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Devil Times Five (1974)

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    I try not to go into a movie with expectations, any movie, neither high nor low. Having said that, sometimes a certain title will stand out and I convince myself it is of the utmost importance that I see it, fully expecting to like it. Devil Times Five is one of those movies, but don’t ask me why I’m only now (the disc has been out for a year or more) getting around to seeing it.
 
    Some kids and at least two adults, one a nun, are en route somewhere when the driver of the van they’re traveling in loses control, spilling the precious cargo in the snow. The children, along with Sister such & such (who herself is just one of the kids in costume), & picking up just as their ready to fly, straight from Tiger Beat magazine- Leif Garrett,  scurry away from the wreck assured there are no remaining survivors.
 
    There are 3 couples meeting at a lodge in the mountains for some business reason, but one of the couples is in love and they really just want to spend time together. Enter Ralph, the retarded handyman of the lodge. This character is a straight theft of the Lenny character from Of Mice & Men. A catfight between 2 of the ladies erupts in glorious 70s fashion, sadly neither lose their clothes, although at the end there is a titty shot for a brief instance. And then there’s Harvey Beckman, played by Sorrell Booke aka Boss Hogg.
 
    The kids find the lodge, cue creepy synthesizer, the picking of some weapons and it’s evident that there’s trouble ahead. The scene segues into the first murder, which is filmed in slow motion and a sickly red glow, and it’s one of the longest murders I’ve ever witnessed as each kid uses his/her weapon repeatedly to beat the life out of the poor sap who just so happened to be following them, a surviving adult from the crash who knew what the children were capable of, but wholly unprepared as they stomped his ass.
 
    So, did Devil Times Five meet my expectations? Well, yes somewhat. It’s a good movie; the acting is done well, especially the kids. Some unintentional humor rounds out the show…”They’re piranya” and “I’m expecting the gout”, you really can’t go wrong. Code Red did a good job with the transfer. If you’re on the fence, I’d say rent it. I liked it but would have liked the murders to happen a bit faster.
 
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-Rod Schroeder