A group of obnoxious self-obsessed millennials who call each ‘bitch’ decide to play a game to make a change from hanging out by playing a board game entitled – yep, Game of Death. Each has to put their finger on the octagonal plastic board, but to their surprise, a needle prick suddenly draws blood. With their dealer pal screaming that they all may now have AIDS (other blood transmitted diseases are available), they assume there are pieces missing and get on with their day. Except that soon after, one of them suffers an extreme head explosion. When another of them has a similar cranial mishap, they start taking the game seriously. They must kill 24 people for them to survive. If they dawdle, one of them will suffer the head trauma.
When your film only lasts 75 minutes, there’s little time to waste on character development, so it’s good that since directors Sebastien Landry and Laurence Morais-Lagace have filled their film with a despicable, generally one-dimensional group and gets into the action quick. It’s interesting, though, that it’s the hysterical drug dealer who turns out to be the most conscientious. What we do have to enjoy is a fun barrage of gore – with a nice mix of physical and CGI effects. When it happens to any of the leads, it’s all the more satisfying. Interspersed with phone-type footage of the teens that only makes them appear more unlikeable, a switching aspect ratio, and occasional animated segments, Game of Death is much more visually interesting than it has any right to be. This countdown of slaughter is entertaining enough and undemanding, but not one that we would recommend to the STARBURST Gaming Thunderdome.
