gwnightscream This 1982 horror film stars Paul Le Mat, Catherine Hicks, Peter Billingsley, Stephen McHattie, Wilford Brimley and Edward Herrmann. This begins in New York where we meet young boy, Billy (Billingsley) and his father, Paul (Herrmann) who is divorced from Billy's mother, Sally (Hicks). Soon, Billy travels to Death Valley, California to spend time with her and get to know her boyfriend, Mike (Le Mat). McHattie (Beverly Hills Cop III) plays serial killer, Hal who soon terrorizes them and Brimley (The Thing) plays the Sheriff. This isn't bad, Billingsley (A Christmas Story) is great in it and McHattie is a good villain.

merklekranz This is a movie that is somewhat scattered. While the presence of Peter Billingsly might lean towards a film that would appeal to children, that is certainly not the case here. On the other hand as a slasher, "Death Valley" is extremely mild. The musical score is interesting, and there are a few suspenseful moments, but in the end the viewer is left unsatisfied, with a bit of a letdown. The acting, especially by Billingsly, is way above average, and character development is not forgotten either, but the entertainment value is lessened by the weak slasher elements, especially since the villain is about as interesting as a mud puddle. - MERK

Scarecrow-88 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.

slayrrr666 "Death Valley" is a really underwhelming slasher film with a few things going for it.**SPOILERS**Getting a divorce, Hal, (Stephen McHattie) talks his son Billy, (Peter Billingsley) into going with ex-wife Sally, (Catherine Hicks) while she goes to California. Meeting with old friend Mike, (Paul Le Mat) upon arriving, they decide to visit Death Valley together. As they spend more and more time together, upsetting him more, they start to believe that a serial killer is loose in the area after a series of accidents along the way. The local Sheriff, (Wilford Brimley) feels that a notorious madman is still loose and offers them safety in a nearby Wild West novelty town. Taking a while to realize that the killer has followed them back to their hotel and has targeted them, they race to save him and stop the murderer before it's too late.The Good News: There wasn't a whole lot here that actually worked. One of the few things it does do right is it's stalking scenes. They're wonderfully done, have an appreciable length, and at times are actually suspenseful. It's hard to pick which one's are the best, as there's lots of good ones. The big one in the hotel could be one, as there's a lot of interaction between the killer and intended victim that leads to a couple really nice confrontations between the two. A romp through a museum of Wild West memorabilia isn't that bad, and it also manages to really get in some unknown confrontations with the two early on than most. The most suspenseful is a pretty eerie walk-through of a supposed abandoned motor-home, that just has all sorts of vibes and atmosphere running through it. There's also a really big finale that is quite nice to see. A lot of action, all the pieces to the puzzle fall into place for every opportunity, and a lot happens that manages to really entertain to a big point. This is also when it goes into full overdrive and manages to showcase all it's slasher elements, including it's several confrontations and put in some really nice stalking scenes into the mix along with a couple of great confrontations and fights. These here are all the movie has in it's favor.The Bad News: This here doesn't have a whole lot wrong, but they are major flaws. The biggest one is the sheer minuscule body count. It's almost not even right to consider this a slasher as there's nearly no slashing going on. There's a half-dozen deaths in here, several are off-screen and never found out what happened, one is run over in a car, and the others are so cliché and uninteresting that they don't deserve mentioning. These methods really decry the fact that this is a slasher film with pretty much easy picking. Another really big flaw is the really slow pace on hand. This takes forever to get going, spending most of the early going concentrating on the developing romance between the friends and how the son reacts to them. It's almost from out of another film entirely and doesn't really seem to be indicative of a slasher at all, as there's almost forty-five minutes until the first kill takes place on-screen, and with it's puny death-count, that leaves a lot of boredom in the early sections of the film. The other really big flaw is that this offers up no motivation for anything that happens. We never know why the killer is going on the rampage, what the reason is or why the targets where selected. They were simply out-of-contact with everyone around and there were no witnesses around, leaving only a state of confusion as to why they were inflicted. All these reasons drag the film down considerably.The Final Verdict: This one isn't all that spectacular a slasher film, and by most standards is hard pressed to be called as such. Really only recommended to the curious or the most die-hard fanatic, while more casual ones can skip this and get requirements elsewhere.Rated R: Violence, Language and children in danger