Death Valley

If the readers may permit a little intro about this movie, I'd already lost my hope to find this rarest movie that watched in far off 1988 around my teenager years, in fact I've just remember some small fragments, out of the blue in a quick research at my old friend Youtube appears it on dubbed version, well I can't believe in my own eyes, all this in fine print near DVD, well it sent me back on late eighties for one hour and a half.

The plot is quite simple the little boy Billy (Peter Billingsley) living in New York with her divorced mother Sally (Catherine Hicks) flying into California to meet her new boyfriend Mike (Paul Le Mat) for a vacation on Death Valley aiming for easy the feelings of Bill over a forthcoming engagement between his mother and Bill, an annoyed Billy is afraid that it could ward off his father, however the worst is coming when they reach in a old mine at Death Valley, Billy walking around find a necklace at empty motor-home, where moments early someone slashed tree occupiers, later it was found burning in a ravine nearby.

Turns out that Billy got the necklace and on the restaurant saw the waiter Hal (Stephen McHattie) wearing the same one, reaching at crash area seeing the motor-home in flame, Billy decides told the truth to local Sheriff (Wilford Brimley) about the strange object, it raises suspicions of the Sheriff due in such in past year had an akin murder on same patten, all victims were slashed, thus this necklace belongs to two local brothers that living on a desert area and could be the key to clarify those murders, not so fast the old Sheriff exposes to Hal all about over the necklace found by young Billy, henceforth he becomes a target to be slash.

A kind of B-flick mixing slash and thriller, many gorgeous girls, nude scenes with beauty Gina Christian, having the great landscape of the marvelous Death Valley as backdrop, also great casting as well and the undeniable eye candy Catherine Hicks in fine shape, without forget the strong performance of McHattie and Paul Le Mat and the veteran actor Wilford Brimley not despicable that some reviewers want implied.

Thanks for reading

Resume:

First watch: 1988 / How many: 1 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 6.5.

I really don't think it's as bad as the review in the Leonard Maltin paperback would indicate; it's just not particularly distinguished. It places a child front and centre and in a considerable amount of jeopardy as he runs afoul of a sadistic serial killer in Death Valley. This kid is Billy (Peter Billingsley of "A Christmas Story" fame), an NYC native devoted to his loving dad (Edward Herrmann) who visits his mom (Catherine Hicks) and her new boyfriend (Paul Le Mat) in Arizona. While visiting the site of an abandoned gold mine, he enters an RV and pilfers a necklace that he finds, not knowing that he's obtained valuable evidence that links the killer to the scene of a crime. From then it's sort of a cat and mouse game as the killer sets out to keep Billy quiet. Dick Richards ("Farewell, My Lovely", "March or Die") directs from Richard Rothstein's script, which starts out as if it's going to be told entirely from the childs' perspective as he tries to come to terms with his parents' divorce and with the new man in his moms' life. Soon enough, it edges into slasher film territory, as our killer chops up unfortunate victims. It also attempts to make a substantial character out of our villains' car, which features a vanity plate with the word "hex" on it. The actors do a creditable job; Herrmann shines in what is really a very brief part, and Hicks and Le Mat are likewise very likable. (Le Mat has one standout scene where he's trying to make a connection with Billingsley.) And speaking of Billingsley, he also creates an endearing character and doesn't fall into the trap of being too cute. Good ol' Wilford Brimley is engaging as the local sheriff. But the show is stolen by Stephen McHattie who's as intense as he's ever been, and in fact he has one amusingly off kilter scene where he's intimidating our heroes as he stalks across the roof of his house. Another scene that the viewer will vividly remember is the scene with a corpulent babysitter who does little else besides stuff her face and then pay a big price at the hands of the killer. The thundering music by Dana Kaproff does its best to manipulate us, but what is far and away the biggest asset to the film is the on location shooting. The twist ending just comes off as a little silly. Overall, this is a passable time killer but no more. Six out of 10.

Coming out during the influx of the slasher craze, "Death Valley" could be seen as one of those unlucky films that got lost in the crowd and was pushed aside with those lesser imitations. Unfortunately if that's the case it's undeserved (sadly no DVD release either), as it's a lot more accomplished than its rancid shockers. One thing though, it was one of those video cases that always drew me to its strikingly cool artwork.

Billy and his recently divorced mother leave New York for a vacation to California to meet up with her new boyfriend. For Billy it's hard seeing his mum with another man, but it's the less of his worries. As on their vacation to "Death Valley", Billy stumbles across an empty RV and picks up a necklace. Later they come across this RV again, but it was in an accident or so it seems. Unknowingly to them, there have been brutal murders in "Death Valley" and killer now has Billy in his sights.

"Death Valley" is like a second-rate Hitchcock-like thriller that decently grows on bone-rattling suspense, taking time to let the characters and circumstances unfold that when the threatening tic-tack-toe nature breaks out we're put in an act of alarm and desperation. It really puts the characters on the spot and breathing down an ominous air, the material doesn't do much to hide the killer's identity and the surprise twist is easy to figure out. The rural California locations do it wonders, as the secluded landscapes are harsh and vast with it being truly alienating --- nowhere to hide and help is a long way. Dick Richards directs with panache and vision, orchestrating the unhinged sounds (a suspenseful music score) and observatory imagery (moody camera angles and slow-motion) with the foreseeable one-track story. While slow-winding, as it's slowed up by passages involving family issues --- Billy accepting his mother's new boyfriend, but this does give it a grounded sincerity to the character's relationships and dynamics. These moments are broken up by the heighten tension and an odd nasty jolt that's well-timed by throwing you off with false bumps.

Performances are agreeable. Peter Billingsley (whose massive glasses are somewhat distracting) is likable as the know-all Billy and Catherine Hicks is simply delightful (although she does some questionable actions in the film's climax) as Billy's mother. Paul Le Mat is sturdy, but does look quite bemused more often. Wilford Brimley is hardy as the suspicious sheriff and Stephen McHattie is suitably random and menacing. There's also a minor part for Edward Herrmann at the beginning as Billy's father.

Nothing special, but a diverting, fine old-fashion thriller with the modern unpleasantness.

...a movie without a script totally bombs. From the writer of "Universal Soldier" (1 & 2) and "Hard to Hold", it's a wonder this movie is even as good as it is. The actors and director do a remarkable job despite the drivel they are forced to work with. If they did a total rewrite of this movie, it would probably be pretty good, but as it is, it is somewhat boring and just BLAH. It has some moments but I wouldn't bother unless it is on TV and you are bored anyways.

This film is not as bad as many people would have you believe. Peter "The Dirt Bike Kid" Billingsley, in his first starring role, plays Billy, a boy who is forced to vacation with his mother and her boyfriend in the middle of the hot California desert. During a desert outing, a bored Billy decides to do a little exploration and comes across a seemingly abandoned RV. Unbeknownst to Billy the RV contains the freshly butchered bodies of three teenagers who are stuffed into the forward compartment. Billy nearly opens the forward compartment's door when he's pulled out and reprimanded by his mother's boyfriend. Billy doesn't leave empty handed though; he has stolen a necklace that he found on the RV's floor.

Later the necklace becomes a clue that is handed over with much guilt and tears to the town's sheriff played by Wilford Brimley. Soon after, the sheriff has a mining pick stuck in his chest after stupidly going over to the killer's house with clue in hand and basically asking, "Hey, look what I found at a murder scene," and knowing full well that the necklace belongs to the killer. Oops!

The killer believes Billy knows too much and needs to be eliminated. From this point on the film becomes a tense cat-and-mouse game that ends with more than a few dead.

Death Valley was released in 1982 without much fanfare or promotion and was quickly lost among the glut of slasher films being churned out by Hollywood at that time. That is unfortunate because the film features everything horror fans love: breasts, gore and excitement. This film also features a tense Henry Manfredini-like musical score by Dana Kaproff and excellent cinematography by Stephen Burum. Billy's mother is played by the beautiful Katherine Hicks (spelled Catherine on the video box) who played Marilyn Monroe in the television movie, Marilyn: The Untold Story.

Another reason to watch this film is for the brief appearance of Gina Christian, in her only film role, as R.V. Girl. Gina Christian is the reason tube tops were invented. Wow!