Death Game 1977

Directed by Peter S. Traynor. A director substitution pulled the film toward exploitation territory, yet the resulting turbulence and constant arguments did not destroy this film. For a low-budget independent feature, it holds together well. Much of the credit belongs to Sondra Locke and Colleen Camp, who commit so fully to their roles they take being psychotic and deranged to the very brink.

Two women arrive at George’s door late one night. They are strangers, and their beauty and seduction are a trap. Their offer of a threesome has a much darker intent: they are unhinged, driven by a need for vengeance against men, a retaliation for the sins of their father. The film subverts expectations by casting these young women as the aggressors - the ones who invade, who hold the power. Their control is absolute, exercised through cunning manipulation, cold blackmail, and brutal violence. It’s rare to see a male in a position as weak as this in a film from the 1970’s.

This film has an energy that bursts from the screen, frantic and uninhibited. The two women are vicious in their assault. Shrieking, ranting, screaming, teasing, the girls dismantle Georgie’s home, his records, all the objects he holds valuable, tearing fabric, ornaments, like little savages who have never had any upbringing, intent on destroying his very identity piece by piece. Mental illness from sexual abuse is depicted as developmentally stunted here. The girls move frantically between childlike toddler, petulant raging teenager and young woman. They sulk and stick out their tongues, sing rhyming grotesque songs to unhinged music. They dance around, wearing campy make-up, and being sexually enticing, showing him their bodies, before hitting him. They are playful, teasing and sweet one moment, ferocious and sadistic the next. They hit George, tie him up, tear his clothes, rant in his face and force him to defend his right to live.

They think that George indulging in the threesome that they offered, means they are entitled to torture him. They are projecting, seeing their father’s personality and crimes imprinted on all men including George. Every male has become the image of their father; there is no separation in their mind. Did George’s indulgence mean that he deserved this, no. Of course not. But the director appears to put that question out there now and again. He’s inviting you to look at how men might look at women, and how they are treated by men.

The film’s portrayal of psychologically traumatised young women leans into cinematic tropes of hysteria - the wild eyes, the screaming madness is clearly overly dramatic and fitting a specific image of sexual child abuse victims, it’s also multiplying it by one hundred. One might see this kind of behaviour in drug abuse, when the drug like methamphetamine or Phencyclidine are given in dangerous quantities. And they don’t take drugs in this film. That said, there’s something undeniable in these performances by Sondra Locke and Colleen Camp, it’s a horrifying film, the constant changes in emotion and behaviour of these characters have an effect. The invasion of a person’s privacy and home also creates a sense of fear. The fact that the victim is left helpless at their every whim is frightening. The stress of never knowing what will come next from a person with an erratic personality, is what creates the horror here. It’s the same if you deal with people who are constantly changing behaviour in real life. It’s the expectation that they may turn violent at any time, in real life, this can create a highly stressed victim who is always on edge.

Both characters, Agatha and Donna, despite behaving in similar ways, do have personality differences. Donna appears to just want to be loved by a father figure, Agatha is the more dominant of the sisters, and much more violent. Donna is the one that reaches out to calm the other at times. But both are as mad as you can get! This could be the worst warning of not letting people in your house unless you know them just a little bit!

The soundtrack was created by Jimmy Haskell, this soundtrack is available on the Grindhouse Blu-ray release. The music fits the film perfectly and mimics the madness of both of the characters.

For a low-budget film, it’s a very interesting film, it’s unusual and despite the generalisations on mental health and the amplification of mad behaviour, it’s a wild ride that you struggle to take your eyes from. It’s a performance by two actresses that must be admired.