It
is the near future or maybe right now. The world is sick of the perennial world
war engulfing Africa, but they are delighted to be distracted by bloodsport on
television. It would sound almost like a call back to the Roman Empire, but it
is surprisingly clothed and chaste for a film produced by Brian
Trenchard-Smith. Nevertheless, the Ozploitation legend gave his blessing to a
new remake-re-conception of his cult favorite Turkey Shoot, a.k.a. Escape
2000, a.k.a. Blood Camp Thatcher.
With a rather prosaic title befitting a film striving for phony relevancy, Jon
Hewitt’s Elimination Game (trailer here) opens this Friday
in select theaters.
It
sure seems like Navy SEAL Rick Tyler capped the Libyan dictator in the opening
sequence. However, the next thing we know, World War Africa is raging and Tyler
has been convicted of a heinous massacre of innocent civilians. It is pretty
clear what’s going on to everyone but Tyler. He will not have much time to
puzzle things out either, when the Monty Halls in power offer him a deal. If he
survives as a contestant on the human hunting show Turkey Shoot (“it’s live . . . with death”) he will win his
freedom.
Of
course, the deck will be stacked against him, but Tyler has a very particular
set of skills. He also finds an unlikely ally in Commander Jill Wilson, who
goes rogue when General Thatcher lets it slip they framed Tyler because you
know why.
Fans
will probably be disappointed by just how far removed Hewitt’s film is from the
Trenchard-Smith original, which was a lot like an ultra-violent Roger Corman
tropical prison movie. Perhaps most problematic is the film’s anti-septic vibe.
Sure, it is violent at times, but it is incapable of real sleaze—and that is a
problem for a re-re of Turkey Shoot.
Prison Break’s Dominic Purcell is
not the most expressive actor holding an Equity card, but he is not a runny-nosed
boy either. Let’s face it, anyone who can survive multiple Uwe Boll films (and
we use that word liberally) should be at home in a Trenchard-Smith remake. In
fact, he is perfectly credible in the action scenes and is a more than adequate
brooder.
Purcell
is not the problem. Unfortunately, he is working with a lame-brain script. The
excessively bright and sterile atmosphere does not help either. It all looks
very down-market television. You have to wonder if Trenchard-Smith was
constantly scrubbing the sets, so he wouldn’t have to pay a cleaning fee.
Still,
fans of the original will be happy to see alumni like Roger Ward and Carmen
Duncan turn up in minor roles, as the Libyan dictator and the president,
respectively. It is also rather mind-blowing to see Nicholas Hammond, the late
1970s Spiderman, pop up as Gen. Thatcher. He also turns his scenes with Purcell
rather well, so it kind of baffling the Marvel film juggernaut has not found a
fan-servicing cameo-spot for him yet.
