Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Deathrow Gameshow Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 9, 2016

“Deathrow Gameshow” is the second film from 1987 to address a futureworld where the incarcerated are offered a chance at freedom if they compete on a popular television show. However, this isn’t “The Running Man,” which is admittedly a pretty goofy movie trying to keep a straight face. “Deathrow Gameshow” is a farce from writer/director Mark Pirro (and his Pirromont Pictures, which uses a mountain-esque image of a single female breast as their logo), who doesn’t waste a minute on serious business, launching this take on the disposable lives of the condemned as a wacky exploration of television production and stupidity, without any sort of social or political commentary. It’s a broad creation, but one that’s eager to please, doing what it can to secure any laughs from viewers, trying to make a limited budget feel sizable with help from slapstick, nudity, and small bites of industry satire.

The hottest program on Channel KSIK is “Live or Die,” a game show hosted by Chuck Toedan (John McCafferty) that uses death row inmates as contestants, offering trivia questions or physical challenges to desperate men. A right answer leads to possible freedom. A wrong answer triggers a televised execution, much to the delight of the national audience. A hated man, Chuck enjoys his fame, sampling groupies and sparring on talk shows with the likes of feminist Gloria Sternvirgin (Robyn Blythe), protected by the show’s popularity. However, when “Live or Die” fries mob boss Spumoni (Mark Lasky), his criminal syndicate vows revenge, with enforcer Luigi Pappalardo (Beano) breaking into Chuck’s office with his elderly mother, Mama (also Lasky), threatening the host with death unless certain demands are met. Stuck with Gloria, Chuck scrambles to find a way out of this situation, only making things worse as neglect leads to unintentional murder.

“Deathrow Gameshow” has plenty in common with “The Running Man,” but there’s a bit of “RoboCop” in there as well, with the feature peppered with faux commercials for deadly products, with companies using leftover criminals to showcase the effectiveness of cheese-based rat poison and the clarity of a cassette tape, asking a mother to tell the difference between a recording of her son’s agonizing death and the real thing. Granted, there’s nothing particularly sharp about Pirro’s approach, but there’s an enjoyable madness to the effort that grows darkly comic. More macabre entanglements are found on the game show, which goes extreme to punish the inmates, keeping one crook locked in a guillotine as he answers movie trivia, while Spumoni’s death is complex, focusing on a shock collar attached to his penis, which threatens electrocution if he becomes aroused during “The Dance of the Seven Boners.” Again, subtlety isn’t Pirro’s forte, and “Deathrow Gameshow” tries to be outrageous, with this neediness either coming through with ZAZ-style invention or Troma-ish clumsy excess.

McCafferty is a secure focal point for “Deathrow Gameshow,” delivering strong work as the smarmy host, making “Live or Die” sequences come alive with credible broadcast television hustle, also nailing most of the wilder ideas from Pirro, including a mid-movie dream sequence that’s presented as a trailer for Chuck’s abstract anxiety. McCafferty pairs well with Blythe, who has the unfortunate task of making period-specific sexism funny, but most of her screen time is actually spent with Beano, who turns Luigi into a disgusting, spaghetti-spewing glop of armed dim-wittedness, beefing up the picture’s back nine with extreme cartoonishness. The rest of the cast is here to play, tasked with making sense of Pirro’s lamer ideas. Darwyn Carson should practically be medaled for her role as Trudy, Chuck’s secretary who reads pornography at work and is often caught self-pleasuring with a vibrator. In a film that doesn’t always make sense, this bit is the most bewildering.

Deathrow Gameshow Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation ("Scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm original camera negative") brings "Deathrow Gameshow" to Blu-ray with a bright, clear viewing experience, sure to please fans used to seeing the feature on video and cable. Sharpness is generally good, securing welcome detail on facial reactions, as Pirro tends to abuse close-ups for comedic effect. Textures are also found on costuming and set decoration, making it easy to spot how budgetary dollars were spent. Colors are superbly refreshed, bringing out bold primaries and lush greenery, also handling dynamic lighting for the game show sequences. Skintones are natural. Delineation is secure. Grain is appealing, adding a filmic presence. Source is strong, without overt damage. Some mild judder is detected.

Deathrow Gameshow Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 1.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix provides unexpected energy to "Deathrow Gameshow." Scoring cues and soundtrack selections come through clear and defined, with full instrumentation to bring a musical presence to the feature. Dialogue exchanges are most crisp and tight, handling the movie's broadness without distortion. Also, natural microphone tone is preserved, giving McCafferty's performance a boost. Sound effects are pronounced, but they don't overwhelm.

Deathrow Gameshow Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features writer/director Mark Pirro, and actors John McCafferty and Robyn Blythe.

• Intro (:21, HD) is a short greeting from Pirro, who welcomes fans and pirates to the Blu-ray experience from the comfort of a diner booth.

• "Revisiting 'Deathrow Gameshow'" (32:20, HD) is a 2013 making-of featurette that gathers most of the main players from the production, including Pirro, McCafferty, Blythe, cinematographer Craig Bassuk, and co-producer Glenn Campbell. Tracking the development of the movie, pressure was put on Pirro to deliver a 35mm product for Crown International Pictures after years of working in 8mm. Anecdotes explore the rough transition, with Pirro's team handed $200,000 to make the effort, necessitating the hiring of more experienced crew, who promptly took advantage of the Hollywood freshmen. Tales of iffy craftsmanship and hostilities are terrific, along with a surprisingly candid discussion of Blythe's appeal, with McCafferty and Pirro competing for her attention during the shoot despite agreeing to wait until production was completed.

• "2015 Director's Cut" (80:30, SD) is an unexplained version of "Deathrow Gameshow" that doesn't seem any different than the theatrical cut, only adding terrible CGI blood and electricity effects to extreme violence.

• Short Film Intro (1:15, HD) returns to Pirro, who shares his delight with the opportunity to showcase his earliest work.

• Shorts: "Buns" (1978 - 20:44, SD) and "The Spy Who Did It Better" (1979 - 45:43, SD) are two early efforts from Pirro that establish a wacky tone he would return to throughout his entire career.

• Image Gallery collects 36 production photos and newspaper clippings.

• Director Bio for Pirro is offered.

• A T.V. Spot (:42, SD) is presented.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:16, SD) is included.

Deathrow Gameshow Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Deathrow Gameshow" doesn't offer a satisfying ending, failing to come up with a snowballing sense of lunacy to successfully stick the landing. However, it opens with enough agreeable nonsense to pass, actually doing something with a promising premise for the first half of the feature. Pirro doesn't have the money to truly expand this oddball world of televised executions and mob enforcement, but he nails tonality in pieces, keeping "Deathrow Gameshow" afloat for longer than I'm sure anyone might expect.