Slayground
Slayground is a 1983 British crime thriller film directed by Terry Bedford. Starring Peter Coyote, Mel Smith and Billie Whitelaw, the film is adapted from Slayground, the 14th Parker novel (although the main character has been renamed to "Stone" in this adaptation), written by Donald E. Westlake under the name Richard Stark.
| Slayground | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Terry Bedford |
| Produced by | John Dark Gower Frost |
| Screenplay by | Trevor Preston |
| Based on | Slayground by Donald E. Westlake |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Colin Towns |
| Cinematography | Stephen Smith |
| Edited by | Nick Gaster |
Production company |
|
| Distributed by | Columbia-EMI-Warner Universal Pictures Associated Film Distribution[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million[2] |
Cast
- 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
- Kelly 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
- Tony Devon as Joey
Production
The novel Slayground was published in 1971.
In early 1983 Barry Spikings left Thorn EMI and Verity Lambert was appointed head of production. Lambert's first slate of films was Slayground, Comfort and Joy, Illegal Aliens (which became Morons from Outer Space) and Dreamchild.[3] Filming had finished by November 1983. "I believe all these films have international appeal," said Lambert.[4]
Reception
Monthly Film Bulletin called it "Flashdance meets film noir".[5]
References
- "Slayground". The New York Times.
- "The Sunday press has reported on the UK film industry." 17 April 1983 Textline Multiple Source Collection (1980-1994)
- Cinema Verity: Peter Fiddick talks toEMI-Thorn 's new film production chief Fiddick, Peter. The Guardian 24 Nov 1983: 13.
- EMI back with four feature films Fiddick, Peter. The Guardian 16 Nov 1983: 2.
- SLAYGROUND Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 51, Iss. 600, (Jan 1, 1984): 52.
External links
- Slayground on IMDb
- Slayground at the British Film Institute's Film and TV Database
- Slayground at Box Office Mojo
- Slayground at Rotten Tomatoes
- Slayground at British Horror Film
- Review of novel at the Westlake Review
- Book at Donald Westlake