A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

1982 slasher Deadly Games (not to be confused with the similarly titled '84 slasher Fatal Games) begins promisingly enough, getting its first scene of gratuitous female nudity in well before the opening credits have finished—that's got to be some kind of record. The topless beauty is then chased through her very dark house by a killer dressed in black (including regulation ski mask and gloves), before the woman falls through a window to her death on some rocks. So far so good.Sadly, after this encouraging start, it's all downhill. The victim's sister, Keegan (Jo Ann Harris), turns up at the scene of the crime, and a more irritating character it would be hard to imagine: within minutes you'll be wishing it was her who took the face plant onto the rocks, the woman's goofy mannerisms and constant, supposedly amusing quips proving irritating in the extreme. And she is the main character for the next eighty minutes or so. Not so great.The remainder of the film primarily consists of Keegan developing a relationship with married cop Roger Lane (Sam Groom) and a friendship with Roger's best buddy, oddball theatre owner Billy Owens (Steve Railsback), one of whom is obviously the killer. This leads to such exciting scenes as the threesome going to the park for a football game, watching an old movie at the theatre, and playing a board game (part of a montage that is accompanied by a lousy song), all of which has sod all to do with the plot.After lots of pointless waffle, interspersed by a couple of random jump scares, a spot more nudity (during the obligatory sex scene), and a couple of bloodless murders, the film ends with a predictable chase through the darkened theatre, after which Keegan conveniently finds a gun and shoots the killer dead. Normally this would signal the end credits, but writer Scott Mansfield has another surprise up his sleeve, one that'll leave you wondering what the heck you just watched.

Not as bad as some reviewers will have you believe, but this isn't Don't Look in the Basement or Re-Animator either. This film centers on a plucky gal named Keegan (Jo Ann Harris) whose sister is murdered in the opening scene. She returns home to solve the case with help from Vietnam vet sheriff Sam Groom who is one of two suspects. One of the main flaws is that throughout the film, we, the viewers, know that the killer can either be one of two Vietnam vets: the surly, ladiesman sheriff who screws everything in site or his battle buddy Steve Railsback who operates the local theater. Needless to say, the suspense was lacking. The viewer has two suspects. Which Vietnam vet is killing off all the pretty things in town? VIOLENCE: $$$ (This won't disappoint gore hounds but what will disappoint them is the time between death scenes. There is far too much filler in the script--displayed as characterization--that will assuredly lead the less entranced viewer reaching for the fastforward button. The opening scene has Alexandra Morgan strangled. Later Colleen Camp gets hers in a pool, but it is a poorly filmed scene. Denise Galik gets throttled after a romp in bed. Other dames get attacked also).STORY: $$$ (The story starts off very promising: a sexy woman gets pushed out a window to her death. Shortly thereafter we are introduced to a unique character, Keegan, that isn't your ordinary screaming head but a wise acre. Keegan is fun for about half an hour, but once the story starts to sputter, Keegan's antics become less eccentric and more annoying. Also, the story deals with a board game but the screenwriter failed to mix that subplot into the story effectively).ACTING: $$ (Jo Ann Harris, although interestingly plucky at the beginning, will indeed get on your nerves. A character like that needs to be a co-star at best and they had that in the acid tongued waitress that Denise Galik masterfully played. The lead needn't be that off-putting. Sam Groom was alright as the sheriff but fans of Steve Railsback and Colleen Camp need not apply. Colleen has about ten minutes screen time and when she gets killed in the pool, you can hardly tell--given the poor lighting--that it was Colleen who even entered the water).SEXUALITY: $$$$$ (Here you won't be let down, unless this isn't your thing. The lovely Alexandra Morgan (I believe that's her name) has a lengthy topless scene in the opening scene of the film. She is well put together if you know what I mean. Jo Ann Harris has a brief topless scene before entering the shower and the heavenly Denise Galik goes threads free in bed with Sam Groom).

Much more frightening than the actual movies themselves is the fact that one continues to discover slasher movies that were released in the 1980's! This decade truly is an inexhaustible source for low-budgeted and inane horror pictures that often ended up in oblivion shortly after coming out. "Deadly Games" is such a prototype example of the – righteously – forgotten 80's slasher! The plot and characters are derivative, the killings are unimaginative and the attempts to insert humor are downright pitiable. Tension apparently was an unavailable option as well. The plot drags slowly and spends way too much time focusing on bimbos and losers cheating on each other. Past halfway in the film I still hadn't figured out which characters are sleeping together whilst they aren't supposed to, and who the hell cares about that anyway? The strange murder of a voluptuous town girl (sadly, the hottest chick dies first) reunites a group of old friends and makes them speculate together about what could have happened. One of them is a copper – though not a very convincing one – investigating the case, one girl is the wannabe cynical sister of the first victim and all the rest are dispensable dorks. There are plenty of bone-headed who are waiting, no … BEGGING to get slaughtered but nothing happens. At a certain point, the ultimate low point of the film, you're actually watching at how three of the characters (one of them being the copper) sit in a theater and see a film … for several long minutes! What's the freaking point?!? And why can't that chick stop talking to herself or at least realize her jokes and one-liners are totally not funny? If the theater scene wasn't painfully dire enough yet, they carry on playing a board game and football whilst the most abysmal 80's song can be heard. How is this relevant? And you, you stupid cop, shouldn't you be looking for the killer? In case you haven't noticed yet, "Deadly Games" is one of the worst and most redundant slashers of the entire 80's, and that's saying something, since we mentioned the inexhaustible offer before. It doesn't even deserve to be called a slasher, as the slashing is next to none! This is a pile of steaming rubbish about a bunch of losers struggling with midlife crises whilst still in their early thirties. Avoid like the plague.

This is a pretty messy movie. I saw it on cable when I was young and new slashers appeared every week on cable. It appealed to me at the time because the character who played "Keegan" was spunky and interesting, and the premise was, if I understand it correctly (somehow hinging on a gay subtext...?) unique for its time. There was also little else to watch back then.The story, such that it is, involves the murders of young women in a town, and the solving of those murders by the spirited Keegan, who has just moved there, and at least starts OUT as a character that isn't an empty-headed cliché.But who can tell what's going on? This movie just flaps along, presenting one disjointed scene after another, and characters you're never encouraged to care about in scenes that fall flat and look drab and ugly. The presence of the dynamic and almost always insanely fun Steve Railsback (soon to appear in "The Devil's Rejects") is barely noticed. It all becomes dull as a white color crayon very quickly with no gore, no tension, no logic and no story to speak of. This is why God invented the fast forward button. Or better yet, the "Stop" button. Put in another movie--any other movie--and enjoy a good evening's entertainment.I have a feeling this was cobbled together from the remains of several other movies somehow, like how Roger Corman's "Hollywood Blvd," which this resembles in a weird way, was assembled. I hadn't seen this for years, saw it for a buck on VHS and promptly recorded Scooby-Doo cartoons over it so it would have SOME value anyway...