DVD review: Sportkill (2007)

Rachel's (Dona Wood) life will never be the same: after being abducted, and forced into the world of high stakes betting, Rachel must decide to play, or be played. Could you inflict pain on another in order to survive? Sportkill is written and directed by Craig McMahon. We get sadism, gore and cruelty but the film is plagued by mediocre acting, bad camera work and editing (it looks cheap even though it according to IMDB had an estimated budget of $ 1, 200 000), the pacing is slower than expected and the film is quickly becomes pretty boring. There is a severe lack of tension, suspense and atmosphere. A non-existing script? For instance Rachel breaks the rules of the game and is buried alive in the so called Labyrinth of horror. Now she needs to find the exit and we get to see her crawling around for half an hour and thus more than a third of the film consist of the Rachel going through a narrow wooden maze. There is little gore which is a bit of a surprise considering the posters, the plot and title. The gore fx are practical fx, there are a few beheadings, cutting of fingers and a few nails in the foot and thigh, and knives used in various parts of the body.
This review is based upon the german region 2 DVD release from NSM, it´s uncut and english audio is available.
Rating: 0½ out of 7. There is little to say about Sportkill, it´s a disappointment, it fails to deliver and is really boring and on top of it all it´s completely inconsequential . No atmosphere, poor performers, zero development of the characters and a completely stupid ending! The scenes in the "Labyrinth of Horror" are sometimes really good but, unfortunately, too long.

/JL