COMA (1978)

Tense medical thriller about a doctor (Genevieve Bujold) who starts to notice strange things going on at her hospital.  It seems that an unusual number of healthy people are going into a coma after seemingly normal procedures.  Any efforts to investigate or take the matter up with the hospital management are met with resistance.  She then starts investigating on her own.

COMA is a very well-made film.  It looks great and the acting by the impressive cast is top-notch, the only thing that threw me off was why didn't Genevieve's character ever contact the police or even a local news station or newspaper?

COMA fits in well with other paranoia films of the time (THE STEPFORD WIVES, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS), but unlike those films (where the main victim was pretty much helpless or unaware) the victim here has many, many chances to contact outside help.  Other than that aspect, I liked the film and found the story idea to be really creepy.  Worth watching for fans of 1970's Cinema.

Pointless observation: If you look up the location of the Jefferson Institute on Google Maps (191 Spring St. Lexington, Massachusetts), as of August 2020, they really fixed up that building to look way less sinister and creepy.  Lots of new windows and a new outdoor sitting area. They even got rid of that awful pointy curb that people were probably blowing their tires out on.

Camera crew in reflection.

 

GIRLS NITE OUT (1982)

Rough around the edges, low-budget slasher set on a college campus about a serial killer that's stalking coeds during a lame radio station sponsored scavenger hunt...while wearing a bear costume.  That might sound silly, but it's not too bad.  Better than that shitty poster above would lead you to believe. The kills come at a brisk enough pace, there's a bunch of different characters and their behavior is so wacky that it's hard not to be entertained.  Sadly though there's zero nudity or overly gruesome kills.  Most of the violence is suggested or done completely off screen.

Another bizarre touch (besides the bear suit) is the addition of Hal Holbrook who has pretty much zero interaction with the cast.  From what I've read, all of his scenes were shot in one day and then just edited into the movie!  Example: in the campus cafeteria some students are informed by the waitress that Hal paid for their food.  They look up and say thanks.  Cut to to a shot of Hal nodding his head.  Hahaha.

Your average movie watcher would probably hate GIRLS NITE OUT (it currently sits at 3.5/10 on IMBb), but i thought it had a certain charm to it and I wouldn't be against watching it again.  One unique thing I did notice was this film didn't have a Final Girl.  You don't see that very often.

Hey, it's that hot chick from THE BURNING.