Death Game (1977)

Death Game (1977)

French Title: Ça peut vous arriver demain ! (It Could Happen to You Tomorrow!)

It’s worth noting that the French dubbing makes this movie unbearable. That’s saying something!!!

However, I read this review: “An incredible duo of actresses in this scandalous, hard-hitting, and highly gripping film. Take a trip back to the ’70s and skip Eli Roth’s remake.”

I’m sorry, but I disagree: I think both movies are terrible, even though the story is interesting at its core. I’m sure there’s another way to make the most of it. Because the idea of two young women showing up one evening, soaked by the rain, adorable and pretty—that would be the dream of quite a few men. But does it always have to turn into a one-night stand, followed by torture???

A lot of fuss over nothing!

It’s fun at first, but after a while, it gets repetitive. The two actresses’ giggles, grimaces, and coy antics eventually become unbearable. Although I like the beginning and the intro, you could say there’s no real story to speak of. A guy gets held captive in his own home by two girls, for no reason. Not much of interest happens between the beginning and the end.

For an hour and a half, the girls eat (or rather, wolf down their food), put on makeup, change outfits, laugh their heads off like idiots, and wreak havoc while the guy is tied up. This allows the director to film his actresses’ naked bodies extensively from every angle and to open the film with a looooong threesome scene in a bathtub—as sexy as an episode of Derrick (uninteresting German TV Series).

I especially liked the pretty colored lighting in the living room and that aquarium lit up in green—it looked absolutely stunning. A bit underwhelming!

Sondra Locke wants to punish you!

“Death Game” is a 1977 thriller directed by Peter S. Traynor, starring the famous and late actress Sondra Locke. Yes, let’s respect the deceased! I wanted to see this movie because I’d seen its 2015 remake, Knock Knock, directed by Eli Roth. It’s interesting to compare the two films, since you don’t necessarily take away the same things or have the same feelings from them, despite the identical plot.

“Death Game” tells the terrifying story of Georges Manning (Seymour Cassel), a respectable family man and businessman. While he is home alone on his birthday, two young women, Agatha (Sondra Locke) and Donna (Colleen Camp), knock on his door. Soaked and lost, they ask Georges for help. After the two young women have won him over, they threaten him and put him through a living hell. Beneath their appearances as seductive young women lies cruelty incarnate.

According to fans of this terrible movie, “Death Game” is superior to its remake… by a long shot! That really makes me smile, of course—as you can imagine! Probably because “Knock Knock” veered into a burlesque atmosphere, bordering on black comedy. In this 1977 original, the tone is much more straightforward.

As the film progresses, the style shifts and adapts as poor Georges is beaten, abused, tied up, and left unconscious.

The use of color and dynamic editing really immerses us in this country house, where carefree and cruel young women gleefully torment an innocent man. Someone once wrote: “Unlike Knock Knock, Death Game has a real charm, with direction that suits its uncontrollable and chaotic setting.”

That’s great! Praising such a dud. It really makes me laugh when people say things were better back then. The reality is, there were good films back then, but there are good ones now, too. That hasn’t stopped every era from having some real trash!

The biggest whiners will point out the major difference from Eli Roth’s version: the plot. So fine, I’m okay with the fact that the man is portrayed here as a victim and that there’s nothing suggesting an attack on patriarchy or the traditional family. There’s no hint of any misandry, and the film’s ending leaves no doubt about that. On the other hand, I’m referring to professional whiners—all those who keep harping on our ears, saying that “The remake, on the other hand, is clearly an attack on the image of the average white man and father of an ideal family.”

The man is both objectively the victim and portrayed as the culprit. The film—under the guise of a black comedy—clearly seeks to entertain the audience by humiliating the man and making him feel guilty, right up to the final scene, which makes the whole thing a bit uncomfortable given the reality of the situation. Where “Knock Knock” tells us, “Look how I’m humiliating the American ideal,” “Death Game” tells us, “Watch out—men are weak, weaker than you think; you could get caught in a trap.”
Yeah, right! As far as I’m concerned, it’s all the same!

The man is still a white man who cheats on his wife. At the same time, he’s forced into it, since the women leave him no choice—even though they refuse him at least three times. That’s what’s most pathetic about these two films. There’s nothing subtle about it, and as a result, it’s completely uninteresting!

The thriller Death Game (1977), which features a home invasion, was actually filmed in 1974, even though it was released after they became a couple. “Clint wanted me to work only with him,” Locke said. “He didn’t like the idea of me being away from him.”

One last detail: the film opens by claiming that this story is true—obviously, a claim that’s impossible to verify! But we know that movies of this genre, especially horror films, like to include this kind of message, and it’s almost become a running gag, a tradition. It’s silly and stupid—I’ll grant you that!
In conclusion, “Death Game” is a prime example of the dreadful (American) cinema of the ’70s. It’s certainly a real treat for fans to see Sondra Locke as a deranged and cruel woman, using her charms only to punish her victims all the more.

Yet another review says: “A pleasant surprise, given how disappointed I was with Eli Roth’s version, which lacked any real flavor.” For me, once again, neither one has any flavor. But I almost prefer the remake, actually. I never thought I’d say that one day. Just goes to show, there’s always something worse than the worst.

It’s like Day of the Woman (1978) and I Spit on Your Grave (2010)—though I still prefer the remake.

Even the music here is unbearable! I hope for their sake that it was at least intentional!

On the other hand, the very end is better than in the remake. At least that’s something!

A must-see for fans of the genre! Personally, I’ve seen tons of home invasion movies… and only a small percentage of them are any good or worth watching. The rest are trash—best to throw them away or burn them!