Death Run

This is a cool little post apocalyptic film shot on a micro budget. Like a lot of thses types of films, they often centre around a bizarre sport or game. The Death Run is a quirky take on a classic trope. This was surprisingly entertaining from beggining to end. If you like your films polished with good a acting and smooth camera work, avoid this. If you like trash cinema, you'll love this.

I recently purchased a book, "World Gone Wild", which is reviews of only post-apocalyptic films. Since this is one of my main genres (and, unfortunately, especially the zombie ones are mostly crap), I thought it might help me pick out the cream of the crop, avoiding the bad ones (ninety percent of which are on TUBI). I'm beginning to doubt that. In the book, this worthless waste of a Mad Max rip-off, as bad as any of the Italian one's from the same time, is given a glowing review. What the hell movie did they watch? Poor acting, silly story, absolutely horrible fight choreography. Basically two really unprepared people wake from cryogenic suspension into a post-apocalyptic world. Anyone who's watched a movie in the past forty years has seen this one before. Not a hint of an original idea. As much as I love the Mad Max movies, I really hated this trash film. Only three reviews on IMDB, this one will level things out a bit. Watch at your own risk.

Who knows who started the war. Two once great superpowers fought a war over minerals but when the missiles started flying one thing was certain, the only way anyone could survive this was by going underground. Two people are frozen in time. Adam and Eve who will repopulate the earth. They enter into suspended animation only to emerge in a world that has been destroyed by nuclear radiation. Will the couple survive in this post apocalyptic world? Will this new Adam and Eve be part of a new fair society? As the movie progresses we get to see amazing sights that no human has ever seen before. We get to witness the awe and majesty of life lived to it truest potential. With that the story begins.

The two venture forth with their survival equipment. Though this is where the fun begins in that way that only Murphy can dole out. It is after an atom war what would you do? Hey lets go camping? No chance. Where is my mini gun and mega mini nuke mines to ward off intruders? No a tent. With predictable and charming results. The capers these two get involved in.

Murphy put the low into low budget with this movie and it is all the better for it. You have mutants, raiders and insanely evil games hence the title of Death run. Also, you have his usual cast of great actors who chose to stay in England and be film stars (B movie stars) rather than accept the ignominy of vast riches and mansions in Hollywood.

Jokes aside, this is the holy grail of British B movies. I had to search around for years to procure a copy of it. It has already had 2 watches. There is so much black humour in this movie and you can get loads of evil laughs seeing what happens to two innocents in a world populated by monsters.

Also, strangely, this movie is nearly the exact plot of the ID software game Rage.

With a bigger budget this movie would have been a smash. As it is, it is up there with his other movies which a low budget classics.

I was actually genuinely surprised by this one. While far from stellar, Michael J. Murphy's low-budget post-apocalyptic action epic Death Run is definitely a commendable effort.

The plot of Death Run centers around Paul (Rob Bartlett) and his girlfriend Jenny (Wendy Parsons), who live in the midst of a nuclear war and are put in a cryogenic sleep so they can survive the oncoming apocalypse. They awaken 25 years later in a wasteland ruled by a man known as the Messiah (Patrick Olliver). Paul and Jenny are captured by the Messiah, and Paul is chosen to compete in the Death Run. What is the Death Run? Will Paul be able to escape with his girlfriend before he gets the chance to find out?

The movie starts off decent enough, the plot's interesting, scenery looks good, there are mutants affected by radiation that also look pretty good, the action and fight scenes are mostly sub-par, as expected, but acceptable considering the limited budget. But the movie's missing something, gore for one thing (the movie teases us on several occasions), but also the indescribable DIY charm that makes these type of low-budget movies so enjoyable is somewhat lacking.

Luckily, the movie does pick up (namely after one memorable scene involving cannibals) and we are treated to some better action, and some OK gore mostly consisting of stabbings and arrows being shot through people, as well as a couple of severed heads. But I have to say, when we do find out exactly what this "Death Run" thing is, it's a bit of a disappointment.

Another point in the movie's favor would be the short running time, running barely over an hour, which I think is perfect length for this kind of movie.

Some moderate gripes aside, Death Run is worth a watch in my book and I personally think it deserves a lot more attention than it's getting. It's no masterpiece, just a bit underrated.