Gore for the sake of gore but it was great fun all the same, here’s my Death Count review.
Strangers awaken in individual holding cells with no memory of how they arrived. They realize if they don’t acquire enough online “likes” in a timely manner, they’ll die horribly at the hands of a sinister executioner.
Inspired by Saw and featuring Detective Hoffman himself (Costas Mandylor) Death Count has quite a stacked cast including Michael Madsen, Devanny Pinn and Robert LaSardo.
Death Count certainly isn’t breaking any barriers in terms of originality with this idea of people kidnapped for their transgressions and made to repent through gory means.
It’s torture porn at its finest and gore for the sake of gore with an added inclusion of tech and the Warden (Costas Mandylor) who is employed to run the game.
The game is simple, each prisoner must self-harm with an item of their choosing and people will vote on who they feel is their favourite. Whoever has the most likes at the end of the game will escape with their lives.
But whilst Death Count is run of the mill it actually doesn’t get boring at any given moment and some ropey cinematography aside (the police office scenes look insanely low budget then we flick to the torture chambers which look and feel the part and are shot brilliantly) is quite fun and certainly has you wincing at the gore elements.
I know it’s fake, I’ve seen enough films to know it’s fake yet Death Count still had me sold and I felt every single gut-wrenching stab, pull and wound.
Death Count weaves the story well as we find out the link between all the characters and nothing feels forced.
The film does kind of fly off the rails in the third act and becomes a little bit ridiculous but it’s certainly never dull.
There are some really eye-opening moments that will have even the most diehard gore fan twitch.
The cast put in a stellar performance and whilst not original (I’ve said that already) it’s certainly worth your time.
Death Count review by Sean Evans
Our Rating
Summary
Death Count is a gore-for-gore sake movie with a bit more story depth than I expected. The scenes are visceral and intense and the film is an entertaining spectacle from start to finish.
