Death Game

It's actually a real shame that this film wasn't better, as it features a story line that does a good job of turning the tables on the common exploitation theme of men brutalising women, and it's also quite scary if you put yourself in the position of the lead character! The basic plot revolves around George; a 'happily married' man who picks up two young girls and seduces them at his house. However, after giving him some information that he REALLY didn't want to hear, George finds himself at the girls' mercy. The film has just three central performers, and while many other films work well from this sort of base; this one doesn't, or at least; not really. Director Peter S. Traynor doesn't really have enough ideas to keep the film entertaining throughout; but luckily, The Seducers does have its moments. The majority of the film is suitably sick and twisted, and the two central women are nasty enough to make the film a nightmare for most men. The Seducers is nowhere near as malicious as many similar seventies thrillers; but its decent enough entertainment for fans of this sort of thing. Unfortunately, the stretched plot ultimately lets it down - but it's an interesting film at least, and I somewhat enjoyed it. Just a word of warning, though – you'll have trouble getting the theme song out of your head!

What to do when you're a happily married man but your beloved wife is out of town on the night of your fortieth birthday, yet two sexy young girls show up at your doorstep, literally throw themselves at you and invite you for a threesome in your own sauna? You kick them right back out on the street, of course! That'll teach them to interfere with a perfectly happy family! Well, that is what you should do in order to prevent guaranteed catastrophes to happen the next morning, but admittedly very few male individuals are likely to respond like this. Neither does the handsome George Manning in "Death Game", so he's stuck up with two obtrusive chicks in his house. Their behavior gets more psychotic with each hour that passes, until they even set up a fake trial against poor tied up George. "Death Game" is not a very good movie, but that's merely because there was too little money available for the execution and because Peter S. Traynor has no clue how to direct a suspense movie. The basic premise is quite unusual for a 70's exploitation movie (usually slavering hillbillies terrorize poor young girls instead of vice versa) and the whole concept is actually very much ahead of its time! Especially nowadays, the horror genre brings forward a lot of movies revolving on brutal home-invasions. People are subjected to fear and torture in their own houses and it's a very popular and money-making concept at the moment, like for example in "Funny Games" and "The Strangers", but this crazed little movie already did something similar in the 70's! The 40 first minutes of "Death Game" provide silly entertainment (Sondra Loncke at the breakfast table) and irresistible trashy goodness (that soundtrack!!), but unfortunately the second half of the film is incomprehensibly boring and unexciting. It shouldn't be, since the girls get more deranged and all, but it suddenly feels as if the writers' inspiration had vanished and only padding remained. There are still two fantastic highlights to experience near the end, though! One involves a pussycat (did you know glass windows aren't cat-proof?) and the other is a stupendously laugh-out-loud hysterical ending. Even a threesome wouldn't have such a fantastic climax! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to search for that awesomely catchy "Good Old Daddy" theme song on YouTube!

...Imagine this. On one dark, rainy night, two sexy young blonde girls show up on your doorstep, soaked to the skin. They feed you some sob story about being lost and, being the trusting gentleman that you are, you invite them in. Once inside, the flirtatious girls waste no time striping seductively to their underwear. One thing leads to another and before you know it, the three of you are in your hot tub.... This might sound like every red-blooded man's fantasy but the next morning things turn nasty. Those sweet girls turn "psycho girl" on you. They tie you up, slap on some freakish make-up and proceed to inflict their sickening mind games on you. Will you live to regret your night of three-way nookie? That is basically what this film is about. It is no masterpiece of drive-in cinema but well worth seeing if you enjoy those kinds of low-budget movies. Fans of Nikos Nikoladis' 'Singapore Sling' might also want to give this a look. Both films have the same basic premise and some might come to realise that 'Sling' is not so original after all. Although do not go expecting the same amount of sleaze as 'Sling'. Also, look out for one of the best 'what-the-hell' endings you will ever see.

This film should be put in a special category, "Movies that make you feel like you're on something." In this category would be Yellow Submarine, Eraserhead (or any Lynch film), Ken Russell's and Nic Roeg's and Jodorowsky's whole catalog, etc.

It is a bad movie, no doubt about it, and incomprehensible how it got made, or why, but that just makes it more fascinating. Thrill to the sight of Eastwood's then-girlfriend giving a truly unhinged performance and wonder if she's really acting or not! Listen to Colleen camp alternately scream and laugh hysterically as she beats up a tied-up guy in a bed and ponder how she ever got another acting gig again! Thrill to the sound of one of the weirdest choices of theme song ever recorded! Stare in awe at what appears to have been a cinemascope movie squeezed onto your t.v., and contemplate how much more dizzying it would've looked on the big screen! Feel this movie melting in your brains, not in your hands, as it gets ever more insane, leading up to a climax so stupefyingly cheap and abrupt it could only be attached to this movie!

Saw this as a kid on cable, watched it because it was rated R and promised nudity and sex. Got a *little* more than I bargained for, but wasn't displeased or even shocked (Fellini's Satyricon was on right before it--Lord, how I stayed out of a mental hospital is a miracle). If you like weird movies that simulate being on drugs this film is for you, at least if you have a taste for old, poorly done exploitation stuff.

Okay, now it's time for my take on the film. I've read so many meaningless reviews that only serve to mislead and miseducate. So, first, here is the basic plot: Seymour Cassel portrays George Manning, a husband and father, living the idyllic family-life. He's got the perfect wife, lovely children and a beautiful home, just on the outskirts of San Francisco, in the (seemingly) peaceful middle of nowhere, to be exact. While his wife and kids have left town for the weekend, he is left all alone on his 40th birthday. This is where it all begins.

On this stormy night, he is greeted by two young women, whom he takes in for shelter while they call a friend and await arrival to be picked up. The girls, Jackson (played by Sondra Locke) and Donna (the delightful Colleen Camp) seem endearing at first, and are more than impressed by the lush surroundings of George's home. They warm up to George, resulting in a somewhat unwelcome sexual episode. This is where most people are wrong... the film does NOT contain "tons of nudity". Yes, there's Sondra showing off what no one wanted to see, and Colleen who gets the "cutaway" every time she disrobes, which is typical as I've never seen her in a nude scene before. She has done a lot of exploitation films, even T & A films, yet offered no T & A, which made me wonder whether or not these reviewers were correct. In fact, the initial sex scene involving the three of them is done in a tasteful manner, with a dizzying series of dissolves, and overall steaminess (not in the sense that it comes off steamy, it just looks like someone left the kettle on too long).

The morning comes and George awakes to the girls who are still at his house. Reality sets in and he realizes he made a bad call. The girls claim that their friend never showed up, which puzzles George. He offers to take them home, but they insist on dancing around the issue. During breakfast, the girls pig-out... big time. George gets irritated by their behaviour and now he wants them out. Through several difficulties, it becomes evident that the girls are no longer "teasing", they are seriously disturbed. Eventually, George finally manages to get them in the car and drives them into San Francisco. He drops them off and heads back home.

As George arrives home, he notices a figure stirring upstairs, only to discover that his journey was all-for-not, as the girls have returned. It is clear that George is now a prisoner in his own home, with no fore-seen conclusion. The girls' bent personalities really begin to shine, as they tie George up and put him through several ongoing tortures, which transcends the remainder of the film into this abyss of nightmarish absurdity.

The film has a very surreal, bad dream-like quality and the tone is nothing short of completely "off-kilter". Very much at home with others of the genre like "THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT" and "HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK", yet not as graphic.

The film's duration, an 87 minute running time, seems un-ending. And, yes it does have one of those "curve-ball wallop" endings, not so much in a good sense, but rather in one of those "time to make a mold" instances.

A few things of note: Cassel's performance is completely dubbed, by someone else, which sort of adds to the atmosphere in an odd way, and what may dictate his true feelings concerning his involvement in the picture. Colleen does have a couple of nude scenes, the "hopping on the bed" sequence and the weird and dreamy "window tapping" scene towards the end of the film. Supposedly, this is all based on a true story, which was a commonly used "hook", especially in the golden days of '70's exploitation fare, and more than likely, is a falsehood. The production designer, Jack Fisk worked on this film along with assistant set dressers, his wife Sissy Spacek and Bill Paxton. And, last but certainly not least, that damned song "Good Old Dad" will drive anyone into a sadistic, maniacal rage. It has to be the WORST song I've ever heard, and that says a lot. Not to mention, that it is played throughout the film, continuously, in long, overdrawn montage sequences that take you to nowhere, and leave you there!

Overall, I had wanted to see this film for years, and after finally viewing it, I must say that it fell short of what I had expected, yet I did not dislike the film. There are plenty of good ingredients to add up to an un-nerving cult classic, but instead we are left with a level of confusion, rather than curiousity. Despite a few shortcomings, the film is worth watching for the performances and atmosphere, and a chance to see Cassel in action while John Cassavetes had his back turned.

A First American Films Release. Distributed by Levitt-Pickman Film Corporation.