Students and staff are baffled when athletes disappear from an American school training for the Olympics. “Fatal Games,” released in 1984, is just one of numerous slasher films that appeared after “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” became popular. The basic elements and familiar plot devices are simply moved to a new setting—in this case, an athletic training school. I enjoy this type of movie, and it has everything needed for a decent slasher, but it fails because the characters and dramatic moments are dull, there’s excessive padding, and the music feels very old-fashioned; the soundtracks from “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” sound much more modern in comparison. Also distracting are the frequent shifts to what is meant to be a location in Massachusetts, but which clearly looks like Los Angeles. Still, there’s enough that works if you're looking for an 80s slasher film and aren’t bothered by uninspired filmmaking. The reveal of the killer using a javelin, for example, is original and executed effectively. It probably wouldn’t be acceptable now because of modern sensibilities. The movie has a running time of one hour and twenty-four minutes and was filmed in the Los Angeles area at Redondo Beach (using interiors from Aviation High School, which no longer exists) and exteriors at University High School in West Los Angeles. GRADE: C+

Source on TMDB