If you'd heard nothing about 'Death Valley' and never seen the poster, you'd get about a quarter through the film still thinking it was an overly angsty kid's movie about dealing with divorce. To your surprise, you'd find that the film is one of the most gussied-up, glitzy actor'd, low-brow slasher flicks every made.Despite an impressive cast, it's really no surprise if you haven't heard of this one – I hadn't and I'm a child of the 80's. In 1982, with slasher films reaching their apex of interest, and audiences demanding more and more outlandish scenarios, director Dick Richards (better known for westerns and noir) set out to make a serious suspense thriller told from a young boy's perspective. Fortunately (or otherwise), he succeeded only in finding a bizarre new genre-limbo somewhere between 'Kramer vs. Kramer' and 'Slumber Party Massacre'; 'Death Valley' is a bit of an awkward fit.Billy, played by Peter Billingsley ('A Christmas Story'), is as sublime a 'natural' as ever there was in the role of the young boy in question. He lives in Manhattan with his father, a rather sophisticated businessman played by Edward Herrmann ('The Lost Boys') and is about to take a vacation out west with his mother (Catherine Hicks – 'Child's Play') and her corn-fed boyfriend (Paul Le Mat – 'American Graffiti'). There's no question that Billy is none too pleased at the prospect but he's immediately shown to be both mature and intelligent enough to cope.Aside from Billy's misplaced distrust of his mother's new beau, the newly-formed family unit begins a trek across the deserts of Arizona with only the mildest of dysfunction in tow. Our first hint that the story will dive into dread comes when Billy notices an ominous old Cadillac passing on the highway; the scene recalls Spielberg's 'Duel' or Carpenter's 'Christine'. From here the film spirals down into a bloody-red murder mystery with Billingsley as the hunted witness and Wilford Brimley ('The Thing') as the bumbling highway cop without any hope of protecting this unsuspecting family from a mysterious killer.There really is a punch about a third of the way into the film (around the time we see a completely obligatory topless vixen and tomato-soup-red blood pouring from the neck of a victim – whose killing has no motivation by the way) that the whole tone turns on its head. 'Death Valley' feels a bit like 2 movies with 2 different directors - who have vastly different goals - just collaged together without much care or purpose. It's no wonder that Universal didn't really know what to do with this one; it sat in a can for over a year before it was released. Purpose aside, I sat down and tried to figure out why this film doesn't work and, in doing so, I found myself with a list of all the reasons it does: big names, epic cinematography (filmed almost entirely on location), Wilford Brimley, 1980's nostalgia (see 'SIMON'), unapologetic child-in-peril scenario, and neon-orange blood splattered across half of the movie. What's not to like?

Decent 80's slasher with divorcée Sally(Catherine Hicks)and her son Billy(Peter Billingsley)meeting mom's new boyfriend, Mike(Paul Le Mat), in Arizona, touring Death Valley, running into murderous Hal(Stephen McHattie)and another accomplice along the way. With Edward Herrmann as Billy's Princeton professor father and Wilford Brimley as the sheriff of his county where the murders reside. We see how Mike has a hard time getting Billy to like him, these kinds of situations(mom's new boyfriend attempting to smooth out many uncomfortable wrinkles with his potential stepson)present those awkward complications as the older man and the difficult boy, attached so emotionally and lovingly to his real father, find some sort of common ground. This slasher derives it's suspense from the idea that a boy is in danger, a psychopath(s) knowing that Billy is the key to implicating him(them)of the serial killer murders. Most of the violence consists of the killer using a knife to slice throats(it's clearly the old knife gag where the prop distributes blood from a trigger as the one using the weapon pulls the fake blade across the victims' throats)of those he attacks from behind. Solid cast in a rather so-so little thriller, with a loud score used to unnerve the audience. McHattie really owns the film as the menace out to get little Billy. Opens as if the movie was to be a family film about the complexities of a boy adapting to a possible new man and location in his life, and then settles into it's slasher routine. Little Billy encounters a mobile home where a triple homicide took place and confiscates a necklace with a toad which he hands to the sheriff(also Hal sees little Billy with it at the restaurant for which he works)soon involving himself, inadvertently, with Hal.

I remember someone saying that the killer was two people but clearly only listed one in the credits; thats because if you pay attention to the movie which that person clearly did not, or didn't even bother to watch the end; you'd realize in the beginning the sheriff and tow trucker were talking about 'twins'. which are played by the same actor!The movie is good for it's era'. It could have used a bit more work in where setting and plot was involved like going into more depth that the twins existed at all; but other than that if the movie was ever on big screen I wouldn't have paid to see it, renting it is a good choice, but I wouldn't buy it.

...a movie without a script totally bombs. From the writer of "Universal Soldier" (1 & 2) and "Hard to Hold", it's a wonder this movie is even as good as it is. The actors and director do a remarkable job despite the drivel they are forced to work with. If they did a total rewrite of this movie, it would probably be pretty good, but as it is, it is somewhat boring and just BLAH. It has some moments but I wouldn't bother unless it is on TV and you are bored anyways.