Death Ranch

Story: 0.75/2 - Direction & Pace: 1.25 & 1.25/4 - Performances: 1.00/2 - Entertainment: 1.25/2

Total - 5.50/10

In the sizzling cauldron of gore-fueled escapades, "Death Ranch" emerges as a blood-soaked tale that's part gore-fest, part revenge fantasy and a smidgen of a dysfunctional family reunion. It's comparatively like a picnic with a tornado forecast-messy, unpredictable, but strangely alluring.

Picture this: a runaway convict and his kin find refuge in their dear ol' grandpa's rundown barn. But lo-and-behold, their sanctuary becomes ground zero for a KKK killing spree. Surprise, surprise! The Klan's got the unfortunate family in their crosshairs faster than you can sarcastically say "bed sheet & pillowcase." Cue the brutal torture, molestation, and all that grim jazz.

Before you label this a dissertation on character depth, let's acknowledge the obvious: The characters here are thinner than the paper-thin crust on a pizza. It wouldn't have hurt to add some meat to their bones, metaphorically speaking. However, the absence of robust character development might be a tactical move to focus on the visceral rollercoaster ahead.

Praise goes to the director for engaging in peekaboo tactics with the gruesome bits. Instead of shoving the torture scenes in our faces, they opted for a "less is more" approach. The true horror is our imagination conjures far more ghastly images than any CGI could muster.

Sure, the pacing's as wonky as a marathon runner unsure of the finish line's precise location. And that slow-mo during certain scenes is more hindrance than enhancement, particularly when it's unwittingly used during uncomfortable moments.

But ah, the saving grace-the soundtrack: In a world where low-budget flicks often sound like a cat strumming a battered guitar, "Death Ranch" surprises. It's a symphony of pleasant sorts, harmonizing chaos and tension seamlessly.

Now, the cast, bless their kind hearts, realistically is a mixed bag. Thankfully, the director decently bids farewell to the weaker links early on. Survival of the fittest, or maybe the most entertaining?

In conclusion, "Death Ranch" is akin to that spicy taco you gobble down despite knowing it'll scorch your taste buds. It's a one-time thrill ride, especially if gore is your cup of cha. This flick's self-awareness is its unique charm-it never truly takes itself seriously, endowing you with a macabre grin and maybe, just maybe, contemplating a replay when the prevailing mood for blood-soaked antics strikes again.

If you read what this is about ... well even if you haven't - the movie becomes quite clear fast enough. That being said, there is a lot you have to "endure" until the movie gets into gear. But it still is relatively short running time wise.

And it also boasts quite the nice special effects. Which brings me to the point that you should not have issues with blood and other disgusting things that this movie is depicting. There is a lot of violence and there is a lot of "stabbing" and/or shooting. There will be blood and guts one may say. If that floats your boat, you could do a lot worse. Still this decent and has the social message of don't be racist ... and an empowering one at that ... even if the actors may not be able to carry that burden fully ... it still is there for entertainment values. Which also brings us to the uneven tone ... serious and bloody on one hand, ridiculous and goofy on the other ... doesn't quite work with one of the bad guys - who cannot be taken seriously and therefor loses some of his touch/menace ... but I may be nitpicking! You decide if it works or not ... just cut it some slack.

I must say that I liked this 2020 movie's cover/poster and it definitely had a retro blaxploitation feel to it. And since I hadn't already seen this movie before, and I had the opportunity to do so now in 2021, of course I did so.

And while "Death Ranch" certainly is a watchable movie, it was sadly also a rather bland and mundane movie. "Death Ranch" doesn't bring anything new to this particular style of revenge horror movie that haven't already been seen or done better in other similar movies. Now, don't get me wrong here, I am not saying that "Death Ranch" was a bad movie. Not at all. It just was a mediocre one when it came to it.

The storyline was pretty straight forward, but to the point where it was rather predictable, and that was something that served as an anchor and held the movie back. So writer and director Charlie Steeds sort of shot himself in the foot here with the way he opted to take the story and the movie.

It should be said, though, that what made "Death Ranch" watchable was the amount of blood, gore and mayhem throughout the course of the movie. There certainly was more than enough to keep a seasoned horror veteran and gorehound such as myself content. And I will say that the this movie is rather visceral and visual, and that definitely worked well in favor of the movie.

The acting in "Death Ranch" was adequate, taking into consideration the type of movie that you are sitting down to watch. So don't go expecting any grand, stellar acting performances that will reap an abundance of Academy awards.

All in all, "Death Ranch" was a watchable, albeit generic and bland one. It can easily be watched a single time around, but I doubt that I will ever be sitting down to watch "Death Ranch" a second time. My rating of "Death Ranch" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

Lame, bad acting, bad effects, everything bad, even a real 70's movie had more flair. Sheesh. Avoid this one unless you love suffering as much as I did while watching.

Plays it way too safe, this film. Something like this needs to be over the top and extreme to be enjoyable and everything seems so watered down with most of the good bits off screen or obscured. And that's not down to the very low budget, they easily could have shown alot more than what's on offer but seeing the past movies the director has made, it was inevitable this was going to turn out a dud.

Nothing worth seeing it for at all.