I really must thank Eli Roth: Knock Knock, his diabolically bad remake of '70s thriller Death Game, has given me an appreciation of the original that I might otherwise not have had. Compared to the utterly abysmal performances in Roth's film, the acting in Death Game is actually pretty good, while the original shows just how lame Knock Knock is in terms of shock value, delivering at least two scenes that easily outdo the self-proclaimed modern master of horror.
Directed by Peter S. Traynor, Death Game stars Seymour Cassel as loving husband and father George Manning, whose wife leaves for a few days after their son is struck down with appendicitis at his grandparents. While enjoying a rainy evening in his own company, two young girls call at George's home, claiming to be lost; being a kind Samaritan, he invites the girls, Donna (sexy Colleen Camp) and Jackson (not-so-sexy Sondra Locke), in out of the rain, and allows them to stay while a friend comes to pick them up. They repay his kindness by seducing him, luring him into a threesome in his jacuzzi, after which they carry out a campaign of terror, torturing and humiliating their host.
While no means perfect—the second act is drawn out for far too long and the repetition of its theme song is guaranteed to irritate—this trashy slice of exploitation still unfolds in a far more satisfying manner than Knock Knock, with the girls even going so far as to kill, something they never did in Roth's movie. The pair also prove their psycho credentials with a little animal cruelty, launching the family cat through a closed window. The purely psychological torture in Roth's film (as suffered by a totally unconvincing Keanu Reeves) is pathetic by comparison.
My advice: if you've already suffered through Knock Knock, give this one a try. Like me, you'll probably find yourself enjoying it more as a result.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.
Directed by Peter S. Traynor, Death Game stars Seymour Cassel as loving husband and father George Manning, whose wife leaves for a few days after their son is struck down with appendicitis at his grandparents. While enjoying a rainy evening in his own company, two young girls call at George's home, claiming to be lost; being a kind Samaritan, he invites the girls, Donna (sexy Colleen Camp) and Jackson (not-so-sexy Sondra Locke), in out of the rain, and allows them to stay while a friend comes to pick them up. They repay his kindness by seducing him, luring him into a threesome in his jacuzzi, after which they carry out a campaign of terror, torturing and humiliating their host.
While no means perfect—the second act is drawn out for far too long and the repetition of its theme song is guaranteed to irritate—this trashy slice of exploitation still unfolds in a far more satisfying manner than Knock Knock, with the girls even going so far as to kill, something they never did in Roth's movie. The pair also prove their psycho credentials with a little animal cruelty, launching the family cat through a closed window. The purely psychological torture in Roth's film (as suffered by a totally unconvincing Keanu Reeves) is pathetic by comparison.
My advice: if you've already suffered through Knock Knock, give this one a try. Like me, you'll probably find yourself enjoying it more as a result.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.