Fight for Your Life

William Sanderson plays Kane, a racist psychopath who escapes from a prison transport with a couple of his buddies. They hole up in a small town, in the house of a black preacher and his family, and Kane proceeds to terrorize and abuse them for his own amusement. Eventually the preacher's family fights back. Nasty exploitation flick with some solid acting, decent gore and an absurd amount of racial slurs...oh, and a small kid gets his skull viciously beaten in with a rock. Bonus points.

Hmm, I saw this about three months ago, but it really isn't a film you can forget about so soon, mostly due to how racially charged it all is, which is amplified by a great deal of impressive and courageous acting (and reacting). Some of the directing during the more "action-packed" scenes are some of the worst directing I've ever seen and look clunky as fuck, but for the most part this is an exemplary exploitation film that has a lot of bite and kick.

Somewhat dated but pure fun and a BIG "fuck you" to political correctness.

Like its cowardly racist main villain, this grindhouse flick and notorious video nasty is a lot more talk than actual bite but worth a watch for its sheer balls - the kind of raw, angry filmmaking that only the 70s could have produced.

Racism is off the charts in this film.

Does it work? Yes, kind of. The film's biggest asset is Sanderson who is deeply committed to delivering a fearless performance as a horrifically loathsome man. He transcends the film's obvious limitations. Judd is also pretty dam good. Most of the cast isn't.

Great stuff. One of those "exploitation" movies that in a way are really much more convincing than any mainstream blockbuster. Extra points for pissing on political correctness and allowing the psychopath character to display some raving racism (heavens forbid) besides the conventional murderousness. If you dig I Spit On Your Grave or early Wes Craven, you'll dig this.

Extreme violence and racism.

An interesting curiosity item, but little else. It's not as tasteless as you might expect (though it is by no means highbrow); the barrage of racial insults becomes almost cartoonish by the end. It's all a bit hokey - a fairy tale full of hyperbole (insecure white trash, black kid becoming blood brothers with white friend, etc.). It does have some jarring and disturbing moments, though. I'd have liked it more if the conclusion were more satisfying, but it ends rather limply.