Devil Times Five (1974)

Director:

Sean MacGregor
(more)

Writers:

Sandra Lee Blowitz (co-writer)
John Durren (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

June 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Not since "Village of the Damned" has death become so savage... or survival so hopeless!

Plot:

Five extremely disturbed, sociopathic children escape from their psychiatric transport and are taken...

Plot Keywords:

Hanging | Boy Dressed As Girl | Young Girl | Pre Teen | Gun

Cast

Sorrell Booke	...	Harvey Beckman
Gene Evans	...	Papa Doc
Taylor Lacher	...	Rick
Joan McCall	...	Julie
Shelley Morrison	...	Ruth
Carolyn Stellar	...	Lovely (as Carolyn Steller)
John Durren	...	Ralph
Leif Garrett	...	David
Gail Smale	...	Sister Hannah
Dawn Lyn	...	Moe
Tierre Turner	...	Brian
Tia Thompson	...	Susan
Henry Beckman	...	Dr. Brown

Directed by
Sean MacGregor
David Sheldon		(uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sandra Lee Blowitz		co-writer
John Durren		writer
Dylan Jones		story

Produced by
Michael Blowitz	....	producer
Albert Cole	....	associate producer
Dylan Jones	....	producer
Jordan M. Wank	....	executive producer

Original Music by
William Loose

Cinematography by
Paul Hipp
Michael Shea		(as Mike Shea)

Film Editing by
Byron 'Buzz' Brandt

Art Direction by
Jac McAnelly

Production Management
Sandra Lee Blowitz	....	executive in charge of production
Beryl Gelfond	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Walter Dominguez	....	second assistant director
Leo Weyman	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dennis Nodine	....	property master
Richard N. McGuire	....	illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jeff Jarvis	....	boom operator
Larry Merrill	....	sound effects
Clark Will	....	sound

Stunts
Paul Knuckles	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Michael Cohan	....	still photographer
Mike Evans	....	best boy
Bob McVay	....	gaffer
Mike Paladin	....	still photographer
Mike Petrich	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Judy Durren	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
George C. Villaseñor	....	assistant editor (as George Villasenor)

Music Department
William Loose	....	conductor

Other crew
Patricia L. Brotz	....	unit publicist
Leeland F. Cook	....	technical advisor
Robert C. Fowler	....	production assistant
Hannah Hempstead	....	script supervisor
Toby Wank	....	production associate

Production Companies

• Barrister Productions Inc.

Distributors

• Code Red DVD (2006-2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinemation Industries (1974) (USA) (theatrical)
• Media Home Entertainment (1982) (Belgium) (video)
• Media Home Entertainment (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• Prima Film (1975) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Red Alert Films (2006-2007) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Saguenay Films (1977) (Canada)
• Seymour Borde & Associates
• Shocking Videos (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Video Treasures (video)

Also Known As:

People Toys
The Horrible House on the Hill

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Lake Arrowhead, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company:

Barrister Productions Inc.

Quotes:

David: [screaming] My face! Look what you did to my beautiful face!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Looking Back at 'The Hills Have Eyes' (2003) (V)

Shout at the "Devil"!

As "Devil Times Five" progressed, I became increasingly unnerved, and by the end, I was somewhat impressed with how it had obtained an R rating. Celebrating its sixth birthday in 1974, the MPAA showed its contradictory colors by allowing this offensive 'psycho kid' flick to pass through its halls unmolested; in 1976, John Carpenter would have his "Assault on Precinct 13" threatened with an X for the murder of a child. So, I guess as long as kids are doing the killing--and as long as they're killing adults (instead of other kids, can't have that in these post-Columbine days, unless it's an 'art film' like "Elephant")--and as long as the kids are certifiable (yet still obnoxiously kid-like) psychopaths, their bloodlust is 'safe' to peddle as 'entertainment.' "Devil Times Five" is relatively well-produced and well-acted, but also alarmingly distasteful and uneven. While mobsters and mob-like personnel gather at an isolated château for wife-swapping, drinking, and bickering, aforementioned brats survive a van crash that leads them to said château. And here begin the problems. Per the needs of the contrived script, the adults are required to be incompetent at every turn, even after these kids have shown visible signs of abnormal behavior (and what the hell is up with a prepubescent Leif Garrett dressing in drag?). Using mental illness as a justifiable excuse for wholesale slaughter, the murder scenes possess a tone more distasteful for what they require of the pint-sized actors (while some are clearly achieved through strategic edits, the principle remains) than the simulated carnage itself. Perhaps the most offensive scene involves a fully nude woman being drowned in a bath while piranhas go to work, with two of the murdering kids present (how charming that they are later seen dragging the nude corpse through the snow!). No wonder Leif Garrett became so messed up... Hollywood tends to tread cautiously with subject matter like this--"Friday the 13th" made the murder of teen-agers an 'acceptable' entertainment (and I like my fair share of that series), while murderous children have been relegated to demons ("Pet Sematary," also threatened with an X in 1989) and otherwise cherubic stars (Macaulay Culkin in "The Good Son"). But to reference "Devil Times Five" in the company of mainstream entertainment is giving it far more credit than it deserves--I know, I know, the '70s WERE a different time for the MPAA (I'll definitely concur, and not in a negative sense, either), but this film left me feeling queasy and uncomfortable for all the wrong reasons. Proceed with caution.