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Fatal Games, 1984
Annie (Lynn Banashek) is a gymnast at an elite athletics academy in Massachusetts. With a large Nationals event looming, the gymnasts are under tremendous pressure to prepare. Unbeknownst to the young athletes, their mentors and medical supervisors are dosing them with illegal and possibly dangerous amounts of steroids. As the week wears on, various athletes fall victim to a mysterious figure wielding a deadly javelin.
Unimaginative leering and an offensively stupid ending thoroughly sink what could have been an effective horror-thriller.
I would wager that I’ve written up quite a few movies where I’ve lamented the squandering of a good or even great premise. Well, throw this one on the heap as well, because a slasher set in an elite athletic school is a really excellent concept and in almost every way it flops hard.
Falling at the first hurdle (yes, pun intended), the movie is unbearably leering at the female cast. Almost every sequence with the female athletes involves them in a locker room, shower, or sauna, totally nude and shot in these inelegant wide shots that make it clear that the purpose is just getting flesh on screen. There’s so little imagination or eroticism to these scenes that they just feel like what I suppose they are: eye candy for sad pervs. The leering extends to a sequence where one of the athletes is sexually abused by one of the medical staff, which is gross on all levels. You can at least get a good laugh out of the contrasting sequence in the men’s locker room, where one actually nude actor is carefully obscured by another actor, and the one actor in the full view of the camera showers in his jock strap (!!!).
The second serious challenge in this film is its decision to focus on Annie. Banashek is fine in the role, but she’s something of a limp noodle as a character. The character of her boyfriend, Phil (Sean Masterson), is a total dud. He’s manipulative and a loser, but not in an interesting way. Much more engaging are secondary characters Lynn (Teal Roberts) and Frank (Michael O’Leary). Roberts and O’Leary have a fun, easy chemistry, which makes two different sexy scenes with them actually enjoyable. They are just likable, charismatic characters and it makes it baffling when they are pushed into second-tier screentime.
Most frustrating, though, is simply the waste of a really solid premise. These young people are basically at the mercy of their doctors/coaches, who are dosing them with dangerous drugs. They are away from their friends and family, and so don’t have anyone looking out for their best interest. There’s competition between the different athletes, each hoping for a spot at the competition. But within this framework, the anonymous javelin killer just doesn’t register. There’s little rhyme or reason as to who gets killed, and all of the kills follow that “What are YOU doing here? *skewered*” pattern, lacking personality. And because Annie, Lynn, and Frank are the only characters with any hint of depth, most of the kills don’t even raise your pulse.
And then, finally, there’s the last act. It’s just dumb and offensive. And I’d love to say that the bigotry on display in that last act is dated, but sadly it’s still very much a thing. The whole thing made me cringe.
Please someone make a good movie about people at an academic academy being taken out by a javelin-wielding maniac! The only points I’m giving this film are for Lynn and Frank and their adorable naked swim race.
Fatal Games, 1984
Annie (Lynn Banashek) is a gymnast at an elite athletics academy in Massachusetts. With a large Nationals event looming, the gymnasts are under tremendous pressure to prepare. Unbeknownst to the young athletes, their mentors and medical supervisors are dosing them with illegal and possibly dangerous amounts of steroids. As the week wears on, various athletes fall victim to a mysterious figure wielding a deadly javelin.
Unimaginative leering and an offensively stupid ending thoroughly sink what could have been an effective horror-thriller.
I would wager that I’ve written up quite a few movies where I’ve lamented the squandering of a good or even great premise. Well, throw this one on the heap as well, because a slasher set in an elite athletic school is a really excellent concept and in almost every way it flops hard.
Falling at the first hurdle (yes, pun intended), the movie is unbearably leering at the female cast. Almost every sequence with the female athletes involves them in a locker room, shower, or sauna, totally nude and shot in these inelegant wide shots that make it clear that the purpose is just getting flesh on screen. There’s so little imagination or eroticism to these scenes that they just feel like what I suppose they are: eye candy for sad pervs. The leering extends to a sequence where one of the athletes is sexually abused by one of the medical staff, which is gross on all levels. You can at least get a good laugh out of the contrasting sequence in the men’s locker room, where one actually nude actor is carefully obscured by another actor, and the one actor in the full view of the camera showers in his jock strap (!!!).
The second serious challenge in this film is its decision to focus on Annie. Banashek is fine in the role, but she’s something of a limp noodle as a character. The character of her boyfriend, Phil (Sean Masterson), is a total dud. He’s manipulative and a loser, but not in an interesting way. Much more engaging are secondary characters Lynn (Teal Roberts) and Frank (Michael O’Leary). Roberts and O’Leary have a fun, easy chemistry, which makes two different sexy scenes with them actually enjoyable. They are just likable, charismatic characters and it makes it baffling when they are pushed into second-tier screentime.
Most frustrating, though, is simply the waste of a really solid premise. These young people are basically at the mercy of their doctors/coaches, who are dosing them with dangerous drugs. They are away from their friends and family, and so don’t have anyone looking out for their best interest. There’s competition between the different athletes, each hoping for a spot at the competition. But within this framework, the anonymous javelin killer just doesn’t register. There’s little rhyme or reason as to who gets killed, and all of the kills follow that “What are YOU doing here? *skewered*” pattern, lacking personality. And because Annie, Lynn, and Frank are the only characters with any hint of depth, most of the kills don’t even raise your pulse.
And then, finally, there’s the last act. It’s just dumb and offensive. And I’d love to say that the bigotry on display in that last act is dated, but sadly it’s still very much a thing. The whole thing made me cringe.
Please someone make a good movie about people at an academic academy being taken out by a javelin-wielding maniac! The only points I’m giving this film are for Lynn and Frank and their adorable naked swim race.