Death Valley (1982)

Director:

Dick Richards

Writer:

Richard Rothstein (writer)

Release Date:

7 May 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Welcome To Death Valley

Plot:

A divorced mother, her young son and her new boyfriend set out on a road trip through Death Valley and run afoul of a local serial killer. |

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Killer | Twins | Murder | Maniac

Cast

Paul Le Mat	...	Mike
Catherine Hicks	...	Sally
Stephen McHattie	...	Hal
Wilford Brimley	...	The Sheriff (as A. Wilford Brimley)
Peter Billingsley	...	Billy
Edward Herrmann	...	Paul Stanton
Jack O'Leary	...	Earl
Mary Steelsmith	...	The Babysitter
Gina Christian	...	RV Girl
Kirk L. Kiskella	...	RV Boy
Frank J. Cimorelli	...	RV Boy
Arnold C. Waterman	...	On Looker
Fred W.S. Newton	...	Outlaw
J.P.S. Brown	...	Western Sheriff
Roy Gunsberg	...	Tour Guide (as Roy S. Gunsberg)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:16 (theatrical rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Company:

Cinema VII

Gina Christian is the reason tube tops were invented!

This film is not as bad as many people would have you believe. Peter "The Dirt Bike Kid" Billingsley, in his first starring role, plays Billy, a boy who is forced to vacation with his mother and her boyfriend in the middle of the hot California desert. During a desert outing, a bored Billy decides to do a little exploration and comes across a seemingly abandoned RV. Unbeknownst to Billy the RV contains the freshly butchered bodies of three teenagers who are stuffed into the forward compartment. Billy nearly opens the forward compartment's door when he's pulled out and reprimanded by his mother's boyfriend. Billy doesn't leave empty handed though; he has stolen a necklace that he found on the RV's floor.

Later the necklace becomes a clue that is handed over with much guilt and tears to the town's sheriff played by Wilford Brimley. Soon after, the sheriff has a mining pick stuck in his chest after stupidly going over to the killer's house with clue in hand and basically asking, "Hey, look what I found at a murder scene," and knowing full well that the necklace belongs to the killer. Oops!

The killer believes Billy knows too much and needs to be eliminated. From this point on the film becomes a tense cat-and-mouse game that ends with more than a few dead.

Death Valley was released in 1982 without much fanfare or promotion and was quickly lost among the glut of slasher films being churned out by Hollywood at that time. That is unfortunate because the film features everything horror fans love: breasts, gore and excitement. This film also features a tense Henry Manfredini-like musical score by Dana Kaproff and excellent cinematography by Stephen Burum. Billy's mother is played by the beautiful Katherine Hicks (spelled Catherine on the video box) who played Marilyn Monroe in the television movie, Marilyn: The Untold Story.

Another reason to watch this film is for the brief appearance of Gina Christian, in her only film role, as R.V. Girl. Gina Christian is the reason tube tops were invented. Wow!