Death Game — Death Game(Blu Ray)
Death Game is a fairly simply plotted 1970’s thriller/ horror film- but boy does it feature effective moments of building tension, derangement, and unsettling/ wonky sensor overloads. The plot regards two young women turning up at a wealthy middle-aged man's house on a rainy night. They seduce then start to torment him. Here from Radiance Films/ Grindhouse Releasing is a double Blu-ray disc release- taking in a wonderful garish coloured 4k scan of the picture, two commentary tracks, a bonus film, and a good selection of interviews- including an in-depth one from one of the film's key actresses.
Death Game ( aka The Seducers) is from the year 1977. It was directed by Newton, Massachusetts born Peter S. Traynor. He had only one other director’s credit to his name Evil Town (1985), a puzzling, at times delirious blend of creepy town chillier, hammy mad doctor action, and unapologetic ‘n’ leering sleaze. Death Games got remade by Eli Roth in 2015 as Knock Knock- with Keanu Reeves playing the male lead
The film opens with a bright/ at points distributing child-drawn credits, which is played over by the film’s buoyant theme song “Good Old Daddy”. This takes in rapidly strummed banjo, boogaloo piano bounds, jaunting-to-sketching synth tones, and sing-song female vocals. I mentioned it in detail, as it gets revisited more than a few times over the films length- and if I had a criticism of the picture , this be one of my minor ones.
As we get into things we meet our lead man George Manning( Seymour Cassel) a moustached & square-jawed family man, who is just turning forty as the film unfolds. We first see him with his wife playing croquet on the lawn of his large mansion house- the phone rings, and their youngest son has a medical emergency so she rushes off.
The night settles in as George drinks whisky and smokes cigarettes- the doorbell rings, and standing in the pouring rain and lighten striking storm are two young women. We have Agatha- played by blond chiselled-faced Sondra Locke, who will be known most for the films she made with Clint Eastwood in the 70s/ 80’s like The Outlaw Josey Wales, Every Which Way But Lose, and Sudden Impact. And Dona- played by Collen Camp- she has to over one hundred sixty credits to her name, taking in the likes of Clue, Sliver, and Wayne’s World.
The two claim they are lost trying to find a party- George invites them in, and lets them use his phone to get a ride to pick them up. The pair dry their hair & clothes, and he is generally fairly gentleman like aside from the odd sleazed glances.
Time ticks by, but there is no sign of their ride the two women investigate the house- which includes a Sauna, gym, and hot tub. After not seeing the pair for a bit George goes looking for them- finding the pair nakedly frolicking in the hot tub- he insists they must dress, repeating several times he’s a married man- but the pair pounce- pully off his clothes off & pulling him into the tub- here we get the first example of films use of sensor overload- as the shots of twisting, turning, licking & caressing bodies are overlaid to dizzying & disorienting levels.
The next morning George wakens on the floor in his dressing gown with the two making him breakfast- initially, he is puzzled why they are still there, but this rapidly turns to mild annoyance, desperation, and fear.
The film runs at the one hour and twenty-six minutes mark- really slowly but surely going more off the rails, as the tension is nicely built up with jarring moments of shock & seemingly pure derangement. Following the film's tone the musical score moves from lush & jaunting to wonky, bent, and sinister. I can’t really detail what goes on as the film unfolds- but there are some great unhinged/ unsettling/ taut moments in it’s unfold- and look out for the use of a green jell light lite large fish tank, which really makes a disturbing impact.
All three main players/ actors are great here- selling their roles wonderfully. There is a lot of use of music in the film- with the theme song, either in it’s original form- or stripped back to a sting version, and as mentioned early this I think is the one & only real criticism/ issue for the film. All in all Death Game is a great 70’s thriller/ horror- with a very effective building of both tension and derangement.
We get a bonus film on the first disc, and this is 1973’s Little Miss Innocence(Teenage Innocence). This is a softcore-edged drama that inspired Death Games. While it tells a similar story, there are differences, and this is a lot more stripped-back/ less arty than Death Game.
It was directed by Pittsburgh-born Chris Warfield- who had twelve other feature credits to his name as well as thirty-seven acting credits. His director's credits were made between 1973 and 1985, and largely sound/ look like they were adult fare with titles like Black Silk Stockings( 1978), Garters And Lace(1980), and Sounds Of Sex(1985).
The film runs for one hour and twelve minutes, and like Death Game is largely takes place in one location, and has just three actors. We kick off with driving through shots of downtown LA in the 70’s- we then focus on two young women sitting at a roadside bench- there’s the blond and younger Judy(Terri Johnson) and the slightly older/ in control brunette Carol (Sandy Dempsey). A car pulls up, and inside is bespeckled/ greying around the edges musical arranger Rick(John Alderman)- he asks the pair if he can help, and they say they just want to drive around- so he does just that, in the end, he pulls up in a street of large houses- offers for the pair to come into his house, but the decline…saying they're going for a walk.
Just after they get out of the car- Carol says they should go & find his house, and they do just that. Rick, unlike Death Games' George is single- aged I’d say around early/ to mid 50’s. The three drink brandy, and then while Carol is pretending to be asleep he takes Judy upstairs to have sex- it turns out she is a virgin, after they have finished Rick goes downstairs to find a nude Carol ready for sex.
As things unfold we follow a fairly similar plotting of Death Game, but with much less derangement/ more flesh on display. I’d say it’s ok/ fine- but somewhat difficult to fairly judge after seeing Death Game so recently- it’s a little predictable for its first half & a bit, but when the more taut drama side of things comes out it becomes more interesting.
Otherwise, on the first disc we get two commentary tracks for the main film- these are both seemingly from around 2022- as there is mention of Covid. Ones with Collen Camp and Eli Roth, and the others with producer Larry Spiegel & director of photography David Worth. I played the first of these- and as expected it’s a nice chatty affair, with Camp having a good memory of the filming. She begins by talking about how she got the role due to Doris & James Bacon- he was a columnist for the Herald Examiner and was constantly praising her early work, and she was in charge of casting, what was then known as Mrs Manning Weekend. We find out Death Game was Clint Eastwood’s introduction to Sondra Locke. The film had a shoot of two weeks, with a budget of $200,000- with only around two to three shots for each scene. We find out that both Sissy Spacek & Bill Paxton were working on props for the film, and that during this time actors were very hands-on. She talks about Peter S. Traynor being a very passionate director, and that the scenes were made of a blend of script & improv. We find out the hot tub scene was filmed in just an hour, and the pair had discussed their backstory beforehand for the characters. Later on, she talks about how they had to bring their own costumes to set, and we find out they had to do their own stunts. Roth comments on how the film plays like different layers of hell. They discuss the feminine & masculine costumes the pair wear towards the end of the film. How the film was made in real-time, and the lots of physical action they had to do- which left them exhausted
Moving onto the second disc, and we get a great selection of on-film interviews- again I think these were all done around 2019/ 2020. We have Ruthless( one hour & forty-nine minutes) between Roth & Peter S. Traynor. Into The Moment( just under one hour & one minute) between Roth & Collen Camp. Two on-the-phone interviews with Sondra Locke( 14.42) & (44.07). Larry Spiegel & David Worth( 44.49), and A Tale Of Two Scipts( 44.01) with Ronald Ross. The disc is finished off with an image gallery, and Grindhouse Releasing trailer reel.
The finished release comes with a twenty-four-page colour inlay booklet- taking in rare photos and liner notes.
Death Game is a prime example of a well-made/ effective 70’s Grindhouse cinema- with a great cast, wonderful directing, and a good balance of tension & arty disorientation - they really don’t make them like this anymore. This double disc set offers up a bulging selection of extras, including of course the bonus film.