They're Playing with Fire
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
Beautiful English professor, Diane Stevens (Sybil Danning) relaxes on her yacht, the Lillian, before heading off to the Ocean View College. She gives a lesson on Macbeth and his murder for ambition. After the lesson she asks Jay Richard (Eric Brown) if he's looking for work to which Jay confirms. Later that day, Jay varnishes the exterior woodwork on the Lillian. Diane invites him in for a drink then asks him about the interior which Jay says would take him at least a day. When Jay withdraws his hand from Diane's when they go to get two chairs up on deck so he can varnish them, Diane voices the possibility that Jay doesn't like her but Jay states that he does. Diane then persuades Jay to prove that he likes her by kissing her to which he complies. This soon then escalates into an act of sexual intercourse. Jay questions about Michael, Diane's husband, (Andrew Prine) finding out but Diane promises that she won't tell him. As she drives Jay to the gas station where he works Diane asks Jay to do her a favor.
At their house Diane and Michael discuss plans to use Jay in order to get a large inheritance from Lillian and Lettie Stevens, Michael's mother and grandmother, who want rid of the pair. Michael says that they should wait, however Diane admits her boredom and warns Michael that come summer she's leaving. The next day at college Diane and Michael convince Jay to scare Lillian and Lettie out of the house so they can put them in a retirement home. Jay agrees. At the house Lillian asks George the gardener if he is going to see Martin that night to which he says no. Lillian tells George about how they've got to talk as "it's" getting out of control. Lillian explains to Lettie how that they've got to solve "our problem". Jay's attempt at scaring the couple out of the house is thwarted when the family dog starts barking and Lillian chases him away by shooting at him with a rifle. Shortly after, Lillian and Lettie are killed by an unknown assailant. Jay runs to the boatyard and explains what happened to Diane and Michael. Michael grows suspicious of Jay when he phones home but gets no answer. The trio head to the house where they discover the two were murdered. Michael accuses Jay while Jay in turn accuses Michael of wanting to frame him. Jay promises he won't go to the police but vows to find out who committed the murder.
The next day Michael uses a lesson on abnormal psychology to torment Jay who goes to Diane telling her to get Michael off his case and voices that he knows she was just using him. He also lets her know of the billions of dollars in inheritance money which is why they're not going to the cops. Later, Cynthia, a girl in Jay's class, tries to blackmail him by threatening to show pictures of him and Diane on the yacht together to Michael and everyone on campus. Jay blows her off. Cynthia goes round to Michael's house to show him the photos but reconsiders. George inquires the whereabouts of Lillian and Lettie to which Michael lies saying they've gone to Hawaii. After Diane visits him at the gas station Jay investigates the cabin of the yacht. Diane comes round and he shows her he found a fragment of television screen glass and blood on a pair of trainers as well as a gun and bills of thousands of dollars paid to a children's psychiatric hospital in Switzerland. Diane tells Jay not to go to the police as he will be suspected instead of Michael and warns him that Michael is capable of violence. This convinces Jay and the two reconcile in a passionate session of cuddling.
Later, a drunk Michael confronts Diane and accuses her of having sex with Jay. Diane tells him that Jay has found evidence against him including his gun and is spying on them. Angered, Michael goes to Jay who's on campus and tells him he can't go to the police as he's got no alibi. Jay goes to Lillian and Lettie's house to try and get rid of his fingerprints but is chased away by the same assailant who murdered them. The next day Jay tells Diane about what happened, Diane informs Jay that the gardener is Lillian's cousin. Cynthia revisits Michael's house to show him the photos of Jay and Diane but is killed by the assailant dressed as Santa Claus. On campus, Diane sees Michael paying off George. Michael tells Diane that she killed Lillian and Lettie, plans on killing Jay as he's the only witness and is conspiring against him to get the entire inheritance for herself. Michael also states that he and her are through as he knows Diane and Jay are intimate. Diane calls Jay and informs him of their fight. She asks if he wants her to come over to which Jay says yes. Diane comes over and tells Jay that she is divorcing Michael. She states that Michael blames Jay for their breaking up but their relationship was over before she met Jay as Lillian saw to that. Diane and Jay then make love.
Michael comes around but Diane manages to elude him and, after convincing him she was never there, Jay follows suit. Michael then sees Diane's car and comes back but by this time Diane and Jay are on the yacht. Diane admits she needs Jay who, in turn, confesses his love for her. Michael tracks them down and prepares to shoot Jay but relents. The unknown assailant appears and then kills Michael. Diane and Jay chase him to the mansion. There, George confronts him revealing his name to be Martin. Martin tells him that his doctor said that his disease is terminal and reveals that he killed his mother and grandmother. George tells him that it was he who convinced them to fly him from Switzerland so he could inherit the fortune instead of Michael and Diane. An angry and disillusioned Martin kills George believing he only cares about the money. Diane and Jay look around and find Martin's photo album and medical records. They realize that George and Lillian had an illegitimate child and if he's still alive he'll inherit the fortune then find a diagnostic medical record paper from Martin's doctor in Switzerland and discover that Martin has a hereditary disease for which he is terminal.
The two go to the attic where Martin locks them in. They find the bodies of Lillian and Lettie and are then told by Martin that he killed Michael because if they found out about him they'd get rid of him and he now plans to kill Diane. Jay and Diane try to escape via the attic window but Martin comes up from behind to kill them. Jay shoots him with a rifle he armed himself with earlier. As Diane is about to unmask Martin he tries to choke her. Jay shoots him again this time killing him. Diane unmasks Martin revealing him to be Bird, a college contemporary with whom Jay has shared his dormitory and rent.
Summer rolls around and Diane visits Jay at work. She tells him she's leaving town for a while on a vacation. Diane asks Jay to drive her to the airport and gives him her car as a form of gratitude and because she needs his help as if it weren't for him she wouldn't be around to enjoy the large inheritance. She then invites Jay to come with her to Hawaii. Jay ecstatically accepts. As Jay's boss, Jimbo, threatens to fire him again, the two drive off to the airport to enjoy their holiday together.

Review: Since her start in the late 1960's, Sybil Danning has been called upon to use her sensuality and statuesque physique to bail out many a "B" movie.
No exception here, as the stunning Danning plays a college professor/seductress.
The victim is gullible Eric Brown (who's acting abilities resemble those of a 4th grader).
The highlight of this movie is the seduction of Brown by Danning in the yacht.
Great camerawork and Danning's sensuality in her strip give a scorching rating to a scene that will be relived in the minds of red-blooded males.
Her other sex scenes were Brown are equally erotic but that is as good as it gets with this movie.
A must for all Danning fans though, so you can drool at the sensual charms of this erotic goddess who seems to have saved the face of many an aspiring "B" movie director with her presence..
This film plays like a B-Film Noir from the 1950s coupled with the steamy erotica of the late night cable channels with some Dr. Giggles thrown in the mix.
Needless to say, it was entertaining but in a cheesy, not too high-brow kind of way.Sybil Danning plays a sexy college professor married to another professor (Andrew Prine)who stands to inherit a sizable sum of money from his mother once she kicks off.
The two espousers decide they can't wait for the dough so Sybil urges her obsessed student Eric Brown to assist them in gaining their inheritance.
To persuade the young student, Sybil offers him two famous vices: sex and money.Their plans backfire when mommy proves too much for Eric and chases him off the family estate with a shotgun.
Eric feels that he is being setup for murder when Prine accuses him of foul deeds, but he can't separate himself from the case due to his attachment to the buxom Miss Danning.
The film, which begins as an erotic thriller, then descends into the slasher genre as Eric and Sybil track a masked killer who just might be Sybil's hubby.STORY: $$$ (Nothing special here--just middle-of-the-road.
There are plenty plot devices that just don't make any sense, like their initial plan to have Eric scare mommy by breaking into her house.
Eric Brown seemed out of place in his scenes with Sybil.
Prine does a fine job as Sybil's odious husband while Miss Danning is in good form as the femme fatale).NUDITY: $$$$$ (This is really the main draw for this film, since it is Sybil at her most obliging.
Had there been a better check and balance between the story and Sybil's breast exposure, this could have been a better erotic thriller)..
Seeing this movie and the bikini and seduction scenes is enough to make any man throw away his viagra.
In this movie, Danning conspicuously displays what she's best-known for, and it sure ain't her thespian skills, buddy.Her three sex scenes in the movie are unbelievably enthusiastic and should send most slobbering males to the fast-forward button to find the next such scene.
The rest of the movie is a dreary slasher thriller that, most incredulously, even manages a happy ending.
You know what level the movie's at when the student whom Danning is deflowering tries to carry on a mundane conversation while this busty vixen is on top.
A clever plot a cat and mouse game of drama, and suspense yet the eye candy treat is the knockout Sybil Danning!.
This film "They're Playing with Fire" is really a pretty decent B movie as it does have a story and plot twist that's filled with drama and suspense and it's topped off with eye candy and cake icing with erotic scenes from the sexy Sybil!
The story is that of two college professors the female being(Sybil)and she seduces one of her young innocent students(Eric Brown)as part of a plot to frame him for the murders of her well to do in-laws.
Yet this plan and plot doesn't go as planned it's now a tangled web of deceit, nothing and no one is who they appear.Along the way despite the blood and violence the screen is spiced up with plenty of skin and sexy nude scenes and love making bed encounters with the sexy B queen goddess miss Sybil(also she's stunning in a black bra!).
Overall well done film that's carried by Sybil so if it's your thing give this a watch..
First, he gets de-flowered by Sylvia Kristel (Emmannuelle herself) in "Private Lessons", and then is floored by the charms of Sybil Danning in this movie.
And they're right: as predatory as ever, Danning exudes sex and sensuality as a college professor (only in Hollywood) who tricks student Brown into killing a relative so she and he can run off with her inheritance.
Maybe even think about how lucky that Eric Brown guy is.One star.
Anyone who is a Sybil Danning fan will tell you: fast-forward through everything else but her in "They're Playing with Fire".
Sybil Danning in one of her best roles.
The statuesque Sybil Danning dominates this rather poor film of murder and intrigue.Who could not be impressed at the skilful way she manipulates one of her students, played by Eric Brown onto her luxury cruiser in order to overwhelm him in a way only she can manage.Ultimately, Miss Danning is the only good thing in this film as the poorly scripted plot spirals out of control.
That's part mystery thriller, part slasher movie.
The plot is quite interesting we get a student named Jay Richards who has an affair with his teacher Diana Stevens (Sybil Danning), but that's not all she and her husband want him to break into his elderly mothers house to scare them and of course that goes wrong when grandma pulls out a rifle and the young student runs away, and no sooner a masked stranger is already in the house ready to kill.Okay this movie lacks logic and the storyline doesn't really make much sense, but the who dunnit angle does actually work, and I was geniually surprised when the killer is unmasked at the end.
And the chemistry between Eric Brown and Sybil Danning was actually believable and spot on, and the sex scenes were probably the best thing about this movie.
But there are several bad points to this movie, like for a start the pacing is quick enough and I did find myself getting bored at times and a lot of the performances were awful and the death scenes simply weren't up to scratch, they lacked imagination like the scene where the girl gets hit with a baseball bat, was just painful and not for the right reasons.But there are a few small blessings in this movie, like Sybil Danning is just simply beautiful and has a gorgeous body, and one of the only cast members to make an actual effort and Eric Brown was okay he had the innocence wide boy routine rather well, despite some rubbish dialogue.All in all "They're Playing With Fire" is not a terrible movie, in fact I found it quite fun and stupid at the same time, but I couldn't help that feel that if this movie was in more capable hands, then this could have been a hell of a lot better..
Well simply who would want to knock back the advancements of the Austrian born blonde buxom Sybil Danning.
The highly attractive English professor Diane Stevens seduces her gullible student Jay in a plan crafted by her husband Michael to inherit his family's fortune.
However things turn pear shape when murder becomes apart of it.In the 80s Eric Red was living every teenage boy's wet dream, as only years before he was getting it on with another European goddess Sylvia Kristel in "Private Lessons".
But while the two films share some similarities, "They're Playing with Fire" is less light-headed being a lot more sleazy and spiteful in mixing elements of popular teenage sex comedies and jarring slasher traits.
The voluptuous Sybil Danning is apparently considered to be the chief attraction of this film for most viewers, but the plot also holds some inherent interest as a murder mystery.
Sybil Danning is an extremely stunning sight to behold when she's wearing just a smile, sure, but there's only so much so can do when saddled with an abysmal script (and that's 90% of her career's work).
a teacher who wants her husband's parents money, but that won't happen until his mom and aunt are either dead or declared incompetent (the latter is kinda like the makers of this film).
Enter Private Lessons' Eric Brown as Jay, a college student who's more gullible than a fifth grader (if that) and plans to scare the old women, but there's a 'mystery' serial killer at work.
As I said before Danning is the ONLY reason for someone to watch this (and even then only when it's on cable, as it's not worth renting).
Also the powers that be seemed to openly want to sabotage the film as with the amount of chances to get Sybil fully nude, they go to great lengths to not show her fourth acting talent, her tits and ass being the first three, so you know where I'm going with that one.
Stick with a better Sybil film such as Chained Heat or Malibu Express instead Eye Candy: Sybil Danning shows T&A multiple times, Suzanne Kennedy'shows her right breast briefly My Grade: D.
That Eric Brown, what a lucky dude.
First in Private Lessons with Sylvia Kristel and then in They're Playing With Fire with Sybil Danning the boy is doing well with the cougars.However other than those titillating sex scenes there's not much to recommend either film.
Danning seduces Brown but that's at the behest of her husband Andrew Prine.
They want Brown to break in and just scare the two women so they might sell the old mansion and give them some of the loot.But then some hooded individual comes along and murders the two women and hides the bodies.
If it weren't for Sybil Danning's body and those two weapons of mass destruction she has interest would be minimal here.
I have what I call "The Adrienne Barbeau Theorem," which is as follows: Big breasts, in and of themselves, are not enough reason to watch a terrible movie.
Ironically, there are two movies that strongly test my theorem, and one of them is Adrienne Barbeau's "Swamp Thing." The other is an abysmal '80s slasher flick titled "They're Playing with Fire." Sybil Danning plays an English professor (so much for realism) who seduces one of her young students (Eric Brown) in order to make him a patsy in a murder plot in which she's involved.
In fact, the movie's slasher motif is so sordid, even for this genre, that it's painful to watch.
The movie would be deservedly forgotten, were it not for Danning's astounding sex scenes.These scenes, particularly the first one, are as jaw-dropping as anything you're likely to see in a mainstream, R-rated movie.
Obviously, the kid needs an education in more than English.Other than the all-too-brief scenes in which Danning demonstrates why a date with her would fetch a small fortune on an auction block, the movie's only element of interest is in seeing Alvy Moore, who played Hooterville county agent Hank Kimball on TV's "Green Acres," hitting a career low as a gas-station manager who's dumb enough to hire and re-hire the kid as an attendant even after he's dumped the job on the promise of some loot from Danning's English professor.
The only thing that could have made this movie more bad-memorable would be to pair Danning with fluttery Hank Kimball: "Welcome to Hootersville, I mean Hooterville!
The cover of this movie gives the impression this is one of those 1980s student gets seduced by teacher movies, you know the ones they made before teachers were jailed predatory behaviour?
The story starts off with what the cover implies, a teacher student seduction which takes place on a huge yatch, these college lecturers must be getting overpaid.
What is so strange about this is that there is very little lead up and the student doesn't question why this middle aged married woman wants sex and acts like there are no strings attached.
We have the seductress and her husband plotting to exploit the student, however their plan ends in disaster and its unclear just who is pulling the strings.
The main attraction of this movie seems to be the actress who does the seduction, and for her fans she strips off at every opportunity.
This is quite a boring movie with annoying actors for leads and will only really appeal to guys who are fans of Sybil whoever she used to be.
I watch bad movies so you don't have to..
Sybil Danning's bod; everything else bad.
Sybil Danning's bod; everything else bad.
Sybil Danning's bod; everything else bad.
I have what I call &quot;The Adrienne Barbeau Theorem,&quot; which is asfollows: Big breasts, in and of themselves, are not enough reason towatch a terrible movie.
Ironically, there are two movies that stronglytest my theorem, and one of them is Adrienne Barbeau's Swamp Thing (seemy Epinions review).
The other is an abysmal '80s slasher flick titledThey're Playing with Fire.Sybil Danning plays an English professor (so much for realism) whoseduces one of her young students (Eric Brown) in order to make him apatsy in a murder plot in which she's involved.
The movie would be deservedly forgotten, were it not forDanning's astounding sex scenes.These scenes, particularly the first one, are as jaw-dropping asanything you're likely to see in a mainstream, R-rated movie.
Obviously, the kid needs an educationin more than English.Other than the all-too-brief scenes in which Danning demonstrates why adate with her would fetch a small fortune on an auction block, themovie's only element of interest is in seeing Alvy Moore, who playedHooterville county agent Hank Kimball on TV's &quot;Green Acres,&quot;hitting a career low as a gas-station manager who's dumb enough to hireand re-hire the kid as an attendant even after he's dumped the job onthe promise of some loot from Danning's English professor.
The onlything that could have made this movie more bad-memorable would be topair Danning with fluttery Hank Kimball: &quot;Welcome to Hootersville,I mean Hooterville!
Eric Brown will forever be remembered synonymously with fear and killing!.
Awful But So Weird You Must See It. They're Playing with Fire (1984) * (out of 4)Married college professor Diane Stevens (Sybil Danning) seduces her student Jay (Eric Brown) and then asks him to do a favor for her and her husband Michael (Andrew Prine).
Before long the husband's rich mother and grandmother are dead and Jay feels that they set him up.THEY'RE PLAYING FOR FIRE is one of those movies that you should start around one thirty in the morning.
You know, just when you're starting to get tired but you want to watch something.
This is without question one of the strangest movies I've seen from this era and especially since it really doesn't know what it wants to do.
I became aware of the movie thanks to a review by Roger Ebert where he pretty much went off on the picture and it's easy to see why he would.The film starts off like a teen sex comedy where the sexy teachers seduces the boy.
As the movie plays out there's a hooded killer going around killing people in some rather graphic ways so out of nowhere this film turns into a slasher and you'll be surprised at how much blood the film got pass the MPAA.
Danning appears naked throughout 40% of the movie and that alone makes it worth watching.
Just look at how nervous and awkward he appears to be during the sex scenes!THEY'RE PLAYING WITH FIRE really is a lousy movie but it has enough nudity and enough blood to make it worth viewing..
Eric Brown became famous for about a week and half back in the 80s thanks to an appearance in the Sylvia Kristel comedy Private Lessons, where he plays a student who gets involved with his much older French tutor.
Here he plays a student who gets involved with the much older wife of his English professor.
Anyway, the two of them sneak around behind the prof's back for the first third of the movie and then the producers must have realized that there was no plot going on, and so bodies start showing up for no reason and the cops focus on the kid, also for no reason.
The performances are just as bad as the script, with Eric Brown looking lost and amateurish, movie veteran Andrew Prine (who plays the prof) looking embarrassed, and Sybil Danning looking once again like a great chest with no acting talent attached, which continued to be true over her long and stinky career.
Sybil Danning sizzles in this deliciously cheesy slasher murder thriller item.
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.
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.