Fatal Games

source: Fatal Games

Moviecut—Fatal Games

Tough training is suddenly the least of the problems for seven Olympic hopefuls at the Falcon Academy of Athletics. Seems a masked killer is running around an impaling folks with a javelin, a weapon so cumbersome it truly shows the killer's dedication to their rage. I'm a pretty good student of the slasher films, but this one always escaped me. This was the only directorial feature for co-writer/director Michael Elliot and you can see why given how bland everything is. There is some fun to be had by bad acting, poor dialogue and an amazing "Eye of the TIger"-esque theme song (sample lyrics: "Winning isn't everything, winning is the only thing!" and "Remember this and you'll never fall, the winner always takes all!"). You'll probably guess the killer early on, but there is a funny reveal towards the end. The last 20 minutes is pretty fast paced (even with one character having his leg in a cast) and the end fight on a scaffold is good (you'll laugh at how they shoehorned in setting up the scaffold earlier). The script was co-written by Rafael Buñuel, son of Luis. According to Variety, this went into production in the spring of '83 and Luis died in July. Coincidence?

Great drama/sports/murder mystery/Rom com. I like the bit with the javelin

Fatal Games is one of those typical eighties slashers that hasn't got any proper release upon this writing. It's even hard to track it down on VHS. But don't be bothered because it's not really worth searching unless you are collecting those old school horrors. It's Michael Elliot's only attempt to direct a movie, in fact, it's the only thing he did in the scene except for screenplay revision of To Kill A Stranger (1987). The story itself is weak, you just have a mad javelin thrower killing those who wants to go to the Olympics. The killings are very lame and not interesting in any kind because for a movie made in the heydays of horror and especially the slashers it doesn't have almost any red stuff in it. What it do has is a lot of female nudity which surprised me for this production. Some parts are okay but most of it is rather boring and the end scene is way too long and the final is to long too. We do have Sally Kirkland (Diane Pain) who is still in the scene and went to bigger productions like JFK (1991) and Bruce Almighty (2003). The second lead Lynn Banashek (Annie) only appeared in 2 flicks but all other actors made it into the world of flicks and that makes for some this VHS worth searching. I admit that it was rather cheesy, on part of the killings, that sometimes it even made me laugh or even say, common, kill the b*tch, like the swimming and diver part. As I stated earlier, only for the geeks of B-slasher flicks.... Gore 0/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

A gymnastics school, Massachusettes Falcon Academy of Athletics, is haunted by a psychopath. You can see how athletics is of great importance to the school as a whole. The Nationals on the horizon offer Olympics hopes. The faculty aren't fond of each other and we soon learn that the physician(..and his nurse, who objects to his decision to up the dosage) in charge of the kids is giving them improper doses of drugs to reinforce their athletic abilities despite the possible criminal ramifications which could result if caught in the act. The coaching staff come under fire when their students begin vanishing, medal winners whose potential of bringing the school a reputation diminish with each murder. Killer, in black jump suit and hoody, thrusts his/her javelin all the way through the victims, attacking each when they are practicing alone, mostly at night after hours. We see, in one instance, where a girl is saved while swim-training, because her boyfriend shows up in the nick of time(..though, we see later what happens when he isn't there to rescue her due to an injury he suffers while training). The javelin is certainly an interesting weapon of choice and is put to good use in this one. Lynn Banashek is Annie Rivers , a fine gymnast whose grades outside of the academy are faltering due to her commitment to athletics. Juggling both is a problem and her father wishes for her to dedicate herself to education because gymnastics won't last for a career. You know Diane is the "final girl" because she's the most established character of the cast along with being the most virginal and innocent. Annie is an example of the negative reaction to "medication" given to her, side-effects of the steroids(stomach spasms) they've been taking at the insistence of their coaches. Sally Kirkland has a lucrative role as the nurse who attends to the athletes when they suffer bumps, bruises, injuries, etc. Swimming coach and her female student lover(..although, their relationship isn't explicitly presented which is a crying shame). Physical therapist whose hand massage of Diane goes a little too far into an "inappropriate region". Sue Ellen running for her life naked throughout the empty halls of the school, the killer interrupting her sauna rest. Naked girls in the showers. If it weren't for these gratuitous elements(..and the violence), Fatal Games would be an after-school special dealing with young athletes(..and the coaching staff as well) and the numerous challenges that accompany competing for the Olympics, hoping to realize that dream. The performances could be horrendous because the cast was chosen for their athletic abilities, than acting prowess. The reasons for the murders is a doozy! It's quite a psycho-sexual twist.

OK this movie may not win any awards for filmaking or acting, but it's fun none the less. I picked this movie up in a pound shop, and I was quite pleased with the result. It says on the cover that A schizophrenic sex-change javelin with a murderous will to win, so that could be any one of the cast. The movie is set at a sports academy where a group of teens winning teens ready for the National championship are getting picked off one by one each murdered the same way with a javelin by an unknown hooded killer. This isn't the best slasher movie but it's still OK, the acting isn't that bad, but isn't that great either, until the final scene with the killer and the final girl. There are some enjoyable scenes like the killer chasing the naked girl through the corridors of the school and where the killer hits that boy with the javelin while standing on the roof, the girl getting hit with a javelin in the swimming pool is also quite effective as well. But the best has to be where the killer gets it in the end, he/she gets pushed off the scaffolding and lands on the trophy great ending.

Yet another slasher movie from the 80's. This one is set in a sports academy and has the novelty of the killer using a somewhat unorthodox weapon - a javelin. But that novelty wears off after a while. There is not much suspense, no real clues to the "mystery" part, and the ending - especially the motivation of the killer - is absurd. There is also a rather laughable scene where the killer enters a pool in full scuba gear, javelin in hand, and his/her soon-to-be-victim fails to notice anything and keeps on swimming! On the plus side, there is ample nudity, a few well-done gore effects, the two main girls are cute, and most of the character interactions sound genuine. Enough good points to get this movie 4 stars out of 10.

With the British media ramming the London Olympics down our throats in every conceivable way possible, I thought I'd escape the onslaught by watching Fatal Games, an eighties slasher flick where a hooded killer is impaling Olympic wannabes with a javelin. There's an immediate whiff of vintage cheddar about this film as we see the athletes doing their routines to an eighties theme tune that goes "Winning isn't everything, winning is the only thing" and I don't know about you, but I take great comfort from a slasher film when it includes a nice tune or two. We're introduced to our seven athletes/victims and assorted red herrings/possible killer. Fatal Games isn't full of imaginative kills. When we get done with all the crap banter and relationships and what not, the killer dispatches his victim with a javelin, and proceeds to do so throughout the film. He also hides the bodies, so there's plenty of head scratching 'where's such and such?' and stalking around the school. However, there's plenty of imagination injected into the stalking itself, as the killer's shadow is projected onto walls, or the killer is lit from the back, which livens things up a bit. The main 'livening things up' aspect of Fatal Games is the copious nudity shown through the first half of the film. Communal showers, shared saunas, massages, the whole lot is thrown out there to make sure you've got nothing to worry about. It keeps things going while the cast gets whittled down. Apart from that, it is your standard slasher stuff, with someone finding the bodies stashed away somewhere, to the final stalking of the remaining female around the school, etc etc. For an athletics-based slasher film, it's okay. Very similar to Graduation Day (which is better), but nowhere near the level of lunacy that is Pieces (which also had a swimming pool murder and a locker room murder).

I saw this one at the Bruxelles film festival (memories, memories.) and the finale had everybody laughing out loud. But. the rest is just boring slasher stuff without anything that makes a good movie. Good if you want some noise in the background and raises your eyes when you hear a scream. Otherwise, skip it.