Film Review--Devil Times Five

Devil Times Five
directed by Sean MacGregor
written by John Durren and Sandra Lee Blowitz
based on a story by Dylan Jones
starring Leif Garrett, Sorrell Booke, Gene Evans, Taylor Lacher, Joan McCall, Shelley Morrison, Carolyn Stellar, John Durren, Gail Smale, Dawn Lyn, Tierre Turner, Tia Thompson, Henry Beckman

In the rarest of cinematic exercises, five disturbed children embark on a thrilling, mesmeric killing spree after their bus from a mental institution crashes. They hike for hours and finally reach a hotel resort that has been closed down. Inside they find a group of terribly uninteresting people who have gathered for a makeshift vacation including the owner, Papa Doc (Evans). The kids are cold and hungry and quickly set up house with the unsuspecting others.

This is really a film that is only worth seeing because of the various methods of killing that are employed by the wee ones. Plus it stars teen-heartthrob Leif Garrett in one of his early film roles. They range in age from 10-14 and are quite ingenious when it comes to murder. David (Gararett) is a cold, menacing figure. He and the others are grim faced and determined throughout the film. There is a young girl who believes she is a novice nun named Sister Hannah (Smale) who most certainly adds a sense of purity and sanctity to the proceedings. Brian (Turner) is the leader and he imagines he’s right in the middle of a war and carries himself like a true soldier replete with a mock M-16. Susan (Thompson) enjoys playing with fire and little Moe (Lyn) is cute in a most disarming manner.

The group of revelers is a hopeless bunch especially when the kids trap them in the house and they have no route of escape. Papa Doc is a gruff man who is involved in some exceedingly shady dealings. His son Harvey (Booke) is a lowly type who can’t stand up to Papa Doc and embarrasses his drunkard wife Ruth (Morrisson). The others are truly dismal and serve no purpose other than being killed. There is a slut named Lovely (Stellar), Rick (Lacher) and his nervous, twittering wife Julie (McCall). The kids do a fine number on all of them and it’s a glory to behold.

Killers who escape justice are an exceedingly scarce thing in cinema these days. Morality being such a restraining force in peoples’s lives, the usual ploy is to kill off the bad guys so one or a few upstanding types can live another day. Here we have what may in fact legitimately be evil. Most things that are labeled evil are not so much but we do meet five children who appear to be without conscience and who kill for the amazing thrill of it all. They seem to quite enjoy the hunt and are incredibly apt in the presentation of their techniques for getting the job done right.

For these children, murder is playtime and they do seem to get fairly animated after completing a kill. Otherwise they are dead serious and do not betray the sheer giddiness they experience upon knocking off one of the miserable folks who provide them with food and shelter.

The idea of a lot of possibly insane children wreaking havoc on an unsuspecting population is a charming one and this film manages to transform it into campy fun. As the deaths pile up and panic grips the soon-to-be victims it’s difficult not to root for the juveniles as they complete their work and escape unscathed. After all, the kids have drive and purpose and they are making the world a much better place by dispatching a group of ciphers who have not been properly flesh out and subsequently are devoid of any legitimate emotional characteristics. The film doesn’t bother to make anyone save the children likable in any discernable way. This lack of character development makes it that much easier to side with the children. They are so darling when they plot and scheme and one can’t help but be taken in by their charming mannerisms.

There is one character named Ralph (Durren) who only seems to be in the film to elicit something akin to pity. He’s mentally challenged and the but of any number of cruel comments that make fun of every aspect of his person. Still, he does have a rapport with his rabbits and seems able at last to communicate legitimate feelings to them. Unfortunately he’s the first to go as his captors rig up a noose and before Ralph can figure out what’s happening he’s swinging and exceedingly dead. It’s actually kind of sad to see Ralph go. He’s the only character amongst the lodgers who deserves any sympathy. That is probably due to the fact that we just don’t want to see mental rejects die in films, especially in this manner. Nevertheless, Ralph is stricken from the record and the little fiends slowly and methodically make their way through the group.

Kids who kill are a fascinating, exquisitely controlled lot. Mary Bell and her friend Norma Bell killed two three year old boys and no doubt giggled about it uncontrollably. It was all some dizzying lark and probably felt like nothing else they had ever experienced. In this film, it’s pretty much in the same spirit. It is suggested that they will simply move on to another house because once the people are dead it just isn’t any fun anymore. Yeah, what’s the point if there isn’t any more to kill?

Overall, this film is aesthetically pretty lousy. It’s not well filmed and the acting is subpar at least amongst the adults. The youths fare better and they certainly possess much more elan and energy. The premise is inspired and there is no moral. The “evil” get theirs and nothing is done to stop them. They get to laugh amongst themselves and reminisce at least until the next one. The little ragamuffins come in so winningly and prove their gratitude with a series of horrendous deaths that dramatically serve their overall purpose. It isn’t mentioned just why the kids were locked away in a mental institution so there’s no great telling of each of theirs personal hell story. It’s supposed that they all committed serious crimes of the starkest brutality and were unceremoniously tossed away. At least I hope so.

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