Fight For Your Life (1977) Starring Robert Judd, William Sanderson & Lela Small Directed by Robert A. Endelson Written by Straw Weisman

This all brings me to the film I'm reviewing today--an extremely controversial flick that was banned every where from here to Timbuktu and it even made the notorious "video nasty" list in the U.K., so of course the Reverend had to check it out to see if it lived up to my "nasty" standards. Unlike most of the films on the "video nasty" list, FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE was not on the list for it's level of gore--more for it's level of violent acts (rape, child murder) and it's unflinching depiction of racial hatred that I'm sure I've ever seen matched on screen.

The story is about 3 escape convicts that take a black family hostage out in the country and the family's struggle to survive. All three men are bad news and willing to kill to avoid getting sent back to prison or kill anyone who gets in their way of their fun. There is a scene in the beginning, just after the men escape a police truck that was transporting them, where they hold up a liquor store and the lead thug, Jessie Lee Kane (played by William Sanderson of BLADE RUNNER and he also played Larry on the TV show, NEWHART) shoots the clerk and holds a gun to a baby's head that is sure to disturb many. Also at the liquor store is a young black woman, they kidnap her and force her to take them to her home where she lives with her Mother and Father, pre-teen Brother and wheel chair bound Grandma. They are a Christian family--the Father is even a reverend at the local church. When the 3 men show up, the Father isn't home yet and the men terrorize the rest of the family--holding them at gunpoint and degrading them with racial slurs. The ironic thing is the 3 men are a melting pot of ethnicity, Kane is a white redneck, Chino (Daniel Faraldo) is Hispanic and Ling (Peter Yoshida)is Korean.

Soon the Father comes home and Kane forces the Mother to make supper for everyone. Kane's barrage of racial hate never lets up and it's a hard thing to watch, because the family can't defend themselves and as the film goes on Kane's demands become more and more degrading, leading to the inevitable rape of the daughter (which is off screen for the most part). During all this, the little brother, Floyd (Reggie Rock Bythewood) has a friend waiting in the woods for him (they were going to play at their favorite spot in the woods after dinner). When Floyd never shows up, he goes to the house and Kane forces Floyd to answer the door and make the kid go away without blowing their cover. The two boys have a "code word" that they share and Floyd uses it and the friend knows there must be something wrong. Unfortunately, instead of going and getting help, he sticks around and spies on the house. What happens next, I must say, is one of the most brutal scenes I've ever seen--Ling ends up capturing the boy and bashing his head in with a rock--on camera!!! Although I hate to see children killed in movies, I have to give the director props for shattering the taboo. The only other 70's movie I can think of that comes close to matching that scene is in John Carpenter's ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 when a little girl gets a shotgun blast to the chest.

Anyways, the great part about the film is the family eventually gets retribution on the 3 convicts. When the tables are turned, the family unleash their justified hatred right back at the men. Their revenge would be shocking if the men didn't deserve their ultimate fates. On the Blue Underground (fantastic company by the way) DVD, they provide 2 trailers that were released for the film, one entitled the "white" trailer and it basically shows the film as a crime thriller of sorts and then there's the "black" trailer that shows a lot of scenes of the family over powering the whiteys, making the film look more like a blaxploitation film. I found the whole thing quite humorous. I mean, every body's offended by racism (or at least they should be), but when it's put on an even scale, it can be an interesting observation, which is what this film is.

There is other stuff thrown into the film as well. The wife of the deceased oldest son (she's white) comes to visit and she is almost raped by Ling before she falls over a cliff into a river on to some jagged rocks (not before a tacked on sex scene between her and the oldest son are thrown in for some sexploitation). There's a "by the book" cop who is after the men and by the end of the film you'll want to smack him. Mainly the story takes place inside the house where Kane and crew taunt the family to no end.

The cast all do a fine job, except for Yvonne Ross who played the daughter, Corrie--she could not act to save her life (pun intended) and she stood out like a sore thumb because the rest of the cast are top notch. Sanderson steals the show as Kane though. Although the character is vile, Sanderson shows great screen presence and it's a shame that his "look" probably hindered him from becoming a star (he's short, has a southern accent and has unfortunate skin). Another standout is Robert Judd as the Father, Mr. Turner, I give him props as an actor for being able to act out all the humiliating things he's forced to do, like dance like a Al Jolsen and talk to Kane like he was his slave master--the hate in Judd's eyes was far too real to be acting, a man of his age in the mid 70's must have dealt with a lot of racism in his time, I'm sure. Lastly, there's Lela Small as Grandma Turner--what a tough ol' broad! You'll want to clap when she stands up to Kane, not caring if she's killed by the man, as long as she get to put him in his place first.

Although I'm pretty much opposed to remakes, I would dare anybody to remake this film now. I can see Bill Moseley as Kane, Danny Trejo as Chino and I don't know, maybe Anthony Wong (EBOLA SYNDROME) as Ling? Samuel L. Jackson as Mr. Turner--natch'. If they didn't PC the dialogue, it could work.

FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE would fit in with other controversial exploitation flicks of the era like, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and in my opinion is a little better done (from a directional stand point) than those two said films.

FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE is not for the timid or the easily offended, you have been warned.