| Fight for Your Life (1977) Directed by Robert A. Endelson. Starring William Sanderson and Robert Judd. If you were to take half a cup of Last House on the Left, a pinch of I Spit on Your Grave, a dash of Joe, a hint of Good Times, and three tablespoons of Aryan Nation rhetoric, you�d probably end up with a grindhouse classic very much like Fight for Your Life. Jessie Lee Kane, Chino Rodriguez, and Lee Chow aren�t what you�d call fine upstanding members of the community. The trio all have murder and rape convictions that make Ted Bundy look like a celibate pacifist. I know what you�re probably thinking. With names like Kane, Rodriguez, and Chow, at least these three are promoting racial harmony in society. But as far as Kane is concerned, his two accomplices are just a wetback spic and a dog eating Chinaman who are good for nothing but slitting the occasional throat or beating in the odd brain of anyone who�s stupid enough to get in their way. The trio have just escaped from encarceration and are headed for the border hellbent for leather and random carnage. They�re on a collision course with a family who are the complete antithesis to everything they stand for. The God-fearing Turner family are the most perfect nuclear black family since the Cosby�s. And Kane just loves blacks... swinging from a tree that is! Father Ted Turner (not to be confused with CNN magnate Ted Turner� unless Ted lost a lot of melanin since 1977) is the man of the house. He�s also a preacher. I don�t mean that he preaches to his mildly disinterested kids like every other father on the planet. This guy�s the real deal. After a few shocking random acts of violence to establish that they aren�t very nice guys at all, Kane�s gang invade the Turner family abode. And like Goldilocks, they eat all the Turner�s porridge; well, the macaroni and cheese that Mrs. Turner was preparing for a white dinner guest. Macaroni and cheese? Call me cynical, but I don�t know that the Turners really liked their guest all that much. I can only speculate on the conversation that took place when Mr. and Mrs. Turner were discussing catering for the evening: Mrs. Turner : �Honey, we got company coming�. Mr. Turner : �Oh yeah? Who�s coming?� Mrs. Turner : �That white girl who contributed to our son�s death in a horrible car accident� Mr. Turner : �That honky girl? F**k thawin� out the t-bone steak! Serve that b**ch up some macaroni and cheese! And make sure you spit in it while you at it!� Mrs. Turner : �Yes dear. I know you�re right. F**k whitey�� But I digress. From here on in, Fight for Your Life gleefully degenerates into complete and utter shameless exploitation. It milks the race card for all it�s worth, dropping enough racial slurs to make even Hando blush. I�m sure that we�ve all sat through a million films that have compromised themselves for the sake of being politically correct, and hence come across as being watered down or dishonest. Fight for Your Life doesn�t give a rats arse who it hurts or offends. Straw Weisman�s screenplay not only doesn�t mind stepping on toes, it systematically stomps on every single toe in sight maniacally until they�re red raw. Fight for Your Life is one of the forgotten classics of the grindhouse era. Made for under $80 000, it�s a textbook how-to of guerilla filmmaking. If you haven�t the budget to make a Citizen Kane, then you damn well hit your audience over the head with the celluloid equivalent of a piece of two by four. This classic is finally available on DVD in Australia thanks to Stomp Entertainment, who along with Umbrella Entertainment are fighting the good fight to raise the profile of classic exploitation cinema in Australia. It�s nice to wander into your local retailer and find a real alternative to Adam Sandler�s Spanglish (which is about as pleasant as root canal work; trust me, I know). For those extra addicts out there, this one also includes a directors commentary (you�ll learn more from the average director�s track than you will from seven years of film school), t.v. spots, theatrical trailers, and a �how to tar and feather your ethnic minority neighbour in three easy steps� featurette. Alright, I�ll admit it� I made that last one up. Made you want to run out and buy it out of curiosity though didn�t it? Entertainment : 3 out of 4 Watchability : 2.5 out of 4 Overall : 2.75 out of 4 Reviewed by Blake |