Fatal Games

12/21/2023

**_Olympic wannabes slain by a javelin_** Athletes at an American farming school for the Olympics go missing, which leaves the staff and other students puzzled. “Fatal Games” (1984) is one of the many slashers that came out in the wake of the success of “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th.” The formula and tropes are simply transferred to a different milieu; in this case, an athletics school. I like the genre and this one includes all the ingredients necessary for a quality slasher, but drops the ball with boring characters/dramatics, too much filler, and an annoyingly dated score (the scores of “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” are fresh by comparison). Then there’s the constant switches to the front of the school, which is supposed to be in Massachusetts, but it’s glaringly Los Ang