Deathsport

• USA • 1978 • 82m •

• Directed by: Allan Arkush, Nicholas Niciphor, Roger Corman. • Starring: David Carradine, Claudia Jennings, Richard Lynch, William Smithers, Will Walker, David McLean, Jesse Vint, H.B. Haggerty, John Himes, Jim Galante, Peter Hooper, Brenda Venus, Gene Hartline. • Music by: Andy Stein.

One thousand years into the future, following the Great Neutron Wars, the world is divided into desert wastes and isolated city-states. Lord Zirpola captures the notorious Desert Ranger Kaz to fight to the death in his game, Deathsport. Now Kaz must face his past and fight to save himself and his city from the war that Lord Zirpola is about to wage.

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There's your standard B-movie cheese and then there's the gloriously goofy "Deathsport". A follow-up, rather than sequel, to "Death Race 2000" (with David Carradine returning in a protagonist role), it shows us a Dystopian future in which "range guides" like Kaz Oshay (Carradine) and Deneer (B movie goddess Claudia Jennings) do battle with villains called "Statesmen". These baddies are led by a hilarious Richard Lynch (playing Ankar Moor), a guy given to making supposedly meaningful statements. Moor works for a dictator named Lord Zirpola (David McLean), whose sexual tastes tend towards the strange and sadistic.

You'll be busy trying to keep track of all the humans, objects, and animals zapped out of existence with this riotous debacle, began by a man named Nicholas Niciphor (a.k.a. Henry Suso), who proved to be not up to the task. Allan Arkush ("Get Crazy", "Rock 'n' Roll High School") then did his able best to try to salvage this production. The action is often very good, with tons of explosions, some intense camera-work, a bit of gore, some fire gags, and an occasional decapitation. There's even some cribbing of "Star Wars" sound effects, and a music score (composed by Andy Stein, with guitar performances by Jerry Garcia) that is PRICELESS in its tackiness. The script is by Niciphor and Donald E. Stewart, and it contains some of the funniest, most ridiculous dialogue that you'll hear in a movie of this kind. The so-called "mutants" are very low-rent: basically a few actors in rags scurrying about with golf-ball eyes.

Fortunately, the filmmakers aren't stupid, contriving a means to get Jennings, as well as Valerie Rae Clark as a dancer, out of their clothes. The performances are pretty straight-faced from all concerned, which only makes the "story", such as it is, even more humorous. Carradine runs around in a diaper for a while and is a hoot as the good guy, while Jennings retains her appeal as a performer. The supporting cast includes a couple of familiar faces, such as Jesse Vint, William Smithers, H.B. Haggerty, and Brenda Venus.

A real comedown from the social commentary, dark humour, and campy appeal of "Death Race 2000", but yet "Deathsport" has undeniable pleasures for anybody looking for a "so bad it's good" type of movie.

Review by Hey_Sweden from the Internet Movie Database.

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