Slayground (1983, Peter Coyote, Mel Smith, Billie Whitelaw) – Classic Movie Review 11,984

Billie Honor Whitelaw CBE (6 June 1932 – 21 December 2014).

Director Terry Bedford’s 1983 British crime film Slayground stars Peter Coyote as a criminal called Stone running from a hitman in this unattractive, violent Thorn EMI thriller based on a novel by Donald E Westlake writing under the pseudonym Richard Stark.

On the plus side there are Billie Whitelaw as a funfair owner named Madge and comic Mel Smith in a serious role as Terry Abbatt, but this is a nasty, boring, botched movie.

The screenplay is by Trevor Preston.

Also in the cast are Philip Sayer, Bill Luhrs.

The film is adapted from the 1971 book Slayground, the 14th Parker novel by Donald E Westlake writing as Richard Stark. The main character has been renamed from Parker to Stone in the film.

Filming finished by November 1983 and it was released quickly in December 1983 in the UK. It had a budget of $5 million.

In 1983 Verity Lambert took over as head of production at Thorn EMI and her first films were Slayground, Comfort and Joy, Mel Smith’s Morons from Outer Space and Dreamchild. Lambert said: ‘I believe all these films have international appeal.’

The cast are Peter Coyote as Stone, Mel Smith as Terry Abbatt, Billie Whitelaw as Madge, Philip Sayer as Costello, Bill Luhrs as Joe Sheer, Marie Masters as Joni, Clarence Felder as Orxel, Ned Eisenberg as Lonzini, David Hayward as Laufman, Michael M. Ryan as Danard, Barrett Mulligan as Lucy, Kelli Maroney as Jolene, Margareta Arvidssen as Grete, Rosemary Martin as Dr. King, Malcolm Terris as Venner, Jon Morrison as Webb, Cassie Stuart as Fran, Debby Bishop as Beth, Stephen Yardley as Turner, P. H. Moriarty as Seeley, Zig Byfield as Sams, Erick Ray Evans as Malpas, Bill Dean as Compére, Ozzie Yue as Waiter, and Tony Devon as Joey.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,984

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com