Fatal Games (1984)

Too much of everything

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

***SPOILERS*** The competition is hot and heavy to makes the National Finals for the 1984 summer Olympics in L.A with a serial murder out to knock off the finalists, with a javelin throw, complicating things even more. Were made to feel that the killer is a disgruntled student who just didn't make the cut, to be in the finals, but the truth is far more crazier then that. And in the final moments of the film the truth is far more easier to understand especially if you followed the latest news about 1976 decathlon gold medalist Bruce Jenner: Which is in reverse of what Jenner is now going or putting himself through!It seems that all the top athletes at Folcon High are being knocked off by this black hooded psycho who hides their bodies in the schools locker room. The guy goes so far as laying in wait underwater in the school's swimming pool,fully dressed in a scuba outfit, to spear with his javelin his latest victim. It's when he messes up by letting Annie, Lynn Banashek,survive by not hitting her with his javelin in a major organ that we finally get to know just who the killer is and what his motives are. That by being introduced to a wounded Annie lying on a stretcher in the hospital ward a newspaper headline that he's-The killer-the major subject in!***SPOILERS*** Lots of T&A but very little gore makes "Fatal Games" hard to be taken seriously as a slasher movie. Were even shown the students given steroids to improve their performance by the school principle Dr. Jordine, Michael Elliot,as if he were handing out candy. As we were to see Dr. Jodine was from the school of winning at any price even if it cost the health or lives of his students. With the killer now exposed or exposing him or herself it's Annie wounded from the killer's javelin spear now on the run for her life. The killer who's insane and murderous anger is that he was disqualified in winning a gold medal at at track & field event some 10 years ago in the end finally got it, the gold medal, in the high jump contest with a flying from 100 feet up dismount: Or a perfect 10!

At the Falcon Academy of Athletics, a crazed killer is using a well-aimed javelin to bump off the school's most promising young sportsmen and women.Given the wide range of sporting apparatus readily available to the lunatic in Fatal Games, it's a shame that the victims only ever meet their fate skewered on the sharpened point of a javelin: although it makes for a reasonably gruesome demise, the novelty soon wears off.Thankfully, the repetitive nature of the film's kills is easily offset by the excess of female nudity, which is shoe-horned into proceedings at every available opportunity: a character gets topless for her boyfriend, girls are regularly seen showering in the changing rooms, 'final girl' Annie (Lynn Banashek) enjoys a naked massage (but not as much as the masseur!), and, in the film's most gratuitous scene, a totally nude victim is chased all over the school by the maniac after being interrupted taking a sauna. All that nekkidness certainly helps to make matters a lot more enjoyable.Throw in an unscrupulous doctor plying the athletes with steroids and hormones, a coach having a lesbian affair with her student, a cool, lo-fi synth score and a lousy 'Eye of the Tiger'-style theme song (Take It To The Limit), plus a delightfully bonkers motive for the killer, and what you have is a reasonably entertaining piece of '80s slasher silliness. I may be in the minority, but I found it a lot more fun than Graduation Day, that other '80s slasher featuring high-school athletes.6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

This 1984 horror film features a group of Olympic athletes getting slaughtered by a hooded killer who wears a sweat-suit and uses a Javelin as the weapon of choice. Sally Kirkland is featured as physical therapist, Diane. What can I say about this film? It starts off decent, but gets kind of boring after. The film is also very dark in many scenes, the acting is bad and the deaths are basically the same. The only good things are the nudity and some of the creepy music when the killer lurks about, but other than that this is a poor flick. I still recommend viewing it at least once if you're a fan of slasher/horror flicks.

Low-keyed 80's slasher with one tiny little difference compared to the rest of them. The irritating victims all go to a school for sport athletes instead to an ordinary high school. Hardly original, is it? Whilst the girls and boys preparing for the Olympics and the doctors pump them full of steroids, some demented loser is practicing his/her javelin techniques on student targets. It's a rather interesting modus operandi for an 80's killer, resulting in some nicely gory – albeit very cheesy – sequences. I don't know whether you're meant to guess along for the killer's identity, because the given clues are lame and very implausible, but it's a fun enough movie without intellectual red herrings and numerous plot twists. I was in an undemanding mood today, anyway! The humor doesn't really work, there's absolutely no tension or atmosphere and the acting performances are – as to be expected – pretty damn terrible. Oh well, at least "Olympic Nightmare" is never really boring and, since athletes need to take showers regularly, there's also quite a lot of gratuitous nudity. The denouement is a real hoot!