The video nasties have always been something that has intrigued me over the years, I always love reading or hearing about it, and through the years I think that it's safe to say that I have seen nearly all of them, mainly the better known ones. This is probably one of the least remembered ones in my opinion as it kinda slipped through my radar for many years and have only recently came round to actually seeing it, as I have always enjoyed the home invasion genre of horror.
This one sees 3 prisoners break out of jail and take a family hostage in their own home. I can see why this is so controversial seeing that the main villain constantly spews racist slurs amongst the family members, all the while murdering anyone who passes by and tortures the family in some very sickening situations. The positive aspects of this film are firstly the cast, from both the family members and the villains who are played really well. Plus while the story is very basic, it does move along at a decent pace and never gets boring, always keeping you interested at what's gonna happen next. The family itself are very decent and loving, giving you that nice warm feeling that these people are genially nice, following they're great chemistry with each other and they're interactions with each other, really makes you feel horrified when it comes to them being tortured by the impending doom that's about to wait for them.
But the negative aspects of this are mainly in my opinion my personal tastes. Firstly the murder of the young boy was very disheartening and sickening in my opinion, just being there for shock value and I hated it, I would have rathered this being left out entirely, especially when you get to know the boy and his friendship with the black kid, was just uncomfortable. Also the level of violence that these criminals inflict on the family, does go over the top and becomes rather cartoonish, to be honest apart from this family being black, there was just didn't seem to be any reason why the main villain is doing this to them, except for just the fact that he's psycho and then only given a very quick tacked on excuse at the end, which just felt lazy. Then finally the pay off at the end when the tables are turned is very underwhelming, and didn't really feel that they quite got they're just desserts.
The cast were very well played in their parts, William Sanderson who plays the ring leader Kane was the only standout from the bad guys side of things, and he was very despicable and really made you hate him, he played it very well and does have that eerie presence, never knowing what he's gonna do next. The other two convicts however were quite forgettable, while they did have their moments; there weren't any development on them to make them standout. The Turner family however made very solid performances, Robert Judd who plays the head of the family Ted with much dignity and restraint. The young son Reggie Rock Blythewood was played very well, showing true courage and braveness to a role that in any other young child actor's hands wouldn't have been half as believable. But the true standout was Lela Small as the wheelchair bound grandmother just stole the show, with her ballsy and no nonsense attitude was just a delight, especially when she shows no fear to her captors and cuts them down to size with her own brand of verbal abuse was just excellent, she stole every scene she was in.
All in all "Fight For Your Life" is an okay overall movie, but it does leave a bad taste in your mouth and makes you feel uncomfortable throughout, but overall it is saved slightly by a very strong cast.
This one sees 3 prisoners break out of jail and take a family hostage in their own home. I can see why this is so controversial seeing that the main villain constantly spews racist slurs amongst the family members, all the while murdering anyone who passes by and tortures the family in some very sickening situations. The positive aspects of this film are firstly the cast, from both the family members and the villains who are played really well. Plus while the story is very basic, it does move along at a decent pace and never gets boring, always keeping you interested at what's gonna happen next. The family itself are very decent and loving, giving you that nice warm feeling that these people are genially nice, following they're great chemistry with each other and they're interactions with each other, really makes you feel horrified when it comes to them being tortured by the impending doom that's about to wait for them.
But the negative aspects of this are mainly in my opinion my personal tastes. Firstly the murder of the young boy was very disheartening and sickening in my opinion, just being there for shock value and I hated it, I would have rathered this being left out entirely, especially when you get to know the boy and his friendship with the black kid, was just uncomfortable. Also the level of violence that these criminals inflict on the family, does go over the top and becomes rather cartoonish, to be honest apart from this family being black, there was just didn't seem to be any reason why the main villain is doing this to them, except for just the fact that he's psycho and then only given a very quick tacked on excuse at the end, which just felt lazy. Then finally the pay off at the end when the tables are turned is very underwhelming, and didn't really feel that they quite got they're just desserts.
The cast were very well played in their parts, William Sanderson who plays the ring leader Kane was the only standout from the bad guys side of things, and he was very despicable and really made you hate him, he played it very well and does have that eerie presence, never knowing what he's gonna do next. The other two convicts however were quite forgettable, while they did have their moments; there weren't any development on them to make them standout. The Turner family however made very solid performances, Robert Judd who plays the head of the family Ted with much dignity and restraint. The young son Reggie Rock Blythewood was played very well, showing true courage and braveness to a role that in any other young child actor's hands wouldn't have been half as believable. But the true standout was Lela Small as the wheelchair bound grandmother just stole the show, with her ballsy and no nonsense attitude was just a delight, especially when she shows no fear to her captors and cuts them down to size with her own brand of verbal abuse was just excellent, she stole every scene she was in.
All in all "Fight For Your Life" is an okay overall movie, but it does leave a bad taste in your mouth and makes you feel uncomfortable throughout, but overall it is saved slightly by a very strong cast.