A Game of Death

When I saw this unobtainable remake on one of the cable channels, I was immediately drawn in, which was the opposite of what I was expecting. Credit the director for this, as it may not have been possible if it had been by a less than skilled professional. He got the most out of the actors, and and the sets were believable. I give this movie high marks for production value and telling the story again, but just as compelling a way.

Director Robert Wise shows what he can do with Connell's classic story, THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME.

Big game hunter, Don Rainsford (John Loder) finds himself on a mysterious island after surviving a shipwreck. He soon becomes a guest at the fortress-like mansion of Erich Kreiger (Edgar Barrier), who also happens to be a hunter.

As Rainsford begins talking to other "guests" of Kreiger, he discovers a sinister plan to hunt the ultimate quarry.

Though I personally prefer the original 1932 version, and Leslie Banks' Zaroff over Barrier's Kreiger, Wise adds some nice touches and upgrades here and there. The inside of the mansion is impressive, and the "trophy room" is far more ghoulish!

This movie is reminiscent of Wise's work with Val Lewton. The suspense builds perfectly to the inevitable climax.

Highly recommended...

It is not widely shown in the great director's filmography, and I can't explain why. It is the remake of a classic from the previous decade: THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME. But that's not a reason, despite the "copycat" scene for scene filming, I admit. As Roy Boulting will do one decade later in RUN FOR THE SUN, the Nazis, fierce Nazis, are the villains in this adventure film. It is not Bob Wise's best, of course, especially if you consider the rest of his filmography, but it should be named on the same level as THE BODYSNATCHER or BORN TO KILL. CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE is also a Wise's gem which not legions of movie buffs talk about. Anyway this one is pretty good, even with an used story which will be over and overused in the future by dozens - if not more - of directors and screenwriters, novelists.... It is forbidden to neglect the view of this film. From RKO pictures. And available on You Tube.

A Game of Death is a remake The Most Dangerous Game (1932) in fact it's one of many remakes. This however is a very close "Loyal" one which though has tweaks could easily be confused with the original because of both the visuals, plot and actor choices.

Once again it tells the story of people involved in shipwrecks who find themselves taken in by a mysterious stranger on an island. Little do they know he is a hunter and his choice of prey, man!

It's a great premise and the movie once again does a decent enough job of telling the story. I do however think that 13yrs earlier they told the tale better.

Again this is fairly loyal, it's essentially the same movie just with couple of tweaks and structural differences. Ultimately it's the near identical so if you've seen the original you'll get absolutely nothing out of this.

Watchable stuff, but inferior to The Most Dangerous Game (1932).

The Good:

Well made remake

The Bad:

I cannot root for a hunter

Recycled footage

Too close to the original

Game of Death, A (1945)

** (out of 4)

Robert Wise directed this RKO remake of their 1932 classic THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME. This time out, world-known hunter Don Rainsford (John Loder) washes ashore on a strange island where he learns that its owner Erich Kreiger (Edgar Barrier) likes to hunt humans for sport. You know it's never a good sign when a remake borrows footage from the original film but that's not even the start of the problem with this film. You certainly can't blame the studio for trying their hand at another version of the story but there was so much set against this film from the word go. For starters, that 1932 film is a flat-out classic and one of the greatest and most gruesome action pictures you're ever going to see. With the Hayes Office in full force by 1945 that meant the story had to be toned down and this really kills a lot because you haven't a shot at building up any atmosphere and even worse is that this remake doesn't contain that creepy and raw energy of the original. It also doesn't help but Wise seems to be all wrong for this material. Even though the subject matter had to be toned down that's not a reason for everything to be so lifeless. There's really no chemistry between the cast and when the final hunt does happen it's more boring than anything else. There's not an ounce of energy to be found anywhere and that's a real shame because the story itself is so good that it really shouldn't take too much to get it on the screen. Of course, another major problem is that the 1932 film had such a wonderful cast that it would be nearly impossible to try and match it. I thought Loder was pretty good in the lead but the screenplay really doesn't give him too much to do in terms of acting. Barrier isn't nearly as perverted or creepy as Leslie Banks but he has a few interesting bits. Audrey Long is pretty bland as the female on the island and Russell Wade doesn't do much as her weak brother. At just 72-minutes the film goes by at a rather good pace but the entire time you're just sitting there wishing that you were watching the original.