Fight for Your Life (1977)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Robert A. Endelson

Writer:

Straw Weisman (writer)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

There is no greater violence than a father's revenge for the rape of his daughter

Plot:

This video is mostly taken up by talking about vengeance rather than getting on with the job. A mean...

Plot Keywords:

Convict | Escape From Jail | Table | Vengeance | Exploitation

Cast

Robert Judd	...	Ted Turner
Catherine Peppers	...	Mrs. Turner
Lela Small	...	Grandma Turner
Yvonne Ross	...	Corrie Turner
Reggie Rock Bythewood	...	Floyd Turner (as Reginald Bythewood)
Ramon Saunders	...	Val Turner
Queenie Endelson	...	Dog
William Sanderson	...	Jessie Lee Kane
Daniel Faraldo	...	Chino
Peter Yoshida	...	Ling
Bonnie Martin	...	Karen
David Cargill	...	Lt. Reilly
Richard A. Rubin	...	Captain Hamilton
David Dewlow	...	Joey
Nick Hardin	...	Tony (as Nick Mariano)

Also Known As:

Blood Bath at 1313 Fury Road
Getting Even
Held Hostage
Hostage (USA) (alternative title)
I Hate Your Guts
Staying Alive (USA) (alternative title)
The Hostage's Bloody Revenge

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:(Banned) | USA:R | Canada:(Banned) (Ontario) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Singapore:(Banned) | Norway:18 (video premiere) (1982) | Norway:(Banned) (video) (1986) | Norway:(Banned) (1977-2003) (cinema release) | Australia:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Chatham, Ghent, New York, USA

Trivia:

The film was rejected for a UK cinema certificate in 1981 by the BBFC and later ended up on the DPP 74 list of official video nasties.

Quotes:

Grandma Turner: Why, you poor white trash! If it wasn't for that gun, you'd be a yellow-streaked bum!

Hotdog = Danger!

After a trio of crooks (one white, one hispanic and one asian!) escape from a police van, they steal a funny black pimp's car and clothes and head to Canada, my home and native land! They kill a couple of store clerks on their way and end up taking a black family hostage in their own house. This leads to an incredible array of racial slurs and insults, physical abuse, rape and more deaths. The cops finally arrive but by that time the black family has already turned the tables on their attackers and revenge is sweet.

This is one hell of a melting pot movie! I knew I was in for a wild ride when the crooks threatened a young toddler with a gun in a liquor store. You don't see that every day. And the movie just gets nastier by the minute (including the murder of a little boy in the woods, a topless woman being pushed in a waterfall and a large shard of glass through the body). The cast pulls it off perfectly, especially William Sanderson as the leader of the crooks and Reginald Blythewood as the poor father of the family. But one of the best characters has to be ol' Grandma who, despite being in a wheelchair, doesn't take any crap from the damn crooks. Feisty woman! After all the violence the family endures (including the father being beaten senseless with his own bible!), you can't help but smile during the revenge sequence near the end of the movie. I only wish it could have been a little more vicious and more members of the family should have had their chance to express their anger (although I did like the bit where the dog peed on the crook's head). But I was impressed that the cop storyline in the movie was well-handled and never distracted from the conflict inside the house (many other movies of this kind just can't get it right). Fight For Your Life is a nasty film that manages to get this puny white reviewer to chant `Black Power'!