It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I was attracted to this film through the very pretty VHS box artwork which made it look like something different, something new. But the truth is that THE LAMP plays more like a typical '80s slasher than an actual monster movie. The standard plot can be categorised in two halves: the first has a build-up to the events; the killer is introduced; there are typical high school fights and stuff. The second half is the isolated group of teenagers having sex and getting killed. Just substitute the genie for a masked killer and you've got your Friday the 13th, you've got The Burning, and countless others.So did I like this film? Yes, I did. It's nothing above average of course, but it has a sense of fun and you have to give the makers credit for creating a mildly entertaining film on such a low budget (even the boom mike shows a couple of times). I liked watching this film because it's so bad. Actress Deborah Winters plays four characters and is the assistant producer, which gives you some idea of the home made feel to this film. There are lots of things to watch for, be it the stupid deaths or high school punks, or perhaps the genie himself, an absurd creation which looks like Yoda on steroids and is obviously being wheeled along on a trolley. If you like cheesy slasher movies then THE LAMP is for you. It's got all the right ingredients from nudity to gore to atrocious dialogue, which come together to make a satisfying, if not particularly tasty, meal. If you're into this genie lark then you might want to check out WISHMASTER, too.

The mostly 'ho-hum' reviews here have me a little confused. Anybody looking for a cheesy-as-all-get-out 80s horror flick should scoop up THE OUTING without a second thought.We start with a bunch of white trash people with white trash names like Harley robbing this old lady. She's apparently absurdly rich, but the main thing they find is an ancient lamp (from Irag!). Obviously, the lamp has a genie in it, Harley unwittingly unleashes its angry power, and it kills him and his friends. The lamp is given to a local museum, where its dark powers are re-awakened by a stupid teenager. Add a group of stupid teenager's friends staying the night in the museum for a little bit of foolin' around, and we've got ourselves a great slasher set-up! Not only do we have a handful of great deaths here (we've got snake baths, death by ceiling fan and mummy zombies!), there's also a great deal of 80's absurdity. We've got a high school class that teaches its students about Vlad the Impaler and genies, security guards that sing opera instead of doing anything, and potentially the most d-baggy out of all '80s d-bags (they get in butterfly knife fights and are attempted rapists!).It's all just fantastic, and is fun from start to finish. The ending is a little head-scratching: the genie makes its first true appearance, finally grants the main character's "wish" she made a few days before, and then presents itself as unstoppable. But there's some Iraqi-speak on the lamp, and after a truly heart-poundingly suspenseful (kidding) scene with a computer translating the characters, it's revealed that the main girl has to (wait for it) destroy the lamp to kill the genie. Isn't that, like, the first thing you would try? Don't think I would've needed a translator to tell me that.So to wrap up, the whole thing's a lotta fun and I don't see any fan of 80s cheese having a bad time with THE OUTING.

Another overlooked horror from a period when horror was a not done. it's a strange flick because it was the director Tom Daley his first and last attempt to make a flick. On the other hand it doesn't contain big names it's even so that most of the actors only appeared in The Lamp. Only James Huston went further but not to mention as an actor and Red Mitchell who we can see in JFK (1991) sadly he died at the age of 33 in 1994 in a train/car collision. Was it bad, not really, it do has some good parts like a bath scene with snakes or a body been torn in two pieces in a swimming pool. The idea is okay with the Jinn and the mummy coming alive but it's the effect used that makes it out dated. It has the so typical cheap eighties effects that it sometimes is a bit ridiculous. But it also has a bit of nudity even some gratuitous by the first girl being killed running around with bouncing boobs. But I have also to say that I sometimes was a bit bored, the Jinn wasn't scary at all. It looked fine but when you work a Jinn and a magic lamp it becomes a bit Disney. Still, it has a proper release but is sold a bit pricey, still it's available on VHS. And don't be confused by it's second title The Outing which was also another flick from 1981 known as Scream. And not the Scream from Wes Craven. So watch out to hunt this that you have the correct flick. Gore 1/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

A group of teens decide to sneak into the museum run by Alex's (Andra St. Ivanyi) dad. What they don't know is that she is possessed by the spirit of an evil Djinn that arrived in magic lamp at the museum. That is about it for the plot of this Houston, TX lensed horror flick. The first ten minutes are pretty good and the final half hour is great. Unfortunately, the 50 minutes in between is pretty dull. The kids all looks like they are 25 or older, but director Tom Daley gives plenty of attention to the nudity and gore departments. The final manifestation of the Djinn is pretty impressive, as is the final hilarious product placement for Pepsi.