Death Race Review

Written by: alex1176   

Remember the finale of "Tango and Cash" in which Stallone and Russell ran through Mr. Big's headquarters with a heavily-armored van equipped with machine guns galore? Well, this remake of shlockmeister Roger Corman's 70's cult movie plays just like that scene extended by an hour and a half. In fact, if you ever played the PS2 horror-themed "Twisted Metal Black", than you have an idea of what it's like.

Action star Jason Statham (the British Bruce Willis) plays a falsely accused inmate who is ordered by an evil Warden (is there any other in movies) played by Joan Allen to drive in a series of races in order to earn his freedom. The catch is the loser usually ends up dead because the cars are given weapons of all kinds to create havoc and death. The races are televised and ratings soar whenever Statham races as "Frankenstein", a famed driver who was killed years before in a race. Eventually, Statham forms a plan to escape and follows through with a fellow driver played by Tyrese Gibson. "Death Race" was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson who helmed the big screen version of "Resident Evil" and "Alien Vs. Predator".

He gives the film a washed out look and colors it with the occasional red. "Death Race" has all the grisly deaths and blood that you would expect in an exploitation horror film. This 'b' movie is a guilty pleasure and can be seen with Neil Marshall's "Doomsday" as a double feature of "grindhouse" proportions. It's one-dimensional and contains plenty of action and gore. And the kill scenes will probably satisfy fans of horror.