Game of Death

Make no mistake, the plot for "Game of Death" is nonsensical, implausible and even downright imbecilic. On the other hand, it's also the most original, refreshing and straightforwardly efficient plot for a gory horror flick that I've seen in a few years. Lately, I admit, I've been whining and complaining that practically all gritty/gory horror films nowadays are about repulsive cannibalistic & inbred families entrapping a bunch of wayward teenagers and submitting them to extreme torture. The idea behind "Game of Death" is refreshingly different and I feel obliged to give it some extra appreciation for that reason. The style and vision of the directors' duo (Sebastien Landry and Laurence Morais-Lagace) is also very energetic and tinsel, with flashy opening credits and entire sequences/montages that look like footage from a typically 80s video game. The film starts with a group of young Millennial teenagers doing their thing: drinking by the pool and surrendering to their hormonal lusts. They stumble upon a seemingly harmless and vintage board game called "Game of Death" and naturally don't resist to play. After "donating" drops of their own blood via the finger, the game determines that they must murder 24 people, or else they'll die themselves. Obviously they laugh away the concept at first, but things get dead serious when heads start exploding out of the blue. The script doesn't bother to explain, so I won't either, but somehow the game registers the murders they are committing and counts down until the next head-explosion. Some members of the group turn into psychopaths with brutal survival instinct, whereas others become philosophical martyrs. I've read about comparisons between this film and "Scanners" or "Battle Royale", but that's only because heads are exploding. The simple truth is that "Game of Death" is a fun & undemanding stand-alone horror quickie. The film is extremely gore, with lots of fake blood and mediocre CGI-effects, fast-paced and blackly comical. The girls look yummy and the whole thing is finished after barely 75 minutes, what could you possibly expect more from a silly B-movie?

This was a movie that I heard about a few years ago when it was making its festival rounds. I wanted to see it, but from everything I was gathering it was tough going finding distribution. Marknado talked about seeing it last year when it hit VOD so I knew that when I got a chance, I could finally see this. I was glad to see this was picked up by Shudder where I watched it.

Synopsis: kill or be killed is the golden rule of the Game of Death. Sucks for seven millennials who ignored that rule. Now each one's head will explode unless they kill someone. Will they turn on each other or let the game win?

I believe that synopsis does a solid job in giving the premise of this movie. To delve a bit more into this, we start with a cool title sequence that is done in the vein of a game you would see on Sega Genesis or the Super Nintendo. It then takes us to see the room of Tom (Sam Earle). I think we get a good idea that he's intelligent, but odd from what we see there. The last images are that he has an inhaler for asthma, a gun and he's sitting on his bed masturbating. From what we learn he does this a lot.

We then shift over to his friends who are hanging out by the pool. There is his sister of Beth (Victoria Diamond) who is messaging him to come over. There is Ashley (Emelia Hellman) who is dating Matthew (Thomas Vallieres). There is also Mary-Ann (Catherine Saindon) and Kenny (Nick Serino). They are your typical millennials who are drinking, smoking and partying without a care in the world. Joining them a bit later is Tyler (Erniel Baez) who has a drug kit and he's a pizza delivery driver. Tom also joins them.

Something else I want to point out here is the movie establishes that they like to play different games. The focal one of the movie is discovered by Ashley while she is messing around with Matt. It is called the Game of Death. It is set up similar to a board game, but it has an electronic screen that would see with older school hand-held games. They bring it out to play. The instructions are the same that begin the movie and give the basic premise. To start, they all put a finger on a skull and press start. It pricks their finger, taking a bit of their blood that goes into the centerpiece. They're then told they need to kill 24 people to end the game or everyone who is playing has to die. A timer then starts.

Tyler freaks out about it poking his finger and see that he's a bit of a conspiracy theorist. They go back to partying and things take a turn when Matt's head explodes. The others that see it think that someone shot him. They flee into the house to call the police. Their screaming draws their creepy, old neighbor, Steve Godin. Tom takes him at gunpoint, thinking he killed Matt. The problem is that he doesn't have a gun.

While they figure out what to do with this old man, Kenny's head explodes. Tom realizes what the game is forcing them to do. He then shoots the old man and the number goes down again. The surviving members need to make a choice, kill or be killed. Tom has made his decision and Beth seems to agree with him. This starts a killing spree that will change the lives of everyone they encounter.

That should get you up to speed while expanding on the synopsis given. I'll be honest, I wanted to see this movie, but wasn't necessarily sure how it would be. It is better than I was expecting. That isn't to say that it isn't problematic still. To start with the positives, I love the opening sequence with the old school looking video game. When I started to be a gamer, this was the era. I have a soft spot still for games like this. There is also a cool montage in the middle where they incorporate this along with other types of animation that worked for me as well. It is safe to say, I dig the premise with this game that feels like Jumanji. It is an adult version of that with a simpler concept in theory of kill or be killed.

To get into what I find problematic, I don't like any of the characters. Tom is a psychopath, which makes a lot of sense and that actually works for me. We aren't supposed to like him. Beth and him have a weird relationship, which also works for what the movie needs. Ashley and Tyler start off as typical millennials, but they have this change about halfway through. Mary-Ann and Kenny seem like nice people. Matt is the only one who doesn't have any redemption in my eyes. Regardless, I don't care about any of them in the end and it almost seems like that is what the movie wants us to feel for Ashley and Tyler which is fine. The problem is that I feel like this for the rest of the group as well.

Going along with this idea is where they end up. During the buildup, I thought what I would do. My idea was a retirement home. I know how bad it sounds, but if I decided to survive, I would go somewhere like that. This movie doesn't do that but goes somewhere similar. The logic that Tom uses makes sense. There is a character they encounter there that makes me feel bad. This did build tension for me in an odd way and was effective if I'm going to be honest.

Where I think I'll go next would then be the acting. I've started to lay out my thoughts on the characters. I think the acting is solid. Earle fits this character of Tom where I believe he could be him. The same could be said for Diamond. Hellman, Saindon, Baez, Serino and Vallieres are all much of the same. I had no issues with the acting and think it is believable for who they are plus the rest of the cast rounded this movie out for what was needed in my opinion.

Next I want to go to the effects. This was something I was impressed with that they went practical for a lot of it. I think that the blood has a good color and consistency. The gore we get looks solid as well. There is a bit of CGI when it comes to the some of the splatter. Not enough to ruin this movie for me, but I noticed it. The cinematography also looks good and I'll give credit once more to the animated sequences we get. I love there are a few styles blended together and they work well in my opinion.

Then last the thing would be the soundtrack. I enjoyed what they were doing here as well. I thought it fit the scenes, especially in helping to ramp up the tension. This would be another one that I'm going to see if I can pick up. The party sequences are fine, but it is mostly during the climax. There is also this French song that is used. At first it didn't fit, but seeing this is a co-production with France, that makes sense why it is here. I thought this works well with what the movie needed.

In conclusion, I think this movie has an interesting concept. It isn't completely original, but I do think this does well in doing something a bit different with it. Setting it with the group of characters we get helps. Many of them don't have redeemable qualities and for the ones that do, we don't get that until later in the movie. I think this is a bit problematic for me though. The acting is good aside from that. I only have slight issues with some of the CGI. The practical effects are good along with the soundtrack. With that said, I think I would rate this as an above average film. Not great, but I think if you have Shudder it is worth a viewing.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Kill or be killed is the golden rule of the Game of Death. Unfortunately, seven millennials have ignored that rule. Now each one's head will explode unless they kill someone.

In the simplest terms, this film is "Jumanji" meets "Battle Royale". Others have said "Jumanji" meets "Natural Born Killers", which also works. Either way, it is the premise of "Jumanji" (a board game that takes on a life of its own) re-interpreted with a horror theme. In a sense, even "Jumanji" could be seen as a horror film with its spiders and snakes, but the creators never went that dark.

Giving credit where credit is due, "Game of Death" is an excellent concept, and it is actually shocking that it took someone this long to think of it and develop a script. The creators took the concept, and then added excellent filters and touchstones. There is some humorous splatter gore that will draw comparisons to "Dead Alive", for example.

The standout actor in the film is Erniel Baez Duenas, the proverbial pizza guy. Initially his character is rather obnoxious, but increasingly becomes the most human and someone audiences might be able to identify with. In a film with such shallow plot, it is a testament to his skill that we are able to go through a small range of emotions towards the character.

Another strong point of the film is how it will have audiences considering entry-level ethics questions. Is murder acceptable if the alternative is death? Would suicide be morally preferable to murder? Are some lives more valuable than others? And it throws in the interesting math that eight players must kill 24 people – does this suggest the moral answer is suicide, because eight deaths is better than 24? Unfortunately, despite some promising ideas, the film really suffers from a disappointing execution (no pun intended). We are treated to excessive padding on the running time with slo-mo shots that reveal nothing, cell phone footage of inane conversations and gratuitous party moments. These inclusions feel like an afterthought to stretch the picture from 45 minutes to (barely) feature-length. The script comes out feeling woefully underdeveloped, which may be due to the film's origins as a web series. I am unclear whether the series was remade into a film, or just edited together. Either way, it does not work in the longer format.

Although there is a surreal running gag of manatee nature documentary excerpts which were amusing for inexplicable reasons, the film as a whole is half-baked and would benefit greatly from a complete mulligan. Perhaps the picture is more interesting for a younger or drunker demographic than this reviewer is a part of, but even they would have to be disappointed on some level.

"Game of Death" is playing July 15 at the Fantasia International Film Festival. The picture is brought to us courtesy of production companies La Guerrilla (in Montreal), Rockzeline (in Paris) and Blackpills (in Paris).

Medicore film of obnoxious teens who find a game and then have to kill people or else they die. Tries to bring some ethical and moral aspects to the situation, but given the plastic and superficial nature of the characters, the moral aspects of the film fall flat. Excessive gore in the beginning, sexual behavior that is pointless, and then other odd elements that bring nothing to the script. Ho hum.

The good: the director has influences that are evident, sporadically. Carpenter, King and Cameron maybe even some Tarantino type style can be seen here and there. Mixed with some animation that makes for humor, intentional or not. The bad: the script is horrible. The acting is sub to the point that you wonder if that is intentional too. The idea has been done before with most horror movies involving youth. There's a message to be unpacked, but the delivery of the movie is so bad...do you want to unpack it?