Michael Ledo Chuck Toedan (John McCafferty) is the charismatic host on KSIK's hit show "Live or Die." Here death row inmates can win a chance for a reprieve or die on air. The show is controversial. There are those who protest it while others would kill to get on it. When Chuck kills a mafia boss in a humiliating fashion, this puts a price on his head leading to a comedy of errors that make things worse.I really loved this film when it first came out nearly 30 years ago. It is indeed dated. Some of the humor involves the TV commercials of the era, such as American Express. These lose their humor. The show illustrates our compulsion with watching things in poor taste. However, now that the world is compelled to watch horribly scripted reality TV shows, how can we spoof this? The innovation of the film has been lost to other films that have created better satires of society. As such my 1987 5 star rating was depreciated to 3 1/2 stars.Available on 50 "B" movie multi-pack.F-word. Implied sex. Nudity (Robyn Blythe- plays same character Gloria Sternvirgin in 2003 "Rectuma", Debra Lamb, and Chainsaw Hooker Esther Elsie)

Wizard-8 "Deathrow Gameshow" is an effort from writer and director Mark Pirro, a director known for making independent movies on extremely small budgets. It was the first movie of his that I saw, and after seeing it I have no desire to see any of his other movies. Oh, the movie is not totally devoid of laughs - there are four or five gags that I admit made me chuckle. But the rest of the movie is pretty painful to sit through. The obvious low budget is ridiculous, giving us shabby sets and production goofs like seeing the reflection of a member of the crew. But what really bothered me more than the shabby look of the enterprise was the screenplay. The idea of the movie is one that's best used as a skit, not a full length movie. It's clear that Pirro had a problem stretching things out, which means the movie moves extremely slowly. But worst of all, almost all the attempted humor falls flat. The movie is so lame and unfunny in its sense of humor that it's no wonder Crown-International Pictures barely released the movie to theaters.

Joseph P. Ulibas Deathrow Gameshow is a bad movie that has a funny concept. Unfortunately, the film-makers decided on using a lame script, bad actors and a cheap budget when they made this flick. Well, it was kinda funny is a trashy sort of way. I enjoyed it when I was 13 years old. Oh well, maybe somebody will pick up the concept and maybe they could do a better job. One could hope.Recommended for it's dark humor.B

andrew_edwards Deathrow Gameshow will never win any awards, it will never reach a mainstream audience, and probably in the great scheme of things, it will be forgotten.But in a way, it doesn't deserve its fate. Deathrow Gameshow is a funny movie. Granted, it isn't constantly hilarious, and it is downright stupid, but if you want to watch a movie just to have a good time, this is the movie for you. This film was made way before its time, with its style of humor more adjacent to There's Something About Mary or Kingpin then anything out of the 80's nice-nice comedies. Deathrow Gameshow for this reason will always be a classic. There is no other movie that I have ever seen that you can have more fun watching in a group setting.The Plot deals with Chuck Toedan, the host of Live or Die, a show where death-row inmates are allowed to compete for their lives ***And some fabulous prizes!!!*** It seems that Chuck has finally had enough of hosting the show and dealing with death threats(he once killed a mob boss in a "very disrespectful manner.") The story is filled with hilarious dialogue both intentional and unintentional, and some inspired acting. Watch it if only for the dream sequence, which is one of the most hilarious and memorable scenes that I have ever seen. It gets 1/10 stars for intelligence, but 10/10 for humor, which is all that really matters. Enjoy, I always do.