Protraph Lack of good storyline.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

David Massey 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?

mcgirr It's hard to believe that a movie this bad could actually be released. The dialog was unnatural. Especially poor was the portrayal of the relationship between the boy and his future step-father. I guess you could say that they succeeded in producing awkward dialog, but what was said seemed false and artificial. The suspense just wasn't there. The music was about as bad as it gets. The only reason I watched this movie was because I live in the Death Valley area and was curious about what locations would show up on the screen. Fortunately the movie was on TV and so I didn't waste any money renting this sorry excuse for a film! I honestly believe that most amateurs could put together a more captivating plot than was presented here. It's too bad that the time of an entire film crew was wasted on such trash! I guess the only positive thing I can say about the movie is that some of the scenery was good.

udar55 Billy (Peter Billingsley) heads from New York to Arizona with his recently divorced mom (Catherine Hicks) so she can hook up with old high school boyfriend Mike (Paul Le Mat). Along the way, the makeshift family stumbles upon the handiwork of a local serial killer. When they report it to the sheriff (Wilford Brimley), word gets out and the killer comes looking for quasi-witness Billy. This hard-to-find early 80s horror offering is unique in that the person being stalked is a 9-year-old. I doubt you would ever see a major studio film today with a kid being in the line of fire from two killers. Unfortunately, the film has little else going for it.The identity of the killer is given away almost immediately, with a "shock" ending added on that won't surprise you. Stephen McHattie, who was the robber in Cronenberg's A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, plays the set of evil twins and is good. It isn't really a shock because you know right off the bat that his character Hal has a brother. Their motive for killing (keeping people away from Pa's worthless goldmine) is straight outta SCOOBY DOO.Watching the film and its desert locations and creepy set ups, I wondered if Eric Red saw it and thought to himself, "Man, I wonder what this would be like if done right?" before writing THE HITCHER. Edward Herrmann has a completely thankless role as Billingsley's father in one scene. Since he is in it so little, I suspect he might be the killer. I guess not.

culwin ...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.