Death Ranch

Every now and then we get a low budget turd or gem, this time around a blaxploitation gem, a action-horror piece that take place in the 70's , about three siblings and two of them help out their younger brother who escaped from a prison down south, seeking a hideout until find out how to help their brother, they encounter a vicious KKK cult, all is not what it seem to be according to the younger brother viewing their activities in the woods, this sets off a chain of horrific events and totally nasty battle for survival between the siblings and the Klan, the director managed to pull off some pretty good gore effects and kept up the action all the way to the conclusion, I thought the acting between the siblings was pretty good as well, a gore hound we enjoy the hell out of this flick, watch this one late at night, when everybody is asleep, not for the kiddies or the squeamish.

The movie starts out a bit slow. Basically we're introduced to the protagonists and find out why they are holed up in the middle of nowhere. Then the action begins when one of them sees a KKK execution in progress and intervenes. From there, you get pretty much non-stop action as the two factions battle it out.

What makes this a "horror" film instead of an "action" film is the copious amount of gore. The KKK, who are more akin to cannibal families a la Texas Chainsaw Massacre, than your usual KKK members in films are partly responsible for that gore and some of the sadism, but so are the protagonists as they quite sensibly avoid holding back while fighting a bunch of psychos who outnumber and outarm them.

And that's why I found it a guily pleasure. It doesn't have an amazing plot, or a profound message, or impressive fight scenes, or anything. But it is refreshing to watch a horror film and not have to keep thinking "WHY DIDN'T YOU MAKE SURE HE'S DEAD!!!". And, heck, it'll always fun to see any group of Klansmen get what's coming to them, and that's a major factor in making this a guilty pleasure. No woke preaching about intersectionality. No stunt casting (yes, the KKK are miraculously all white males in this one). Just good guys fighting evil racists.

It is well filmed -- no cheap digicam footage feel or anything like that. The fx are effective enough. Heck, I even like the titles which were pure Tarrantino. And I always liked a 70s rural setting for horror. And bonus points for not one single annoying teen in the film.

Three African American siblings do battle with a gang of cannibalistic KKK members. Things gets super gory. The end.

There really isn't a whole hell of a lot to this little indie, but that's the beauty, there needn't be. Sometimes it absolutely OK to consume the empty calories of pop culture and as a result be perfectly content.

The film is very well directed, adequately acted by the cast and the bloodshed expertly handled. About the only thing that bothered me was the use of modern rock music in the action scenes, but that's a minor quip.

So, if you like excessive gore, and old exploitation movies I'm sure you will find something to like here.

Hope you enjoy it.

If you read what this is about ... well even if you haven't - the movie becomes quite clear fast enough. That being said, there is a lot you have to "endure" until the movie gets into gear. But it still is relatively short running time wise.

And it also boasts quite the nice special effects. Which brings me to the point that you should not have issues with blood and other disgusting things that this movie is depicting. There is a lot of violence and there is a lot of "stabbing" and/or shooting. There will be blood and guts one may say. If that floats your boat, you could do a lot worse. Still this decent and has the social message of don't be racist ... and an empowering one at that ... even if the actors may not be able to carry that burden fully ... it still is there for entertainment values. Which also brings us to the uneven tone ... serious and bloody on one hand, ridiculous and goofy on the other ... doesn't quite work with one of the bad guys - who cannot be taken seriously and therefor loses some of his touch/menace ... but I may be nitpicking! You decide if it works or not ... just cut it some slack.

I stumbled across this on Prime and the description of three black people running from the law and ending up on the hunting grounds of the Klan was enough to hook me. But wow, what followed was so unexpected! Cannibalism, extreme violence, bloodshed, and carnage - all the things you want in a horror movie. And even though the main protagonist was an escaped criminal, you couldn't help but pull for him to come out on top at the end. Ignore the lower rated reviews - this is pure fun and a total must see!