the basketball team’s mascot, the giant bear with the floppy, red tongue. Only now...it has big knives in its claws AND IT WANTS TO KILL YOU! My God! I’m thrilled writing these words!

I’ve noticed that he does spend much of his time going after the more “unclean” women. (Oh, I know all about that.) But, when he goes after the sweet young lady in the end he goes too far! He must be stopped.

Hal Holbrook and his son David, making an incredible debut, dance amongst the cast and themselves in a style I would describe as contrapuntal.

Rock music is an integral part. Its sepia-toned magic festers all.

Speaking of fester, let me mention evil. Because, this film ladles on a version of it that is just...wow! It’s almost too much! Wait a second...Sorry. I had to check to make sure I hadn’t said that about it earlier. Well, so what if I’ve used that phrase before? Folks, I like it!

Although, as I look back on what I wrote and think back on what I saw, I sense a new cinematic restructuring of definitions on the horizon. Here’s what I mean: In the past, the “unclean” men and women always die. To me it says, give it up when the time is right or not at all. The killers may be killers but they’re wonderfully moral which I love. In this, one interesting window is opened and the viewer is allowed to glance through...

Yes, the killer knocks off quite a few “unclean” women. But, the two women who do not get killed are, technically, “unclean.” First, there is the one blonde in bed with her basketball star boyfriend. Then, the other blonde who’s seen in bed with the first blonde’s basketball star boyfriend and whose stalking leads to the unmasking of the killer. By the rules, both should die. (&, let’s throw in Mr. Likes-The-Beds while we’re at it.) But, they don’t: all three live. They unmask the killer and (well, if you don’t want some of the ending ruined stop here, see the movie and get back to me)...

All right, everybody who doesn’t know the ending gone? Good.

Notice that the killer is unmasked, her twin brother is shown in the freezer and the film freeze frames and ends. Hmmm, interesting.

At first, the film seems to say “Hey, not all ‘unclean’ people have to die.” But, then, the movie ends right before the final attack from the killer. The normal procedure is to unmask at the beginning of or during the final chase. But, what about here? If the movie went on for 10 more minutes, would the trio die? Or only 1 or 2? (I would guess the 2nd blonde, if any.) But, it’s an interesting question: Should some of the “unclean” be allowed to live or not? The movie offers the question but does not begin to answer it. I think, we’ll have to wait for Tinsletown’s next missive to enlighten us. I’m unsure what to feel. Honestly, I am.