Death Game (1977)

aka: The Seducers
Dir: Peter S. Traynor

After watching Eli Roth's KNOCK KNOCK, a remake of this film, I thought I'd revisit the original. This one makes the dubious claim of being based on a true incident and even gives a date and location, October 10, 1975, San Francisco, to bolster its claim.

George (Seymour Cassel MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ) is home all alone on his birthday, wife and kids are out of town. Answering a knock at his door he finds two young women, Jackson (Sondra Locke RATBOY) and Donna (Colleen Camp APOCALYPSE NOW) in need of assistance. Inviting them in he tends to their needs and offers up his birthday pizza. A bit of flirting and George succumbs to their charms and the viewer is subjected to a gauzy, images superimposed over other images, can't see bloody much, sex scene. In the morning, expecting his young sexual conquests to be gone, George is perturbed to find them making breakfast and a mess of his kitchen. The women have an agenda and move from head games to torture to murder. Whether or not their intent is to punish George for falling for their feminine wiles or the sex is just one part of the sadistic game they are playing is not clear. But it is clear that the women are unbalanced and their intentions evil.

George meets Jackson and Donna

With a catchy, goofy tune called 'Good Old Dad' played throughout the film, that might fit better in
Roth's weirdly comedic take, providing the only break from the bleak proceedings and a cast of characters that aren't likeable I found myself detached from the entire proceedings. Locke is a striking figure dressed in stockings and formal wear during the main torture sequence and Camp gives a good performance as a vicious baby girl. But I was never drawn into the film. I did not care what happened to George. A reason for the lack of sympathy may be because Cassel's performance was re-dubbed after he refused to provide ADR.

I think they are having sex

I don't recommend DEATH GAME but it is one of those films where the ending came out of nowhere and I was left mouth agape. Undoubtedly a cheap gag on the part of the film makers but it is an effective shock.

** out of ****

Interesting that both Bill Paxton and Sissy Spacek worked on the film