A Masterpiece!

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This movie has a mediocre story with an okay but tired twist ending, an okay cast, and a very competent score. The biggest problem I had with it were scenes that went nowhere or went on too long. In too many of them, people were just standing there with shocked looks on their faces or driving around. I suppose they had to pad it for length. It feels like a TV movie in almost every aspect. There is a very brief scene with nudity at the beginning that doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the thing. It's not necessarily a bad movie but it's not a good one either. It's tedious. Other than the pacing, the worst thing about this movie is the worst thing about many movies of this kind: people doing things that just don't make any sense. People putting themselves in danger for no reason and basically asking to get slaughtered. It bothers me when a movie doesn't even try to make its characters' actions believable. I wouldn't call this a slasher, either. It has aspects of that, but fans of slasher films will be sorely disappointed. If a very soft-R rated, TV mystery movie built out of cliches is something that appeals to you, you're in luck. On a side note, I couldn't help watching Peter Billingsley without thinking of A Christmas Story, and these two very different movies seemed to share at least a couple similar scenes. That gave me a huge laugh.

I really don't think it's as bad as the review in the Leonard Maltin paperback would indicate; it's just not particularly distinguished. It places a child front and centre and in a considerable amount of jeopardy as he runs afoul of a sadistic serial killer in Death Valley. This kid is Billy (Peter Billingsley of "A Christmas Story" fame), an NYC native devoted to his loving dad (Edward Herrmann) who visits his mom (Catherine Hicks) and her new boyfriend (Paul Le Mat) in Arizona. While visiting the site of an abandoned gold mine, he enters an RV and pilfers a necklace that he finds, not knowing that he's obtained valuable evidence that links the killer to the scene of a crime. From then it's sort of a cat and mouse game as the killer sets out to keep Billy quiet. Dick Richards ("Farewell, My Lovely", "March or Die") directs from Richard Rothstein's script, which starts out as if it's going to be told entirely from the childs' perspective as he tries to come to terms with his parents' divorce and with the new man in his moms' life. Soon enough, it edges into slasher film territory, as our killer chops up unfortunate victims. It also attempts to make a substantial character out of our villains' car, which features a vanity plate with the word "hex" on it. The actors do a creditable job; Herrmann shines in what is really a very brief part, and Hicks and Le Mat are likewise very likable. (Le Mat has one standout scene where he's trying to make a connection with Billingsley.) And speaking of Billingsley, he also creates an endearing character and doesn't fall into the trap of being too cute. Good ol' Wilford Brimley is engaging as the local sheriff. But the show is stolen by Stephen McHattie who's as intense as he's ever been, and in fact he has one amusingly off kilter scene where he's intimidating our heroes as he stalks across the roof of his house. Another scene that the viewer will vividly remember is the scene with a corpulent babysitter who does little else besides stuff her face and then pay a big price at the hands of the killer. The thundering music by Dana Kaproff does its best to manipulate us, but what is far and away the biggest asset to the film is the on location shooting. The twist ending just comes off as a little silly. Overall, this is a passable time killer but no more. Six out of 10.

Death Valley is a perfect thriller containing all the suspense and terror without entering in the gore area. Maybe is a little old fashion and the story have some holes in it, but that goes to a second plane. The photography and the score are top notch. Also we have a very frightening performance by the great and only Stephen McHattie. The film also shows scenes and situations rarely seen on today features (like the one in the bathroom, the pool and car sequence, the dancing on the roof, the last revelation about the killer(s), and a few more). It's a very well crafted movie. The plot, for me, was just average. It doesn't matter. The movie has an unique style and that's what I love about it. Hoping a DVD release soon. Bye.

I remember someone saying that the killer was two people but clearly only listed one in the credits; thats because if you pay attention to the movie which that person clearly did not, or didn't even bother to watch the end; you'd realize in the beginning the sheriff and tow trucker were talking about 'twins'. which are played by the same actor!The movie is good for it's era'. It could have used a bit more work in where setting and plot was involved like going into more depth that the twins existed at all; but other than that if the movie was ever on big screen I wouldn't have paid to see it, renting it is a good choice, but I wouldn't buy it.