- Director : Scott Mansfield
- Actors : Sam Groom, June Lockhart, Colleen Camp, Steve Railsback, Jo Ann Harris
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Run time : 1 hour and 32 minutes
- Media Format : NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen, Anamorphic
- Studio : Arrow Video
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
- Release date : February 22, 2022
The 1982 slasher Deadly Games begins like many
others of its type, with the murder of a nubile young woman at the hands of a
masked killer. Unfortunately, it is pretty much downhill from there. After an
intense opening sequence, the narrative becomes more preoccupied with the bed-hopping
going on with the local married couples. When the sister of the initial victim
shows up, her efforts to find the killer are put on hold while she becomes entangled
in the romantic sub-plots that threaten to take over the film. With too few
kills to be a satisfactory slasher, and too obvious of a mystery to work as a whodunnit,
Deadly Games is mostly a deadly bore.
Keegan (Jo Ann
Harris) wasn’t close with her sister, but still drops everything to intrude on her
murder investigation. Rather than getting too preoccupied with the tragedy of
her sister’s death, Keegan quickly becomes enamored with a cop named Roger Lane
(Sam Groom), who is investigating the crime. Roger also co-owns the local movie
theater with the reclusive projectionist Billy Owens (Steve Railsback), a man even
the locals are creeped out by. The pair are obsessed with horror movies and
have even created a board game with a horror movie theme. The killer is seen
playing this game before each kill, limiting the options of who is under the
mask.
All of this has
the makings of a good slasher, however derivative much of the plot is. The
problem is that writer/director Scott Mansfield doesn’t put enough emphasis on
the horror violence expected from slashers. And by revealing early on that the killer
must be one of two men, it doesn’t result in much of a mystery. Once the actual
killer is revealed, the film ends abruptly and without resolution. This wouldn’t
have been so much of a problem if the narrative hadn’t dragged so much to get
to the resolution. It is all build up after the initial opening sequence, and
the payoff simply isn’t enough.
There is some
campy enjoyment to be found in the film, particularly in the odd way the characters
behave. Despite her sister being recently murdered by an intruder, Keegan has
little reaction to Roger regularly breaking into the same home to see her. In
one hilarious sequence, she is more concerned with the fact that her hair doesn’t
look good than the fact that he is waiting for her in the dark. An extended montage
of a three-way date between Roger, Keegan, and Billy is also unintentionally hilarious.
The Blu-ray
release of Deadly Games from Arrow Films features a brand new 2K restoration from the original
camera negative, and the original lossless DTS-HD Master Audio. The package features
a reversible sleeve with the original poster on one side and new artwork from Ralph
Krause on the other. The special features on the disc itself include:
-
Brand
new audio commentary with The Hysteria Continues
-
Sooty’s
a Sh*t - a brand new interview with actor Jere Rae-Mansfield
-
Practical
Magic - a brand new interview with special effects and stunt co-ordinator John
Eggett
-
Extensive
image gallery featuring never-before-seen production photos and promotional
material
-
Original
Trailer
-
Original
screenplay under the title Who Fell Asleep [BD-ROM content]
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Special Features: 7/10
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