''Fatal Games'' (originally known as ''The Killing Touch'' and also known as ''Olympic Nightmare'') is a 1984 American

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as ...

written and directed by Michael Elliott and starring

Sally Kirkland Sally Kirkland (born October 31, 1941) is an American film, television and stage actress and producer. A former member of Andy Warhol's The Factory and an active member in 1960s New York avant-garde theater, she has appeared in more than 250 fi ...

, Lynn Banashek, Sean Masterson, Michael O'Leary, Teal Roberts, and Spice Williams-Crosby. The film follows a mad slasher, wielding a javelin, killing off members of a high school gymnastics team. ''Fatal Games'' was released in 1984 and received negative reviews. The film shares many of its plot points with an earlier slasher film, '' Graduation Day'' (1981).

Plot

A seven member gymnastics team at the Falcon Academy of Athletics is up for the "Nationals". But before they can reach the competition, someone dressed in a black tracksuit and wielding a javelin begins killing the members. They must discover the killer's identity before the entire team ends up slaughtered.

Cast

as Diane Paine *Lynn Banashek as Annie Rivers * Sean Masterson as Phil Dandridge * Michael O'Leary as Frank Agee *Teal Roberts as Lynn Fox * Spice Williams-Crosby as Coach Drew *Melissa Prophet as Nancy Wilson *Angela Bennett as Sue Allen Baines *Nicholas Love as Joe Ward *Lauretta Murphy as Shelly *Michael Elliot as Dr. Jordine *Christopher Mankiewicz as Coach Jack Webber *Ed Call as Mr. Burger *Mel Klein as Annie's Father

Soundtrack

The song "Take it All the Way" was composed for the film by

Shuki Levy Shuki Levy ( he, שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as '' The Real Ghostbuster ...

. The song was written by Levy and his then-wife, ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

'' writer

Deborah Shelton Deborah Dale Shelton (born November 21, 1948) is an American actress, beauty queen, and songwriter who was Miss USA and appeared on ''Dallas'' for three seasons and a special guest return in 2013. Pageants In 1970, Shelton competed in the Miss V ...

Release

The film was released in America in 1984 by Impact Films, and was subsequently released on VHS by

Media Home Entertainment Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band. Media Home Entertainment also distributed video product under three additional labels — ...

as both ''Fatal Games'' and, an alternate title, ''Olympic Nightmare''. As of February 2022, the film has not received a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

release.

Reception

British review site Hysteria Lives! wrote a mixed review, stating that "''Fatal Games'' is a real cheap production- but still not as cheap as the video extravaganzas of later years. For much of its running time it has the production values, editing and acting of bad porno- complete with a farting synth score, while praising the kills and climax, saying they was "fun" in a strictly campy way." BleedingSkull.com wrote a mixed review, criticizing the film's bland direction and music, but praising its opening theme song.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0087243 1980s horror thriller films 1980s slasher films 1984 independent films 1984 horror films 1980s mystery films 1980s serial killer films 1980s teen horror films American teen horror films American slasher films 1984 films Films scored by Shuki Levy 1980s English-language films 1980s American films