GOD: GAME OF DEATH: Subtle, It Ain't

GOD: GAME OF DEATH (Blu-ray)

2017 / 73 min

Rising Sun Media

Available at MovieZyng

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Finally...a game capable of causing more carnage than family Uno night.

Sort of an unholy cross between Jumanji and The Ring, GOD: Game of Death is a low budget horror film about a gaggle of obnoxious young adults who stumble across the titular board game. After being duped into giving it samples of their blood, they learn the horrifying rules: During the course of the game, they must kill 24 people. If too much time elapses between killings, one of them will die.

If you can slog through the godawful first ten minutes - where these kids drink, smoke, drop acid, jerk-off and bump uglies - GOD: Game of Death offers some sick thrills. Gleefully gory and occasionally funny, the film revels in exploding heads, vehicular homicide and shooting sprees, all depicted in vivid detail. Subtle, it ain’t, nor are the stylistic flourishes by directors Sebastian Landry & Laurence Baz Morais (which includes some bizarre animation and one jarring shift in aspect ratio).

"This never happens when we play Hungry Hungry Hippos: !"

However, the dialogue is awful and none of these characters are remotely interesting or likable. The body count is high and, considering the budget, the special effects are pretty impressive. But since we don’t really care who lives or dies, it’s kind of like watching someone else playing a violent video game. It’s also gotta be said that a few of the murder sequences (especially those involving innocent victims) border on cruel.

Still, if mayhem is your thing, GOD: Game of Death more-or-less delivers. Running a scant 73 minutes, the basic concept and nasty death scenes may be enough to keep the film from wearing out its welcome. Just don’t expect much beyond visceral thrills.