Woodyanders Review of They're Playing with Fire

They're Playing with Fire (1984)

Sybil Danning sizzles in this deliciously cheesy slasher murder thriller item

[8/10 · 10 June 2007]

Cunning and enticing college English professor Diane Stevens (the ever luscious Sybil Danning at her all-time hottest) seduces gawky, naive student Jay Richard (the hopelessly geeky Eric Brown of "Private Lessons" fame) so she can use him as a patsy for an intricate scheme to inherit a sizable sum of money from her wealthy in-laws. However, a vicious mystery killer gums things up to an alarming degree. Director/co-writer Howard Avedis concocts a really strange and sordid blend of your standard silly teen sexploitation romp (the sleazy soft-core sex scenes are genuinely steamy stuff) and more mean-spirited slasher horror schlock (the scene where the psycho dressed as Santa beats a luckless lady's head in with a baseball bat is truly jolting). The cool supporting cast includes Andrew Prine as Diane's jerky husband Michael, Paul ("The Beast Within") Clemens as Jay's amiable college roommate Martin "Bird" Johnson, Alvy ("Green Acres") Moore as cranky gas station owner Jimbo, and K.T. Stevens as Michael's bitchy mother Linda. Moreover, this picture deserves extra kudos for getting right to the point: a mere eight minutes into the film Sybil removes her top and bares her beautiful bountiful breasts. Gary Graver's crisp, handsome cinematography, several tacky rock songs blaring away on the soundtrack, John Cacavas' thrashin' rock score, a few ugly murder set pieces, and Danning's awesomely abundant eye-popping nudity further enhance the delectably cheesy charm of this vintage 80's exploitation junk.