FightforyourLife

Fight for Your Life (1977)

This is a crazy exploitation movie that not only likes to break some barriers, but also does so with some glee. The movie starts off with a jailbreak where three convicts escape from the guards that were transporting them. One of them is named Jesse Lee Kane and he is a really nasty guy. Jesse isn’t really fond of anyone not white and loves taunting his fellow prisoners, Chino and Ling because of it. Things only get worse when the 3 cons end up hiding out at the Turner family’s house to avoid the police. The Turners are a nice God fearing black family that Jesse takes a great deal of pleasure taunting and humiliating. If that weren’t enough the violence escalates as everyone to comes to see the Turners ends up brutally murdered. But it isn’t until the cons rape the daughter that the family has had enough. The tables get turned and the convicts get what is coming to them as can only happen in the movies!

Holy Crap! Listen I had heard for a long time that this movie was one of those exploitation gems from the 70s that had to be seen if you were a fan. But there always seemed to be something else to watch, so I hadn’t ever really gotten around to it. In fact after getting my copy from Blue Underground for review I still “bumped” it a couple of times for other movies that I needed to get done. Now of course I feel really silly for doing that because this has got to be one of the more memorable exploitation movies I’ve seen. The story follows the formula with increasing violence being done to a likeable group of characters (in this case the Turner family) by a despicable group of characters (the cons). The violence keeps ramping up from threats and backhanded slaps, to eventually the brutal murder of a young kid by bashing his head in with a rock. The murders and rape of the daughter then set up and justify the family getting their satisfaction when the tables are turned. This is also why it is so satisfying to see what happens to Kane and his fellow cons, which is the payoff and reason to watch movies like this.

For a low budget movie with a mostly unknown cast the performances are all killer. With the exception of William Sanderson there aren’t any recognizable faces. Considering how great they all do that really surprises the hell out of me. There are some very difficult scenes that are well acted and very convincing, which is a credit to all involved. I especially thought that the young man that played the Turner’s youngest son, Reggie Rock Bythewood, was excellent. I never thought the movie was cheesy or silly at all, which to me is a testament to the talent on the cast. The director didn’t even do another movie after this one! I suppose that there might have been some backlash after the movie hit theaters. It is just a real shame that we didn't get to see more from people with obvious talent. Ironically the man with the most offensive lines is also the one that seems to have managed a successful career as an actor.

This is a great movie and a wonderful example of Grindhouse/Exploitation cinema. I highly recommend that everyone check this out. Head over to the Blue Underground website for more details at http://www.blue-underground.com/

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer