Deathrow Gameshow

Deathrow Gameshow will never win any awards, it will never reach a mainstream audience, and probably in the great scheme of things, it will be forgotten.

But in a way, it doesn't deserve its fate. Deathrow Gameshow is a funny movie. Granted, it isn't constantly hilarious, and it is downright stupid, but if you want to watch a movie just to have a good time, this is the movie for you. This film was made way before its time, with its style of humor more adjacent to There's Something About Mary or Kingpin then anything out of the 80's nice-nice comedies. Deathrow Gameshow for this reason will always be a classic. There is no other movie that I have ever seen that you can have more fun watching in a group setting.

The Plot deals with Chuck Toedan, the host of Live or Die, a show where death-row inmates are allowed to compete for their lives ***And some fabulous prizes!!!*** It seems that Chuck has finally had enough of hosting the show and dealing with death threats(he once killed a mob boss in a "very disrespectful manner.") The story is filled with hilarious dialogue both intentional and unintentional, and some inspired acting. Watch it if only for the dream sequence, which is one of the most hilarious and memorable scenes that I have ever seen. It gets 1/10 stars for intelligence, but 10/10 for humor, which is all that really matters. Enjoy, I always do.

Unable to resist a seductress taunting him with the dance of the seven "boners", another unlucky contestant succumbs by electrocution in the outrageous "Deathrow Gameshow." The movie is sort of an odd mixture of a Paul Bartel "black comedy", crossed with "Amazon Women on the Moon". Like those films the plot is merely something threaded together between tasteless commercials and some truly hilarious moments. While the acting is decidedly inferior, it only adds to the charm, because of the obvious enthusiasm involved. Definitely not bloody, definitely moments of hilarity, definite nudity that doesn't come across as merely gratuitous, "Deathrow Gameshow" is definitely worth seeing, especially for fans of "dark comedy." - MERK

Deathrow Gameshow takes a potentially hilarious premise and wastes it. It has a few humorous scenes interspersed with a lot of crud. A bit of satire, in this case, does not go a long way.

The film's low budget does it in. With a title like Deathrow Gameshow, you would expect a lot of funny death sequences. However, few of the deaths are actually shown on screen, probably due to the lack of a special effects budget. Instead, the film relies on scenes of a fat man chewing spaghetti with his mouth open for laughs.

Also, the acting plain reeks. The lead is boring, as is the supporting cast. The line delivery is amateurish and stilted. Only a few of the jokes, such as a reference to a character as a "human rectum," manage to survive.

Deathrow Gameshow is one of the later films released by b-movie producers Crown International Films. Despite being a satirical comedy, this is unfortunately one seriously stupid movie. Set in the near future, it centres on a slick and unlikable television presenter who is the host of a game-show called 'Live or Die' where death row inmates compete to try and avoid execution, failure results in them being killed live on air.

At best, this one is amusing on rare occasions but is mainly very lame indeed. It relies far too much on gross 'humour' such as a close up of a man messily eating spaghetti, and the parody material is really pretty marginalised by the end. What is so unfortunate is that the basic idea underpinning the movie is relatively good, if unoriginal. They just didn't write a good script for it at all sadly and the very low budget obviously didn't help either in transferring the reasonable concept to the screen. There were also some very annoying acting performances too which, suffice to say, hardly helped matters. Pretty rubbish on the whole.

This movie is one of those rare offerings of pure, harmless, campy entertainment! Despite its failure to win a mainstream audience, it does have its own cult following, and it is too bad that the character of Gloria Sternvirgin (aka gloriabitch) was never given a sequel to expand her role. Some of the dialogue and actions of this film hit the bullseye, and the only other films where this combination (and type) of humor and plot structure could be found where in those directed by Paul Bartel (Deathrace 2000, Eating Rauol, Class Struggle in Beverly Hills).

It's just a feeling! - see this movie, you will like it.