Difference between revisions of "Death Game BluRay Review"

From The Grindhouse Cinema Database

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[[File:Deathg3.jpg]]
[[File:Deathg3.jpg]]


The story, which takes place in the home invasion subgenre ([[Fight For Your Life]], [[The House On The Edge of The Park]]) provides quite a twist. Instead of male psychos, this time it's two beautiful women ([[The Swinging Cheerleaders]]' Colleen Camp and [[Willard]]'s Sondra Locke) who are the intruders with Seymour Cassel (Faces, Minnie & Moskowitz, Rushmore) as their hostage. Cassel plays George, a businessman whose wife has left town for a family emergency. He is alone on a dark rainy night, the doorbell rings and he discovers two young beauties on his stoop. He invites them in so they can call for help but things soon take a steamy turn. The mood between the three main characters moves from innocent to sensual and erotic to maniacal and violent. The two women are eventually revealed to be out for a kind of retribution for events in their past. What begins as two women looking for shelter turns into a sadistic attack on the patriarchy.
The story, which takes place in the home invasion subgenre ([[Fight For Your Life]], [[The House On The Edge of The Park]]) provides quite a twist. Instead of male psychos, this time it's two beautiful women ([[The Swinging Cheerleaders]]' Colleen Camp and [[Willard]]'s Sondra Locke) who are the intruders with Seymour Cassel (Faces, Minnie & Moskowitz, Rushmore) as their hostage. Cassel plays George, a businessman whose wife has left town on a family emergency. He is alone on a dark rainy night, and he discovers two young beauties at his front door after they get stranded. He invites them in so they can call for help but things soon take a steamy turn. The mood between the three main characters moves from innocent to sensual and erotic to maniacal and violent. The two women are eventually revealed to be out for a kind of retribution due to events in their past. What begins as two women looking for shelter turns into a sadistic attack on the patriarchy.


[[File:Deathg1.jpg]]
[[File:Deathg1.jpg]]


While I think parts of the movie work well, other parts get a bit over the top and silly. Colleen Camp and Sondra Locke are on full blast frenzy as Jackson and Donna, the bisexual lovers/psychotic babes from hell. Regardless of any flaws it has, it definitely holds your attention and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the running time. One aspect that is really important to realize about the film is that it was made in about 2 or 3 weeks in a small set with a very low budget yet looks just as amazing as any Hollywood studio film from the time. It makes you wonder what Peter Traynor might’ve done next if he had continued working in film with bigger budgets. It turns out that this was a bad experience for him (including an on set battle with Seymour Cassel) and he moved on to other things because of it.  
While I think parts of the movie work well, other parts get a bit over the top and silly. Colleen Camp and Sondra Locke are truly on full blast frenzy as Jackson and Donna, the bisexual lovers/psychotic babes from hell that take over inside George's home. Regardless of any flaws it has, it definitely holds your attention and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the running time. One aspect that is really important to realize about the film is that it was made in about 2 or 3 weeks on a small set with a very low budget yet looks just as amazing as any Hollywood studio film from the time. It makes you wonder what Peter Traynor might’ve done next if he had continued working in film with bigger budgets. It turns out that this was a bad experience for him (including an on set battle with Seymour Cassel) and he moved on to other things because of it.  


[[File:Deathg2.jpg]]
[[File:Deathg2.jpg]]


The new Grindhouse Releasing BluRay comes with some great special features like two audio commentaries, one with Eli Roth (who remade the movie as Knock Knock) and star Colleen Camp, and other with writer/producer Larry Spiegel & DP/Editor David Worth. In addition there’s interviews with cast & crew, trailers and more. I now own almost all of Grindhouse Releasing’s titles and this is another gem in the collection I would highly recommend to film geeks.  
The new Grindhouse Releasing BluRay comes with some great special features like two audio commentaries, one with superfan Eli Roth (who remade the movie as Knock Knock) and star Colleen Camp, and other with writer/producer Larry Spiegel & DP/Editor David Worth. In addition there’s interviews with cast & crew, trailers and more. I now own almost all of Grindhouse Releasing’s titles and this is another gem in the collection I would highly recommend to film geeks.  


[[File:Deathg4.jpg]] ‎
[[File:Deathg4.jpg]] ‎

Revision as of 18:24, 9 September 2022

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The Film

Peter S. Traynor’s DEATH GAME is a movie I had only seen once several years ago in a terrible, blurry VHS quality version. Recently I received the new BluRay edition from our friends at Grindhouse Releasing. First off, I have to say that the 1080p transfer looks absolutely gorgeous. It really was like seeing the movie for the first time. The cinematography by David Worth (who also edited it AND did the voiceover for star Seymour Cassel!) just makes the movie so visually striking and lush.

Deathg3.jpg

The story, which takes place in the home invasion subgenre (Fight For Your Life, The House On The Edge of The Park) provides quite a twist. Instead of male psychos, this time it's two beautiful women (The Swinging Cheerleaders' Colleen Camp and Willard's Sondra Locke) who are the intruders with Seymour Cassel (Faces, Minnie & Moskowitz, Rushmore) as their hostage. Cassel plays George, a businessman whose wife has left town on a family emergency. He is alone on a dark rainy night, and he discovers two young beauties at his front door after they get stranded. He invites them in so they can call for help but things soon take a steamy turn. The mood between the three main characters moves from innocent to sensual and erotic to maniacal and violent. The two women are eventually revealed to be out for a kind of retribution due to events in their past. What begins as two women looking for shelter turns into a sadistic attack on the patriarchy.

Deathg1.jpg

While I think parts of the movie work well, other parts get a bit over the top and silly. Colleen Camp and Sondra Locke are truly on full blast frenzy as Jackson and Donna, the bisexual lovers/psychotic babes from hell that take over inside George's home. Regardless of any flaws it has, it definitely holds your attention and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the running time. One aspect that is really important to realize about the film is that it was made in about 2 or 3 weeks on a small set with a very low budget yet looks just as amazing as any Hollywood studio film from the time. It makes you wonder what Peter Traynor might’ve done next if he had continued working in film with bigger budgets. It turns out that this was a bad experience for him (including an on set battle with Seymour Cassel) and he moved on to other things because of it.

Deathg2.jpg

The new Grindhouse Releasing BluRay comes with some great special features like two audio commentaries, one with superfan Eli Roth (who remade the movie as Knock Knock) and star Colleen Camp, and other with writer/producer Larry Spiegel & DP/Editor David Worth. In addition there’s interviews with cast & crew, trailers and more. I now own almost all of Grindhouse Releasing’s titles and this is another gem in the collection I would highly recommend to film geeks.

Deathg4.jpg

BluRay Review

PICTURE: Presented in (2:35:1) 1080p High Definition - As far as video transfers go, this is another stunner. The original Death Game video that had been released was bottom of the barrel. Grindhouse Releasing found the original negative to breathe new life into this forgotten, underseen 70s thriller. Now film fans can see it the way it was meant to be seen. In gleaming high definition with vibrant colors and photography that was so good it got David Worth notice from major filmmakers like Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood.

AUDIO:

SPECIAL FEATURES

  • AUDIO COMMENTARY with Eli Roth and Colleen Camp - Eli and Colleen have a lively discussion about the production of the film and go through the trials and tribulations of bringing it all together. It was a quick shoot and Colleen was fresh off the 1975 film SMILE and new to the movie biz. Her energy and devil may care attitude certainly showed on the screen. Director Peter Traynor was making his directorial debut, his vision was strong but on sewt tensions between him and Seymour Cassel was a negative which led to a very unbalanced performance which had to be saved in the editing room by David Worth who also served as cinematographer, mediator and later provided the voiceover for Cassel's performance when he refused to do the ADR.
  • AUDIO Commentary with Larry Spiegel & David Worth -
  • INTERVIEWS with Director Peter Traynor, star Colleen Camp, Larry Spiegel, David Worth -
  • AUDIO INTERVIEW with Sondra Locke'-
  • EXTENSIVE STILL GALLERIES & GRINDHOUSE RELEASING THEATRICAL TRAILERS
  • THE FINAL WORD:
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