The Lamp (film)
Encyclopedia
The Lamp is a 1986 horror
parody film
written and produced by Warren Chaney
and directed by Tom Daley. It stars Deborah Winters
, James Huston
, Andra St. Ivani and Scott Bankston. The film was produced by HIT Films and released by Skouras Films
. The original movie from Skouras ran 104 minutes but for reasons unknown, the U.S. distributor, The Movie Store TMS, edited eighteen minutes from the film, changed it opening credits, altered the music track for an alternate title, The Outing (film)
, which was released the following year. This produced an essentially different film. The Lamp received favorable reviews in Europe
and Asia
however; The Outing (film)
reviews were slightly less so.
The Lamp and its altered version fared well in distribution and both were still in the marketplace
well into the 21st century. Each has received somewhat of a cult following in the years since their original distribution.
is a tall tale
steeped in mythology and exaggerated mayhem that parody slasher films of the 1990s. The picture opens on board a cargo ship
sailing from the Middle East
(Damascus
) bound for the old shipping seaport of Galveston, Texas
. On deck, dead sailors litter the planks. One crate that appears to have been ripped open from the inside indicates that it was bound for a Houston museum.
The silence of the fogbound night is broken by cries of pain near stairs leading into the ship’s hold. A young Arab
woman (Deborah Winters
), struggles to pull herself up the ship’s stairwell as a heavy booted man passes her by. As she raises her arm to stop him, jewels on a golden bracelet emit a faint tinkle and eerie glow before dropping from her wrist as she dies.
A ship’s captain
(Ron Shotola) rushes through scattered cargo and down the ship’s plank. He clings to a burlap wrapped package as he scurries along the dock and then stumbles into a heavy stack of crates. A peculiar sound like that of a cat mixed with a wolf’s growl causes the panicked man to spin around whereupon he recognizes the source of his fear. The camera cuts away as a massive amount of blood and gore splash across the cargo
crates.
Beside the Captain’s body is the unfurled burlap wrap stretching along the wooden plank walkway. At its end, lies an old lamp, reminiscent of the Arabian magic lamp stories of Aladdin
or Ali Baba
. However, this lamp conveys an appearance of evil rather than best wishes. Abruptly, tiny hands of a little girl enter the scene and remove the lamp. On her wrist is the shimmering tinkling bracelet.
The film’s setting dissolves to the early 1980s where the lamp is discovered by policemen investigating the murder of an elderly Arabic woman (Deborah Winters
) and three would be robbers. Inside the home, two officers, Detective
Adams (Blue Deckert) and Detective
Charles (Warren Chaney), investigate the crime scene. Charles spots the lamp, lifts it and peers inside. From the old lantern’s interior, a “presence” observes the two and begins traveling up the spout when Charles finding the lamp’s bright ruby insert, re-plugs the opening and tosses the object aside.
The antique lamp is transferred to the Houston Museum of Natural Science
along with the jeweled bracelet, found near the body of the murdered Arab
woman. Dr. Al Wallace (James Huston), the museum’s curator
and his assistant Dr. Theo Bressling (Danny D. Daniels), examine the lamp but are interrupted by Wallace’s teenage daughter Alex (Andra St. Ivanyi). Alex reminds her father of the upcoming Museum visit by her high school class the following day. When her father and Dr. Bressling leave for an administrative meeting, Alex is left alone with the lamp. She discovers the bracelet, admires it and tries it on. When she tries to remove it, she cannot. For the rest of the day and following morning she attempts to conceal the ornament under a long sleeve blouse.
Eve Ferrell (also portrayed by Deborah Winters
) is one of Alex’s teachers who dates her father on a regular basis. Eve takes her senior class on a field trip
to Dr. Wallace’s museum. Once at the museum, strange things ensue. The lamp summons Alex via her bracelet and when she enters her father’s office she discovers the lamp. As one under a “spell”, Alex rubs it causing the lamp's ruby insert to glow and twist in the small socket at the end of the lamp. She removes the insert whereupon she is met and overcome by the presence within the lamp.
Under the influence of the Lamp, Alex returns to the tour group. She suggests to her boyfriend, Ted Pinson (Scott Bankston) and other close friends that as a prank, the group hang back, hide and then spend the night in the museum. Her friends, Babs (Charity Merill) and her boyfriend Ross (Barry Coffing), agree as does Ted’s friend Terry (Raan Lewis) and his girlfriend, Gwen (Tracye Walker). Overhearing the plans are two not so friendly teens, Mike Daley and Tony Greco (Red Mitchell and André Chimène), the film teen ne'er-do-wells who decide they will do the same unbeknownst to the other kids.
Unexpectedly, abnormal events ensue as a giant tusk unexpectedly falls from its hanging perch, nearly impaling Eve Wallace. Dr. Bressling works on translating the Lamp’s inscriptions in his office when he us suddenly drawn upward into a ceiling fan that spins ever faster as he is pulled into the large steel blades.
Alex secretly escorts her friends to the museum’s basement as the class is leaving and shows them where to hide. Unknowingly, Mike and Tony follow them closely. Each of Alex’s friends have lied to their parents telling them they are spending the night with another of the group, thus creating a mass alibi.
The museum closes and night falls. The once familiar interiors appear to changes patterns and shapes within the dimly lit display halls of the giant structure. An operatic singing museum guard strolls the hallways singing the lyrics of Figaro from the Rossini opera
, The Marriage of Figaro
. When he checks Dr. Bressling’s office he finds the scientist’s body but is killed before the can push the alarm.
The teens separate by couples to different rooms and are no sooner hidden that one by one, each is killed by the Lamp’s presence in some inconceivable way. At one point, Mike and Tony accost Terry’s girlfriend Gwen when she is alone. During the attempted assault, a museum medieval mask worn by Tony as a joke tightens around his skull crushing him. Mike is slaughtered next and Gwen is left screaming as she faces an unknown death.
Alex and Ted discover their friends’ bodies and attempt to escape but find that all the museum’s entrances and exits are sealed. Ted is killed during the attempt.
Dr. Wallace has taken Eve to a nice restaurant and has just proposed marriage. Abruptly, both receive unexpected calls from parents and discover that Alex's friends never returned from the trip. The two decide the teens must have remained behind at the museum and leave to investigate.
At the museum, Alex desperately seeks to flee the galleries of horror. Her father and Eve arrive but cannot enter. At first, the entrance is locked but then a security switch inexplicably trips causing the doors to swing open. Both enter and encounter Alex who explains what has happened. Without warning, the lights dim as the unseen entity sweeps into the room in a swirl of green mist that takes the form of an ancient Jinn
or Genii. Dr. Wallace provides temporary distraction and leads everyone from the scene, escaping to a safe room for the museum’s most priceless relics. Once there, Wallace accesses his dead assistant’s computer files containing translations of the lamp’s writing. The father deciphers finally one of the lamp’s inscriptions, “Destroy the lamp to destroy the Jinn.”
The three attempt to escape via a small escape hatch as the Genii fractures successive steel doors. Wallace is killed in the escape as is Eve. However, Alex manages to reenter the building and rushes through the dark halls toward her father’s office. Once there, the daughter snatches the lamp and sprints toward the incinerator room. Alex and the Genii reach the incinerator simultaneously but before the Genii can stop her, Alex tosses the lamp into the fire destroying it. With its destruction, the Genii disintegrates causing the bracelet to drop from Alex’s wrist.
With the Jinn’s death, the museum lights brighten. A hand abruptly touches Alex’s shoulder startling her. It is Eve who explains, “The Genii left me when it realized that it was more important to stop you than kill me.”
Police cars, emergency vehicles and swirling helicopters crowd the museum’s entrance in the early morning hours as Eve leads a tearful Alex to a waiting squad car. As she enters the car she is startled to hear the sound of the bracelet’s tinkle. Alex turns toward the sound and observes truck drivers unloading tinkling glass bottles of soda for the museum’s vending machines. A look of dread and fear pass across Alex’s face as the frame freezes and the screen fades to closing credits
.
At the credit roll finale, the singing guard appears to complete the final musical refrain
of Figaro. As he sings the final note of the operatic song he takes a bow and the screen goes to black.
distributed the original film The Lamp, throughout the world except in the United States. Under a separate arrangement, The Movie Store (TMS) (now defunct) distributed the movie after cutting 18 minutes of its running time and changing its name from The Lamp to The Outing
. Both films appeared to fare well and enjoyed distribution lasting into the early years of the 21st Century. The Lamp continued in distribution in Europe
and Asia
through the end of the 21st century's first decade.
After both 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
.
An English speaking DVD was released uncut in Japan under its original title, The Lamp and a DVD was released in the United Kingdom, under its original title as well, but as of 2011, Lions Gate Home Entertainment has yet to announce any plans to release the film onto DVD for the United States
marketplace
.
in the United States
.
With passing years, each film has developed a cult following as viewers have had an increasing opportunity to view the original film. Anne Clark of Screen Times Magazine writing for Theiapolis Cinema said, "I must admit that it took me a second view to understand the brilliant humor in this film. This is of no fault of the filmmakers inasmuch as an opening 20-minutes of film is missing." She continues, "The screenplay written by Warren Chaney
is unique, clever and different. The film’s director, Tom Daley does a capable job enjoining actors to produce a satirically over-the-top performance. Cinematographer, Herbert Redichnick, keeps the mood dark and eerily creepy." Early 2000 viewers of the film appear to mirror early reviewers.
A NY Times movie user review from the Film Review Journal states, "Overall, this film is carried out in a rather sophisticated way so that the “parody humor” may elude those just looking for blood and lust. Yet the observant cannot help but notice the “over” ample supply of blood, violence and heavy body count. I suspect that with time, more viewers will come to understand and appreciate “The Outing” as one of the truly great cult classics of film history." But perhaps, Robert Mundo writing from Honolulu summarizes it best when he simply says, "A hidden gem of a movie if you are into the late 80s horror genre. The Europe version is much better." The hard core website, Oh the Horror wrote, “The Outing is proof that not all entertaining slasher films have been released on DVD yet.”
and in Los Angeles
and Marina del Rey, California
. Actor casting was carried out in Hollywood and locally in the Texas area.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
parody film
Parody film
A parody film is a comedy that satirizes other film genres or films. Although the genre is often overlooked, parody films are commonly profitable at the box office...
written and produced by Warren Chaney
Warren Chaney
Warren Herbert Chaney, Ph.D. is an American executive, author, filmmaker, behavioral scientist, entertainer, businessman and a pioneer in early television. In a career spanning four decades, Chaney wrote fifteen books, fourteen screenplays, and seventy-eight professional and nonprofessional...
and directed by Tom Daley. It stars Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters is an American actress and businesswoman. Winters is probably most remembered for her roles in Kotch, The People Next Door, Class of '44, and The Winds of War...
, James Huston
James Huston
James Huston was a Canadian typographer and journalist. Born in Quebec City, he was also a longtime member and subsequent President of the Institut canadien de Montréal....
, Andra St. Ivani and Scott Bankston. The film was produced by HIT Films and released by Skouras Films
Skouras Films
Skouras Films is an American movie distribution company. The original title of the company was Skouras Pictures. Distributed films include Blood Simple, Joey Breaker, Living on Tokyo Time, The Quiet Earth, and Apartment Zero....
. The original movie from Skouras ran 104 minutes but for reasons unknown, the U.S. distributor, The Movie Store TMS, edited eighteen minutes from the film, changed it opening credits, altered the music track for an alternate title, The Outing (film)
The Outing (film)
The Outing is a 1987 horror film that is an edited and shortend 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...
, which was released the following year. This produced an essentially different film. The Lamp received favorable reviews in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
however; The Outing (film)
The Outing (film)
The Outing is a 1987 horror film that is an edited and shortend 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...
reviews were slightly less so.
The Lamp and its altered version fared well in distribution and both were still in the marketplace
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
well into the 21st century. Each has received somewhat of a cult following in the years since their original distribution.
Plot
The Lamp’s introductory scenes suggest the filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
is a tall tale
Tall tale
A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some such stories are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories such as, "that fish was so big, why I tell ya', it nearly sank the boat when I pulled it in!" Other tall tales are completely...
steeped in mythology and exaggerated mayhem that parody slasher films of the 1990s. The picture opens on board a cargo ship
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
sailing from the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
(Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
) bound for the old shipping seaport of Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
. On deck, dead sailors litter the planks. One crate that appears to have been ripped open from the inside indicates that it was bound for a Houston museum.
The silence of the fogbound night is broken by cries of pain near stairs leading into the ship’s hold. A young Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
woman (Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters is an American actress and businesswoman. Winters is probably most remembered for her roles in Kotch, The People Next Door, Class of '44, and The Winds of War...
), struggles to pull herself up the ship’s stairwell as a heavy booted man passes her by. As she raises her arm to stop him, jewels on a golden bracelet emit a faint tinkle and eerie glow before dropping from her wrist as she dies.
A ship’s captain
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
(Ron Shotola) rushes through scattered cargo and down the ship’s plank. He clings to a burlap wrapped package as he scurries along the dock and then stumbles into a heavy stack of crates. A peculiar sound like that of a cat mixed with a wolf’s growl causes the panicked man to spin around whereupon he recognizes the source of his fear. The camera cuts away as a massive amount of blood and gore splash across the cargo
Cargo
Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...
crates.
Beside the Captain’s body is the unfurled burlap wrap stretching along the wooden plank walkway. At its end, lies an old lamp, reminiscent of the Arabian magic lamp stories of Aladdin
Aladdin
Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
or Ali Baba
Ali Baba
Ali Baba is a fictional character from medieval Arabic literature. He is described in the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves...
. However, this lamp conveys an appearance of evil rather than best wishes. Abruptly, tiny hands of a little girl enter the scene and remove the lamp. On her wrist is the shimmering tinkling bracelet.
The film’s setting dissolves to the early 1980s where the lamp is discovered by policemen investigating the murder of an elderly Arabic woman (Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters is an American actress and businesswoman. Winters is probably most remembered for her roles in Kotch, The People Next Door, Class of '44, and The Winds of War...
) and three would be robbers. Inside the home, two officers, Detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
Adams (Blue Deckert) and Detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
Charles (Warren Chaney), investigate the crime scene. Charles spots the lamp, lifts it and peers inside. From the old lantern’s interior, a “presence” observes the two and begins traveling up the spout when Charles finding the lamp’s bright ruby insert, re-plugs the opening and tosses the object aside.
The antique lamp is transferred to the Houston Museum of Natural Science
Houston Museum of Natural Science
The Houston Museum of Natural Science is a science museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, USA. The museum was established in 1909 by the Houston Museum and Scientific Society, an organization whose goals were to provide a free institution for the people of Houston...
along with the jeweled bracelet, found near the body of the murdered Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
woman. Dr. Al Wallace (James Huston), the museum’s curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
and his assistant Dr. Theo Bressling (Danny D. Daniels), examine the lamp but are interrupted by Wallace’s teenage daughter Alex (Andra St. Ivanyi). Alex reminds her father of the upcoming Museum visit by her high school class the following day. When her father and Dr. Bressling leave for an administrative meeting, Alex is left alone with the lamp. She discovers the bracelet, admires it and tries it on. When she tries to remove it, she cannot. For the rest of the day and following morning she attempts to conceal the ornament under a long sleeve blouse.
Eve Ferrell (also portrayed by Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters is an American actress and businesswoman. Winters is probably most remembered for her roles in Kotch, The People Next Door, Class of '44, and The Winds of War...
) is one of Alex’s teachers who dates her father on a regular basis. Eve takes her senior class on a field trip
Field trip
A field trip or excursion, known as school trip in the UK and school tour in Ireland, is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment...
to Dr. Wallace’s museum. Once at the museum, strange things ensue. The lamp summons Alex via her bracelet and when she enters her father’s office she discovers the lamp. As one under a “spell”, Alex rubs it causing the lamp's ruby insert to glow and twist in the small socket at the end of the lamp. She removes the insert whereupon she is met and overcome by the presence within the lamp.
Under the influence of the Lamp, Alex returns to the tour group. She suggests to her boyfriend, Ted Pinson (Scott Bankston) and other close friends that as a prank, the group hang back, hide and then spend the night in the museum. Her friends, Babs (Charity Merill) and her boyfriend Ross (Barry Coffing), agree as does Ted’s friend Terry (Raan Lewis) and his girlfriend, Gwen (Tracye Walker). Overhearing the plans are two not so friendly teens, Mike Daley and Tony Greco (Red Mitchell and André Chimène), the film teen ne'er-do-wells who decide they will do the same unbeknownst to the other kids.
Unexpectedly, abnormal events ensue as a giant tusk unexpectedly falls from its hanging perch, nearly impaling Eve Wallace. Dr. Bressling works on translating the Lamp’s inscriptions in his office when he us suddenly drawn upward into a ceiling fan that spins ever faster as he is pulled into the large steel blades.
Alex secretly escorts her friends to the museum’s basement as the class is leaving and shows them where to hide. Unknowingly, Mike and Tony follow them closely. Each of Alex’s friends have lied to their parents telling them they are spending the night with another of the group, thus creating a mass alibi.
The museum closes and night falls. The once familiar interiors appear to changes patterns and shapes within the dimly lit display halls of the giant structure. An operatic singing museum guard strolls the hallways singing the lyrics of Figaro from the Rossini opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
. When he checks Dr. Bressling’s office he finds the scientist’s body but is killed before the can push the alarm.
The teens separate by couples to different rooms and are no sooner hidden that one by one, each is killed by the Lamp’s presence in some inconceivable way. At one point, Mike and Tony accost Terry’s girlfriend Gwen when she is alone. During the attempted assault, a museum medieval mask worn by Tony as a joke tightens around his skull crushing him. Mike is slaughtered next and Gwen is left screaming as she faces an unknown death.
Alex and Ted discover their friends’ bodies and attempt to escape but find that all the museum’s entrances and exits are sealed. Ted is killed during the attempt.
Dr. Wallace has taken Eve to a nice restaurant and has just proposed marriage. Abruptly, both receive unexpected calls from parents and discover that Alex's friends never returned from the trip. The two decide the teens must have remained behind at the museum and leave to investigate.
At the museum, Alex desperately seeks to flee the galleries of horror. Her father and Eve arrive but cannot enter. At first, the entrance is locked but then a security switch inexplicably trips causing the doors to swing open. Both enter and encounter Alex who explains what has happened. Without warning, the lights dim as the unseen entity sweeps into the room in a swirl of green mist that takes the form of an ancient Jinn
Jinn
Jinn are supernatural beings in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings.Jinn may also refer to:* Jinn , a Japanese band* Qui-Gon Jinn, a character in the Star Wars universe...
or Genii. Dr. Wallace provides temporary distraction and leads everyone from the scene, escaping to a safe room for the museum’s most priceless relics. Once there, Wallace accesses his dead assistant’s computer files containing translations of the lamp’s writing. The father deciphers finally one of the lamp’s inscriptions, “Destroy the lamp to destroy the Jinn.”
The three attempt to escape via a small escape hatch as the Genii fractures successive steel doors. Wallace is killed in the escape as is Eve. However, Alex manages to reenter the building and rushes through the dark halls toward her father’s office. Once there, the daughter snatches the lamp and sprints toward the incinerator room. Alex and the Genii reach the incinerator simultaneously but before the Genii can stop her, Alex tosses the lamp into the fire destroying it. With its destruction, the Genii disintegrates causing the bracelet to drop from Alex’s wrist.
With the Jinn’s death, the museum lights brighten. A hand abruptly touches Alex’s shoulder startling her. It is Eve who explains, “The Genii left me when it realized that it was more important to stop you than kill me.”
Police cars, emergency vehicles and swirling helicopters crowd the museum’s entrance in the early morning hours as Eve leads a tearful Alex to a waiting squad car. As she enters the car she is startled to hear the sound of the bracelet’s tinkle. Alex turns toward the sound and observes truck drivers unloading tinkling glass bottles of soda for the museum’s vending machines. A look of dread and fear pass across Alex’s face as the frame freezes and the screen fades to closing credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
.
At the credit roll finale, the singing guard appears to complete the final musical refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
of Figaro. As he sings the final note of the operatic song he takes a bow and the screen goes to black.
Cast
- Deborah WintersDeborah WintersDeborah Winters is an American actress and businesswoman. Winters is probably most remembered for her roles in Kotch, The People Next Door, Class of '44, and The Winds of War...
as (Eve Ferrell / Young Arab Woman / Old Arab Woman) - James HustonJames HustonJames Huston was a Canadian typographer and journalist. Born in Quebec City, he was also a longtime member and subsequent President of the Institut canadien de Montréal....
as (Dr. Wallace) - Andra St. Ivanyi as (Alex Wallace)
- Scott Bankston as (Ted Pinson)
- Red Mitchell as (Mike Daley)
- André Chimène as (Tony Greco)
- Damon Merrill as (Babs)
- Barry Coffing as (Ross)
- Tracye Walker as Gwen)
- Raan Lewis as (Terry)
- Hank Amico as (Harley)
- Brian Flores as (Max)
- Michelle Watkins as (Faylene)
- Danny D. Daniels as (Dr. Theo Bressling)
- Roy Alan Wilson as (Bob (guard)
- Coy Sevier as Jeff (guard)
- Christopher Wycliff as (School principal)
- Blue Deckert as Det. (Adams)
- Warren ChaneyWarren ChaneyWarren Herbert Chaney, Ph.D. is an American executive, author, filmmaker, behavioral scientist, entertainer, businessman and a pioneer in early television. In a career spanning four decades, Chaney wrote fifteen books, fourteen screenplays, and seventy-eight professional and nonprofessional...
as (Detective Charles) - Beverly Wilson-Wilson as (Beverly)
- Ron Shotola as (Ship's Captain)
- William Gilinsky as (Policeman)
- Alan Stepp as (Light Company Employee)
- Billy St. John as (Ambulance Attendant)
- Roy Morgan as (Deliveryman)
- Ron Stone as Himself (Newscaster)
- Mike Gilles as Traffic (Cop)
- Gary Edward as Classroom Student as (Gary Hourani)
- Valerie Padilla as (Young Arab Girl)
- Wendy Parras as (2nd Young Arab Girl)
- Lesley Chaney as (Papergirl)
- Audra Bennett as (High School Student)
- Alayna Bennett as (High School Student)
- Laura Staffa as (High School Student)
- Jason Flintoft as (High School Student)
- Chris McCauley as (High School Student)
- Johnathan Vancey as (High School Student)
- Stephanie Lewis as (High School Student))
- Tom Smith as (High School Student)
- Trey Lewis as (High School Student)
- Dominique Yuro as (High School Student)
- Jason Chaney as(High School Student)
- Jackson Bostwick as (High School Student)
- Cary Mourani as (High School Student)
Distribution
Skouras FilmsSkouras Films
Skouras Films is an American movie distribution company. The original title of the company was Skouras Pictures. Distributed films include Blood Simple, Joey Breaker, Living on Tokyo Time, The Quiet Earth, and Apartment Zero....
distributed the original film The Lamp, throughout the world except in the United States. Under a separate arrangement, The Movie Store (TMS) (now defunct) distributed the movie after cutting 18 minutes of its running time and changing its name from The Lamp to The Outing
The Outing
"The Outing" is the fifty-seventh episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. It is the 17th episode of the fourth season, and first aired on February 11, 1993.The line ".....
. Both films appeared to fare well and enjoyed distribution lasting into the early years of the 21st Century. The Lamp continued in distribution in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
through the end of the 21st century's first decade.
After both 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
Cineplex Odeon
Cineplex Odeon Corporation was one of North America's largest movie theatre operators, with theatres in its home country of Canada and the United States...
.
An English speaking DVD was released uncut in Japan under its original title, The Lamp and a DVD was released in the United Kingdom, under its original title as well, but as of 2011, Lions Gate Home Entertainment has yet to announce any plans to release the film onto DVD for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
marketplace
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
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Reviews
Reviews were favorable for The Lamp in Europe and Asia but decidedly less so for the edited version, The Outing (film)The Outing (film)
The Outing is a 1987 horror film that is an edited and shortend 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...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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With passing years, each film has developed a cult following as viewers have had an increasing opportunity to view the original film. Anne Clark of Screen Times Magazine writing for Theiapolis Cinema said, "I must admit that it took me a second view to understand the brilliant humor in this film. This is of no fault of the filmmakers inasmuch as an opening 20-minutes of film is missing." She continues, "The screenplay written by Warren Chaney
Warren Chaney
Warren Herbert Chaney, Ph.D. is an American executive, author, filmmaker, behavioral scientist, entertainer, businessman and a pioneer in early television. In a career spanning four decades, Chaney wrote fifteen books, fourteen screenplays, and seventy-eight professional and nonprofessional...
is unique, clever and different. The film’s director, Tom Daley does a capable job enjoining actors to produce a satirically over-the-top performance. Cinematographer, Herbert Redichnick, keeps the mood dark and eerily creepy." Early 2000 viewers of the film appear to mirror early reviewers.
A NY Times movie user review from the Film Review Journal states, "Overall, this film is carried out in a rather sophisticated way so that the “parody humor” may elude those just looking for blood and lust. Yet the observant cannot help but notice the “over” ample supply of blood, violence and heavy body count. I suspect that with time, more viewers will come to understand and appreciate “The Outing” as one of the truly great cult classics of film history." But perhaps, Robert Mundo writing from Honolulu summarizes it best when he simply says, "A hidden gem of a movie if you are into the late 80s horror genre. The Europe version is much better." The hard core website, Oh the Horror wrote, “The Outing is proof that not all entertaining slasher films have been released on DVD yet.”
Production
The Lamp was filmed on location in 1985 in Houston and Galveston, TexasGalveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
and in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Marina del Rey, California
Marina del Rey, California
-Demographics:-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Marina del Rey had a population of 8,866. The population density was 6,094.6 people per square mile...
. Actor casting was carried out in Hollywood and locally in the Texas area.