A divorced mother, Sally (Catherine Hicks), her young son Billy (Peter Billingsley), and her new boyfriend Mike (Paul Le Mat) take a road trip through Arizona, stopping off at various tourist traps. While at a disused gold mine, Billy discovers an abandoned R.V., which he explores, unaware that the owners have been murdered by a serial killer who has been slashing travellers' throats for the past five years (and apparently cleaning up behind himself: he leaves the R.V. spotless). Inside the vehicle, Billy finds a frog-shaped medallion, which he pockets, unaware that it is a clue to the identity of the killer.
Directed by Dick Richards (producer of Tootsie), Death Valley is, for the most part, a forgettable horror/thriller that delivers very little in the way of suspense or genuine chills, Billy's perpetual peril failing to generate the intended tension. I found the kid thoroughly obnoxious and was longing for him to be bumped off; sadly, this doesn't happen. The early R.V. murders show some promise, Richards ticking both the gore and nudity boxes (a gashed throat and a smashing pair of breasts), and the later brutal slaying of a local sheriff (Wilford Brimley) with a pickaxe is both shocking and bloody, but the bulk of the film is extremely lacklustre, the biggest letdown being the death of Billy's gluttonous babysitter (Mary Steelsmith): she has her throat unconvincingly slashed with a joke shop knife (squeeze the handle to squirt fake blood) - I was at least hoping for her to be choked to death on that banana split!
The revelation that the antagonist has an equally psychotic twin is treated as a surprise, although it is clearly stated that murderous waiter Hal (Stephen McHattie) has a brother named Stu, so it's a given that he'll make an appearance at the end, just as Billy, Sally and Mike think that the horror is over. It's that predictable!
Directed by Dick Richards (producer of Tootsie), Death Valley is, for the most part, a forgettable horror/thriller that delivers very little in the way of suspense or genuine chills, Billy's perpetual peril failing to generate the intended tension. I found the kid thoroughly obnoxious and was longing for him to be bumped off; sadly, this doesn't happen. The early R.V. murders show some promise, Richards ticking both the gore and nudity boxes (a gashed throat and a smashing pair of breasts), and the later brutal slaying of a local sheriff (Wilford Brimley) with a pickaxe is both shocking and bloody, but the bulk of the film is extremely lacklustre, the biggest letdown being the death of Billy's gluttonous babysitter (Mary Steelsmith): she has her throat unconvincingly slashed with a joke shop knife (squeeze the handle to squirt fake blood) - I was at least hoping for her to be choked to death on that banana split!
The revelation that the antagonist has an equally psychotic twin is treated as a surprise, although it is clearly stated that murderous waiter Hal (Stephen McHattie) has a brother named Stu, so it's a given that he'll make an appearance at the end, just as Billy, Sally and Mike think that the horror is over. It's that predictable!