Dangerous Game

See where it all began for Aussie director Stephen Hopkins - "Dangerous Game". Australia's Psycho Cop, but without the wisecracks. You can't help but think the film's craftsmanship caught the eyes of the Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child producers for them to hand him the gig. Watching his debut feature, I can see why they did.

This gripping little homegrown suspense-thriller with a few offbeat strokes uses a very familiar set-up (Uni-students in a department store after hours being stalked by a mentally disturbed individual- a police patrolman - with an axe to grind, and no, not literally). Don't go looking for a body count, let alone slasher as its slow rhythm virtually plays out in a long-winded cat and mouse concept. What starts harmless, turns into damage control when the harassment leads to something fatal.

The premise is straightforward, and fairly slight on the exposition with an inkling of dementia from an antagonist with more than a few loose screws, but it's Hopkins' stylised direction and camerawork leaving quite the lasting impression. By the end the plot simply eroded into a canvas of see what sticks. Its use of imagery and a fruitful principal performance (an excellent Steven Gries) is where the excitement mainly lies. Visuals show creative flair in camera positioning (as if it's on a string) alongside hue lighting and slow-motion. Nothing quite like the firepower of a shotgun, and not just one, captured in slow-motion. The colouring on screen at times can be vibrant ( definitely the toy section sequence) and some tension infused set-pieces (anyone for dominoes, or rooftop stroll?) are spectacularly presented for such a minor low-budget production.

I would love to see this film get a restored bluray release in the near future, as I think it would scrub up rather well.

This movie mainly serves as a showreel for Peter Levy's vast talents as cinematographer, with some flashy moves by director Stephen Hopkins. That aside, the plot seems to pause occasionally for the lush camera-crane shots to end. Given a fairly by-the-numbers story, the acting is quite good, but its less entertainment, more visual candy.

Both Hopkins and Levy have gone on to bigger and better projects, so someone liked this film a lot!

Ozploitation thriller Dangerous Game is a case of style over substance: director Stephen Hopkins (A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Lost in Space) achieves some impressive visuals and executes a couple of cool set-pieces, but the film is derivative and often quite ridiculous, the characters repeatedly making really bad decisions solely to further the plot.

The premise for Dangerous Game is reminiscent of several other films: 1984 horror The Initiation, 1986 B-movie Chopping Mall (but without the Killbots), and slasher Hide and Go Shriek, which was also released in '88. A computer nerd (with really bad fashion sense) proves his hacking skill to his friends by opening the security door to a department store. The youngsters enter the place to have a snoop around, unaware that they have been followed by a psychotic cop with a grudge. What follows is part slasher/part survivalist thriller, as the kids must defend themselves against the violent, deranged cop (fortunately, the store has a fairly extensive shotgun department).

Highlights include a vertiginous scene on a ledge and the killer leaping across several display units as they fall like dominoes (although whoever arranged the units like that should lose their job!). Flashy direction (gliding camerawork and dizzying crane shots) and superb cinematography by Peter Levy ensure that the film is great to look at, but with the teens repeatedly splitting up and never taking the opportunity to incapacitate their attacker when the opportunity arises - and only the one death - the film is quite frustrating at times.

4/10.

This is the story of a maniac cop who, for some reason, has it in for a young college stud and his mates. After they report him to his supervisor who in turns suspends him pending psychiatric evaluation, he finds an opportunity to psychology torture them when, on a bet, the kids hack into a department store's security and unlock the door. Only, they get locked in the store, along with the weirdo. Murder and mayhem are afoot, and the kids are running around trying to survive until morning when they may be able to escape.

'Dangerous Game' would have been a successful cat-and-mouse psycho thriller probably if it was set in a different location. The thought of psychotic cop chasing around a bunch of innocent teenagers in a department store just didn't work. Especially when he comes face-to-face with his flinching prey quite frequently and yet, does nothing serious quite often. There was no real confrontation as would be sufficient for this kind of story, and may've worked better if say, for example, the teens were loose in the neighborhood and left to fend for themselves against this weirdo (especially if that took a few days while he makes them increasingly paranoid...although granted, even that is clichéd).

What a shame, too, that it could not have been a better thriller, considering a funky cast of young Australian characters. Even a light hearted adventure despite the madness of the villain interspersed through the picture might have even made it a more satisfying picture. Instead, it started out fresh, and sure did have plenty of action sequences, but wound up verging on the ridiculous.

Slick handsome thriller about a group of teens who break into a department story for the thrill of it all, but find themselves falling victim to a deranged police officer whom the teens caused to lose his job earlier that day. While this slasher is exciting and generates much suspense (while building up characterization too), at times I felt like I was watching a Die Hard ripoff.

Rated R; Violence.