The family unit around patriarch Papa Doc (Gene Evans), whose name does not remind of a dictator without reason, gathers for a few days in their gigantic holiday home in the snowy Californian mountains. Too bad they are all borderline crazy. My first thought was actually that they'd soon start killing each other, but in a surprising twist five darling little children (among them Leif Garrett) barely escape from a bus accident and manage to make their way to the house.
Another survivor of the accident follows them only to be brutally murdered. My, it looks like the five are escaped mental patients.
Soon the little ones draw the family's attention and even those hardened, perverted members of the upper class can't resist a child's plea for help.
Since the house doesn't have a phone, Papa Doc's people and the kids get to know each other a little.
The next morning, Ralph (John Durren), the mentally handicapped man the Docs use as their personal slave (officially: handyman) is found dead, the house's generator and the car sabotaged.
What else is there to do than wait for the snow plow? One after the other, the adults are getting killed off by their guests in increasingly silly ways, my personal favorite being the deadly combination of drowning and piranha-attack in the bathtub. Finally, much too late, the surviving family members understand who and what the children are. A more modern movie would surely have looked for a way to provide a friendlier ending than the one which follows, but fortunately we are in the golden Seventies, so you know what to expect. You won't get disappointed.
I am not sure what effect director Sean MacGregor and writer John Durren tried to achieve here. I'm afraid everything is meant to be taken very seriously, as part of some very profound things the film is trying to tell us. Whatever they may be.
For me the movie works much better interpreted as a dark and creepy comedy, a less weird Spider Baby perhaps, or a much weirder episode of Dallas. I am not trying to slam the movie in any way, I had lots of fun watching it. The Docs' family is one of the more exaggerated film families you'll see, featuring the Weak One, the Alcoholic, the Mean Bastard Patriarch, the Nymphomaniac and so on, all quickly and entertainingly set at each other's throats from the very beginning. Their dubious charm is amplified by some great moments of snarky hate-dialogue.
Our theoretical bastions of sanity are actually feeling less sane than the murderous children. The family members just don't kill each other. I suspect because they couldn't hate each other so effectively after a murder.
The technical aspects of Devil Times Five are of a good Seventies low budget standard, no reason for complaints, no reason for compliments.
Who wouldn't want to see Leif Garrett in drag?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment