Editorials
Paul W.S. Anderson’s ‘Death Race’ – Finding the Good in the 2008 Remake [The Silver Lining]
In this edition of The Silver Lining, we’ll be discussing Paul W.S. Anderson’s 2008 remake, Death Race!
Loosely based on Ib Melchior’s short story The Racer, Paul Bartel’s Death Race 2000 is remembered as a revolutionary B-movie that entertained audiences with fun and schlocky satire despite a shoestring budget and malfunctioning cars. Starring David Carradine and featuring an early appearance by the legendary Sylvester Stallone, the 1975 film follows the masked “Frankenstein” as he embarks on a Transcontinental Road Race meant to entertain a dystopian society through vehicular violence. Boasting colorful characters and biting social commentary, the film became one of the most influential genre flicks of its time, inspiring comic-books, videogames and even other movies for many years to come.
That’s why it’s surprising that it took so long for studios to revisit the franchise, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. After decades of false starts and aborted reboots, with variations of the project even featuring Tom Cruise as both producer and leading man, Paul W.S. Anderson finally managed to greenlight his proposed reworking of the franchise with the help of the original producer Roger Corman.
Though Anderson spent nearly 13 years pitching his vision of a Death Race remake, his original project had to be revised once the studio determined that a futuristic sequel (originally titled Death Race 3000) wasn’t exactly “budget-friendly”. Forgoing hi-tech hover-cars and ludicrous sci-fi gadgets, the filmmakers ultimately settled on a gritty prequel/remake chronicling the plight of Jensen Ames (Jason Statham), a framed prisoner attempting to win back his freedom by taking on the role of the iconic Frankenstein and participating in the pay-per-view event “Death Race”, a brutal competition that takes place on a futuristic prison island.
Boasting a passionate director and an admittedly thrilling premise, it stands to reason that moviegoers were hyped for this updated take on hyper-violent battle-racing. After all, the cars actually worked this time around, and it seemed like audiences were clamoring for a more convincing depiction of vehicular carnage.
SO WHAT WENT WRONG?
Hauling in over $76 million at the box office on an estimated $65 million budget, Death Race didn’t exactly wow producers with its financial performance. The critical reception wasn’t very positive either, with the picture currently sitting on a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes as reviewers blasted its boring characters and messy editing as well as the uncharacteristically somber script.
Many complaints were directed at the film’s general lack of creativity and style, with exaggerated racers like the original’s Nero the Hero and Matilda the Hun becoming run-of-the-mill bad guys with boring cars that are hard to tell apart during shaky-cam action sequences. The film’s lackluster attempts at social critique also came under fire, as many of Bartel’s jabs at American culture were excised in favor of a more direct commentary on privatized prisons and Reality TV.
The Terminal Island Penitentiary setting was also a problem, as the single location meant that the film lost the compelling road trip aspect of the original, making the titular race resemble a more savage version of Mario Kart rather than a cross-country odyssey. Additionally, the drab environments resulted in repetitive action scenes, with cars exploding and drivers being gunned down without the added personality to make these moments memorable.
Of course, the biggest problem here is the picture’s overwhelmingly serious tone, with the story lacking the original movie’s dark sense of humor. While it maintained some of the exaggerated dialogue and excessively brutal kills, this prequel/remake ends up being a mostly joyless experience that trades in the grindhouse charms of the original for big budget spectacle.
THE SILVER LINING
The original Death Race 2000 remains a schlocky classic that is just as entertaining today as it was nearly a half-century ago. While Bartel’s film is undoubtedly the superior picture, I’d argue that Anderson’s 2008 reimagining also has a lot going for it if you accept that it’s a fundamentally different but equally valid experience.
The larger budget and increased production value may have removed some of the story’s trashy charms, but it also means that the vehicular action is much more believable this time around. The film even benefited from 35 fully functioning cars and a team of over 80 mechanics to make sure that they were all in working order. Sure, it would have been nice to see wackier designs and crazier racers, but it’s hard to look away from these grisly crashes and explosions, especially during the second half of the picture.
The cast is also unexpectedly great, with heavy hitters like Ian McShane and Joan Allen elevating an admittedly bland script. While Statham makes for a charming leading man, Tyrese Gibson stands out as the rival-turned-ally Machine Gun Joe, though it’s a shame that they didn’t give him any of Stallone’s hyperbolic mannerisms. Additionally, David Carradine actually returns to voice Frankenstein in the movie’s opening scene, which is a treat for fans of the original.
Beyond the budget and performances, I think one of the Death Race remake’s most unique aspects is its cinematic repurposing of videogame logic, with the picture successfully adapting absurd gaming tropes like power-ups and optional risky short-cuts. These entertaining ideas don’t exactly make up for the uninspired visuals, but they make the movie feel like a less goofy take on Twisted Metal, which is always a good thing.
It’s nowhere near as memorable as the original, but I really appreciate how Death Race isn’t a simple rehash of its predecessor, keeping only the general premise and mostly doing its own thing. If you can accept that, I’d highly recommend revisiting this gearhead spin on dystopian prison movies. While the Death Race franchise would live on through a series of surprisingly fun direct-to-video follow-ups (and a full-on legacy sequel in the form of Death Race 2050), I know I’ll always have a soft spot for Jason Statham and Tyrese Gibson teaming up for an armored truck boss battle on the big screen.
Watching a bad movie doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad experience. Even the worst films can boast a good idea or two, and that’s why we’re trying to look on the bright side with The Silver Lining, where we shine a light on the best parts of traditionally maligned horror flicks.
Horror was thriving so well in the 1980s that movies like Pen Densham’s The Kiss (1988) would understandably get lost in the shuffle, only to then gain their fans later on in life. Even still, this one Canadian-American curio has had a more challenging time than others, as far as contemporary reevaluations go, which is very likely due to the movie’s limited availability—at least as of this write-up.
However, the scarceness of The Kiss, while a bit annoying, makes it like catnip for ‘80s horror completists everywhere. Hopefully, a lot of them will walk away satisfied after watching this hidden gem.
Even though The Kiss was intended as the first of several horror collaborations between Astral Pictures and TriStar, as well as the first feature produced by Densham, Richard B. Lewis and John Watson’s Trilogy Entertainment Group, it ended up being the only one produced from that former union. Once the movie was released, TriStar’s distribution jitters—they opted for a regional rollout—did the $6-million flick no favors. TriStar’s cold feet toward horror releases have been well noted, but The Kiss still did a tad better than Night of the Creeps (1986), another genre outing that flopped due to its regional opening.
Shot in Montreal, but set in Albany, New York, The Kiss—which was still called The Host just a few months before its October premiere—concerns an average middle-class family and their forthcoming situation. The uncanny problem in store for them was, in fact, set in motion some years earlier. As that hot and dusty flashback to the Belgian Congo shows, a familial curse was set upon the two Dunbar sisters well before Meredith Salenger’s teenage character was born.
Meredith Salenger, Nicholas Kilbertus and Mimi Kuzyk in The Kiss
The Kiss, which was based on a story by co-writer Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch) and penned by both Volk and Tom Ropelewski, has the outward appearance of The Stepfather (1987). This movie, though, is anything but a gender-flipped retread of that classic domestic disturber. For starters, The Kiss is far less grounded in reality—that much is clear from its unsettling opening scene. There, a trusting girl (Priscilla Mouzakiotis) is the victim of her own deceptive aunt (Céline Lomez); the movie’s titular act, and the story’s first shock, becomes the means of transferring an ancient evil from one host to another.
In the present day, Salenger’s role of Amy Halloran, a religious schoolgirl, is dealt a harsh blow in life once her mother, Hilary Halloran née Dunbar (Pamela Collyer), suddenly dies in a freak accident. But rather than a complete stranger sweeping the Halloran widower (Nicholas Kilbertus) off his feet some months later, Joanna Pacula’s character is that chosen temptress. Here, Pacula plays the grown-up version of the afflicted girl last seen in the movie’s opener. Since Amy’s mother is insistent about there being no reunion between estranged sisters, and she even contemplates buying a gun shortly before her tragic demise, it’s presumable that Aunt Felice poses a threat to her family.
The Kiss isn’t a movie ever too concerned about its own predictability. The audience is indeed often one step ahead of the story here, but also keep in mind how every one of those steps is loud. Take, for instance, the death of Amy’s mother; the Halloran matriarch goes out in garish, gruesome fashion, as a supernaturally commandeered truck sends Collyer’s character through a store window first, then leaves her one leg short. The directorial enthusiasm truly comes out in horrific moments such as these.
The Kiss is always sure to revel in its characters’ ills and misfortunes. So if the plot doesn’t impress, then its lurid parts should. Amy’s mother’s exit scene was proof of an eager, first-time horror director proving his worth. Then, bestie Heather (Sabrina Boudot) survives to tell the tale of a bizarre escalator mishap that, despite showing relatively less gore, spikes viewers’ empathy meter. The wilder bits of this movie, however, commence with that inevitable hookup between Felice and Amy’s bewitched father; their kitchen coitus is paralleled by Amy’s feverish classroom terror. The outcome there is a disquieting cross-cut of sex magic and a young woman’s menstrual onset plus hallucinations.
Sabrina Boudot in The Kiss
From foam appliances to bladders, that parade of special effects in The Kiss casts its own spell on the audience. Felice’s familiar, a visibly malevolent cat, was realized here with several models, some more articulate than others. Admittedly, the demon cat’s not as convincing as most of the effects here, but accepting that artifice, as opposed to fighting it, will make the whole experience way more enjoyable. As for the makeup used to manifest Felice’s inner villainy, it is more minimal and subtle than one might like; yet the work done to turn Pacula into an antithesis of herself is nonetheless compelling.
The otherworldly perils and dreadful goings-on wouldn’t work half as well as they do in The Kiss without the story’s contrast effect. Finding frights in picturesque, extremely ordinary settings was something that took off in the ‘80s, thanks to that sweeping shift to locales like the suburbs. And Amy’s home, a replica of a real Montreal suburban house, is the ideal battleground for any proper good-versus-evil story. It’s also prime real estate for this movie’s satanic panic-inspired horrors.
Because of their ostensibly similar plots, The Kiss has been compared to The Exorcist (1973). Except in Densham’s movie, the sinister, non-Christian entity targeting a teen girl lies within something less apparent and, perhaps, more devastating upon its exposure. To an outsider, Pacula’s Aunt Felice is too beautiful and unobjectionable to ever suspect of being a monster. More suspicious is how quickly she rips into the fabric of the Halloran home. Felice’s mere presence upsets the “texture of family life,” according to the director.
The demon cat in The Kiss
Taking out Amy’s mother and best friend, and distracting her father, would suggest The Kiss is playing by a different set of rules. It is initially leaving its adolescent target unsupported in a rather grim scenario. In contrast, though, this story offers up a surrogate parent who does her best to fill in the holes of Amy’s eroding home life. Mimi Kuzyk does good work as that family friend and doctor, Brenda, who guides the lost child without also steering her in any one direction; she is naturally skeptical of Amy’s accusations until it’s almost too late to do anything about them. So although The Kiss does an admirable job of undoing the main character’s support system, it never leaves her without a lifeline. This dark movie, in spite of everything that’s transpired, doesn’t deprive itself of light and hope.
The Kiss is a potent mélange of familiar ideas. If not for the director’s surprise flair for horror, though, the movie would have been less effective. What a shame that Pen Densham didn’t continue with the genre. As for Joanna Pacula, she is, too, owed credit as the wicked vixen opposite Meredith Salenger’s pitiable Amy; she never fails to be unsettling in her role. Pacula makes Aunt Felice a sexy yet intimidating character.
For horror that steadily doles out madness and menace, while also delivering a flashy and ghastly conclusion, The Kiss is certain to please. Yes, it’s cheesy all the way, but most favorably, everyone involved plays everything straight. That kind of commitment goes a long way with this movie.
The Kiss
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