Giochi fatali

Athletes at an American farming school for the Olympics go missing, which leaves the staff and other students puzzled.

"Fatal Games" (1984) is one of the many slashers that came out in the wake of the success of "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th." The formula and tropes are simply transferred to a different milieu; in this case, an athletics school.

I like the genre and this one includes all the ingredients necessary for a quality slasher, but drops the ball with boring characters/dramatics, too much filler, and an annoyingly dated score (the scores of "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" are fresh by comparison). Then there's the constant switches to the front of the school, which is supposed to be in Massachusetts, but it's glaringly Los Angeles.

Nevertheless, there's enough good here if you're in the mood for an 80's slasher and don't mind prosaic filmmaking. For instance, the revelation of the javelin-wielding killer is creative and well-done. It wouldn't work today, however, due to eye-rolling political correctness.

The movie runs 1 hour, 24 minutes, and was shot in the Los Angeles area at Redondo Beach (for the interiors done in Aviation High School, which is now demolished) and, for the exteriors, University High School in West Los Angeles.

GRADE: C+

...Fatal Games would be their campy offspring!

Students attending an athlete academy are getting speared by a mad javelin thrower!

Other than the clever choice of weapon, Fatal Games doesn't add anything new to the slasher genre. It follows a very routine plot, which at times becomes quite repetitious and the cast is pretty weak. It has a completely dated 80's style - the cast even wears leg warmers! The javelin murders (hah, good alternate title!) are fairly gore-free and I dare say darkly funny at times. The revelation of the killer's identity is surprising though the motive is pretty silly. There's also plenty of female nudity on display though, if that's how you get your kicks.

Over all, clichés and cheese abound but it's still not the worst of its kind.

* 1/2 out of ****

"Fatal Games" is standard slasher fluff only with a lower-than-usual production value. It's about a killer wielding a javelin who begins picking off the athletes at the Falcon Academy of Athletics one by one.

Unfortunately, the low budget shines through on most occasions. The supposed "Academy" is obviously just some high school, and the acting is truly terrible. Slasher movies aren't known to have good scripts and excellent acting, but contrary to popular belief most of them were actually very well made with healthy budgets. "Fatal Games" obviously was not, which is probably the reason it never got a theatrical release. Of course the only exception is Sally Kirkland, an underrated actress who was nominated for an Oscar in 1987 but here has little to do.

Another thing that sets "Fatal Games" apart from the other slashers in terms of quality is the sleaziness. The film has little gore, but TONS of nudity. I think almost every female cast member strips down to the bare at one point. (Though somewhat hilariously, in a desperate attempt not to show ANY male nudity, the guys wear jock straps while taking their showers!)

That said and done, "Fatal Games" is actually minor fun if you catch it in the right mood. It's certainly better than junk like "Graduation Day" (which this film is often compared to since both slasher films have sports themes) There are plenty of cheesy moments -- most of the highlights occurring during the last twenty minutes when the killer is revealed. Obviously I wouldn't dream of giving it away but I will say that he/she has one of the dumbest, most unbelievable motives EVER!!!

Oh, and there's also a cool theme song! :)

Yet another slasher movie from the 80's. This one is set in a sports academy and has the novelty of the killer using a somewhat unorthodox weapon - a javelin. But that novelty wears off after a while. There is not much suspense, no real clues to the "mystery" part, and the ending - especially the motivation of the killer - is absurd. There is also a rather laughable scene where the killer enters a pool in full scuba gear, javelin in hand, and his/her soon-to-be-victim fails to notice anything and keeps on swimming! On the plus side, there is ample nudity, a few well-done gore effects, the two main girls are cute, and most of the character interactions sound genuine. Enough good points to get this movie 4 stars out of 10.

Take some characters that look like they came out of the 'Fame' TV series, add a script ripped off from countless 'Friday the 13th' and 'Halloween' clones, throw in a Dario Argento type music theme from 'Demons 2' and you have the ideal makings of a grade B straight to video or in this case, DVD film.

I too, bought this from a pound shop in the UK and that's about what it's worth. No more, no less. For 90 minutes of brainless fun, it's OK and quite enjoyable if you don't expect too much. And also can amuse oneself by spotting all the trappings of the 1980's, leg warmers, BIG hair and slang, i.e. 'making out, you're out of your gourd,'etc.

No use trying to detect who the mystery killer is as the rhyme and reason for it is so far off the logic scale as to be unreadable! Even for slasher films, this one is mega-dumb and just shoe-horned into the plot in the final moments with a handy discarded newspaper with a convenient, 'this explains everything,' revelation.

For lovers of kitsch horror movies only.