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Old 4th August 2014, 09:28 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Default Tonight's viewing

They're Playing with Fire (1984)


A bit of an oddity in as much as it was a film experiencing a bit of an identity crisis. At its core it is a student/teacher seduction story, however this is all wrapped up in a murder mystery which quickly becomes a stalk 'n' slash film. The main draw for most of the audience is Sybil Danning who plays the voluptuous teacher Diane Stevens, who seduces one of her students Jay after asking him to help out doing some chores on her yacht. The sexual 'encounters' themselves make for pretty uncomfortable viewing considering Jay looks no older than 14, despite the script shoe-horning in scenes of a jealous love-rival, him drinking at a bar, and plenty of driving; almost as if to sway the audience into believing that he is in fact of age, rather than the baby-faced gimp we see on screen. Add to this the fact that I've never been a massive fan of Danning, and her gratuitous and fairly frequent nude scenes were a little wasted on me.

However, it is after the yacht seduction that the film changes gear slightly as Stevens' corrupt husband Michael is introduced. Together they ask Jay to break into Michael's mother's home one night with the intention of frightening her into a nursing home and the Stevens' inheriting their home and cash. Jay feels used by Diane but agrees to do it, however he is frightened off at the house and runs away. Not long after the house is visited by a trigger happy masked killer who dispatches the occupants. The remainder of the film then turns into a whodunnit slasher interspersed with Danning's baps, her increasingly jealous husband, and teenage capering. Enjoyable enough, and probably even more so if you're a Danning fan.

6/10
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