Deadly Games

An odd entry in the slasher cycle that cops its style more from Argento’s oeuvre than the typical masked killers of the day, Deadly Games (1982) is just offbeat enough to be memorable, although it seems to sabotage itself at every turn.  Writer/director Scott Mansfield stages some stylish set-pieces but gets bogged down in bizarre character quirks and a cast as confusingly interchangeable as a soap opera. 

Music journalist Keegan Lawrence (Jo Ann Harris) returns to her hometown after her sisters’ murder and falls back in with her old high school crowd, a misfit group of swingers who trade partners every weekend.  Roger (Sam Groom), their unofficial leader and town sheriff, seems to be getting nowhere fast with his investigation…but has better luck with Keegan.  As the pair grow closer, so do the murders, committed by a black-gloved killer who dispatches his victims according to a classic monsters board game.

 

Unmentioned in the above synopsis is the biggest name in the cast – Steve Railsback – whose presence as the mentally unbalanced projectionist Billy Owens makes him the most obvious suspect.  Railsback, whose over-the-top performance as Charles Manson typecast him forever, is pleasantly restrained here.  Especially compared to lead actress Jo Ann Harris, whose attempt to do something “different” with her final girl character plays like nails on a chalkboard.

 

But Deadly Games knows when to serve the meat and potatoes, as proven by an opening segment that includes nudity, obscene phone calls and a psycho-killer POV all in the first five minutes.  The film’s Italian inspirations (black gloves, extreme close-ups and a Goblin-esque score) make it a lot more fun for giallo fans to spot the references.  But even casual horror aficionados will appreciate the swimming pool murder sequence, which rises to the artistic level of Argento without the lapses in logic.

 

Arrow’s Blu-ray comes from a new 2K restoration and, boy, does it look terrific.  Extras include interviews, an image gallery, audio commentary and the original screenplay on BD-ROM.  

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