Popular reviews

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  Review by Tony the Terror 🎃 ★★★½ 3

  Thanks for the rec belial, you were right, I really did enjoy this! It’s exactly the kind of thing I would have watched late one weekend night on USA Up All Night so the whole time I was getting warm, fuzzy nostalgic vibes. Honestly, as soon as the title screen said “A Pirromount Pictures Production”, I knew I was in for a stupid, trashy good time.

  It’s about a guy who hosts a TV game show featuring death row criminals getting a last minute chance to save their own skins and it’s just one of those absurd comedies that could only have been made in the 80’s. Seiriously, this would never have worked in any other decade. I’m not really sure that it worked in 1987, but I enjoyed it so that’s all that matters.

  The good folks at my beloved Vinegar Syndrome released this forgotten treasure and they really are the absolute best.

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  Review by belial_carboni ★★★ 5

  One of those films that belongs in it's own absurd category. A quirky and sleazy comedy that's ultra silly and just plain bizarre. A movie that shouldn't work, but is actually quite effective. The animated characters, hyper dialogue, cheap set designs and overall low budget feels make it a unique experience of Z grade cinema. Wave goodbye to your brain as it slowly turns to dust!

  Our zany host Chuck Toedan runs a gameshow called Live or Die, where inmates participate in various games to decide their fate. Will they be electrocuted, beheaded or set free? Only time will tell! Chuck runs into trouble when his contraversial gameshow accidentally kills a notorious mob boss! You in trouble now Chuck! That…

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  Review by Bob McCully ★★★ 2

  A twisted dark-comedy about a literal death row game show that has the trademark Vinegar Syndrome sleaze and WTF alchemy drenching the weird comic tone and making it feel like Troma presents Stay Tuned.
  Such a bizarre and unique trip though, so despite being too inconsistent to make it one of the boutique label's veritable bangers I'm still glad I have it as part of my collection.

  It's a perfect weirdo hazer for 1am on a saturday night when your brain has declared "Last Call" and you wanna ease out with something comfortably unhinged.

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  Review by Zay ★★★

  A dark comedy about a sleazy gameshow host that features death row inmates competing in life and death contests. The host of the show, Chuck Toedan, is the star of the film. He's pissed off alot of ppl along the way and they are all out to get him. Sleazy, cheesy, over the top corny...product of the 80s baby 🙌🏾

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  Review by Tyler ★★½

  “We’d like to remind our alcoholic friends out there don’t drink and drive, you might spill it.”

  Every scene there’s something crude, offensive or just generally hilarious. Some highlights were the secretary who masturbates all day, the character Gloria Sternvirgin and, the wife hoping her husbands head ends up face up in the basket of the guillotine so she wins 10k. This movie feels like a game show you’d see on Videodrome, it’s all about titillation and death but with a comedic twist. While Deathrow Gameshow has a really strong start the latter half is not as good, and at times boring as fuck. The first 20 minutes is hilarious and the gameshow scenes are fun but everything outside of that atmosphere is really dragged down by some sloppy and boring dialog. Deathrow is a fun movie that’s worth the watch but isn’t one of the best B-movies I’ve seen.

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  Review by GarbageReelKids 🗑️ 🎥 🧒 ★★★½

  Daily Horror Scavenger Hunt 14 – August 2019

  original list by Maskull: boxd.it/3tN7c

  A Vinegar Syndrome movie that you've never heard of before.

  Most would definitely agree this is not a horror movie, but far more of a black comedy, bordering on slapstick at times. Although you think this is more of a double-feature piece with The Running Man, I think it pairs better with something like TerrorVision because of how absolutely absurd it is. To describe or reveal a few examples of it would probably be doing a disservice, but in less than 2 minutes, you'll understand what you've gotten yourself into.

  There's really not much of a plot here, and I don't know that I really want there to be, because I was riding the silliness wave and didn't want to come down, baby!

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  Review by DeathBolt ★★★

  A sleazy & bizarre low-budget comedy. There are some good bits but the best ones are mostly near the beginning and the movie's charm wears out as it goes on.

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  Review by Justin LaLiberty ★★★

  The commentary on the new blu-ray is pure gold:

  "Yeah, nepotism. It's my movie, fuck you"

  "This is one of the first racist jokes. The only person would would laugh at this is Trump."

  "Im trying to make a movie and everyone is out there getting laid"

  "For those of you who would like to know how this movie was made, just go to my website"

  "Gotta have an explosion in a movie"

  "They stole this scene for Raising Arizona"

  "His nipples have grown over the years"

  "I got aroused, I kid you not"

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  Review by Dan McCoy ★★★

  The one thing I remembered from my first viewing (circa puberty and me sneaking views of R-rated movies) was "The Dance of the 7 Boners."

  That part was basically as I remembered it, but it's only now, as an adult, that I understand the scene's punchline. 

  This is what we call "wisdom."

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  Review by 13beersl8r ★★★

  The "slow children" bit never gets old. Anti-film obnoxiousness. Unredeemable and doesn't give a fuck. The Rodney Dangerfield of bottom tier zingers. About as refreshing as a kick to the teeth. That being said, kind of liked it. Self-assured performances, low brow humor, comical gags and effects. You get what you pay for.

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  Review by ItsLV ★★★ 1

  This could of been a cult classic if the stupid unfunny Italian dork with shit hair didn't sink the second half of the movie.

  Wears out it's welcome. Should of gone in a more gonzo direction. Damn.

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  Review by Dave Jackson ★★★½

  Hehe. This movie is what I was in the mood for. Loud. Dumb. Mean-spirited. Deathrow Gameshow seems to think it's making a point about modern TV habits and the world's descent into depravity, but its message has been done before and executed far better in other, more polished efforts. However, having the film's lead a irredeemable sociopathic murderer is an interesting touch, and John McCafferty brings a slick 80s madness to the role. Deathrow Gameshow is not as funny as it thinks it is, but I appreciated its obsession with being as obnoxious as possible. The innuendo runs rampant. Food spills from disgusting slobs mouths. Death is treated like a joke. And though this is clearly a cheap, cheap movie, it's shot with some degree of skill. It's not inspired cinematography, but it's totally tolerable to look at. I'm glad Vinegar Syndrome released this nonsense.