Art by T.J. Denton (@TDenton_1138 on Twitter) — visit his store!
As he used to say back in the day, things got a little bit “nasty” in the latest episode of The Last Drive-In as Joe Bob and Darcy presented the sleazy, murky threesome-y Death Game.
The story is that it was based on a true story (with some obvious embellishment) that writer Michael Ronald Ross experienced picking up a lady hitchhiker who wore out her welcome, turned into a squatter and proved pretty hard to get rid of.
Hence, the dramatic disclaimer warning for dudes at the outset: “This motion picture is based on a true story. It should serve to remind us that fate allows no man to insulate himself from the evil that pervades our society.”
According to Joe Bob, there was a little bit of the evil going on the set with first (and only) time director Peter Traynor having a rough go with Death Game. Conflict between main male lead Seymour “I’m 40 going on 56” Cassel and Traynor resulted in Cassel walking off and required all his lines to be looped.
There also was, by all accounts, a lack of direction for actors on set as well, said TLDI guest and co-star of the flick, Colleen Camp. It got pretty heated to the point where Traynor and Seymour had a looming threat of fisticuffs.
Speaking of hot, the extended hot-tub makeout involving George, Colleen and Sondra Locke easily surpassed the one in Madman as the best hot-tub makeout session shown on TLDI, even if it went a touch long. As JB and Darcy noted, the camera operator tempted electrocution for his art.
More 1970s you cannot get — soft lighting, ambient music, splashing water and so many dissolves.
Course, that got George into hot water himself as evidenced by these totals:
And let’s not forget Colleen’s fun chat — over a long career wearing many hats in Hollywood, she’s got more connections in the business than times the name “George” is said in the flick multiplied by the number of times we hear “Good Old Dad” in it.
Colleen was pretty diplomatic when recalling the whole situation regarding the tensions on the set, but did recall getting guidance from the two cast members she did the most work with, Cassel and Locke, since it was a pretty early on-set experience for her. (Its release was delayed for something like four years because of financial wrangling and whatnot.)
One flaw apart from the making-of drama for the flick — if you watched through to the end, Peter should have thrown up another slide: “This motion picture is based on a true story. It should serve to remind us to look both ways before crossing the street.” Some found the conclusion funny, others found it WTF.
Death Game drew some renewed notoriety after former TLDI guest Eli Roth re-did it as Knock Knock in 2015 with Keanu Reeves playing the George role (renamed to Evan). That one had a lot more cussing in it and switched the ending up just a touch, dispensing with the deus ex auto-mechanica ending. Also, no competitive croquet scenes. But they added some social media stuff, which these days made the situation Keanu’s “Good Old Dad” wound up in a heckuva lot worse.
Both Sondra Locke and Colleen Camp served as producers for the new one with Camp showing up in a cameo role as someone who pops in to visit and doesn’t like what she sees when she meets the home invaders.
However, the remake looks just a little too well-put-together and you can’t do the “George” drinking game, which likely would not be survivable for a normal human liver.
Death Game was recently released on Blu-ray by Grindhouse Releasing and is still available if you want to add it to your collection. It has a CD with it, and if you really, really want to listen to “Good Old Dad” on repeat and plumb through the pipes of insanity, here’s your chance…
Next up: It’s not Demolition Man, it’s not a super man, it’s not Condorman, it’s …