Touches You

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Veteran character actor William Sanderson lights up the screen as one of cinemas' most repugnant racist villains in this trash flick that truly does keep you on edge throughout. Constantly spouting various ugly racial epithets, his is a role without redemption, one that the audience will thoroughly despise and whose demise they will be craving for 86 minutes. Editor / producer / director Robert A. Endelson, working from the button pushing script by Straw Weisman, creates a gallery of vivid characters, the good and the bad alike. The pacing is non-stop and the movie is over almost before one knows it. (Which would likely be a good thing for those upset with the material.) Weisman treats many victims as fair game; the fact that Jessie Lee Kane (Sanderson) aims a gun at an infant will undoubtedly cause the film to lose some viewers, but those that stick it out will find this to be an interesting entertainment.Kane and his associates, a Hispanic named Chino (Daniel Faraldo) and an Oriental named Ling (Peter Yoshida) escape from a prison van and make their way to the country, where in the act of robbing a liquor store they abduct young Corrie Turner (Yvonne Ross) and take her back to her family home, where they proceed to terrorize the Turners, led by calm and pacifistic preacher Ted Turner (Robert Judd). Meanwhile, a detective named Reilly (David Cargill) who gets nicknamed "Rulebook" because he'll bust *anybody* for *anything* is on the trail of the trio of creeps.There are some pretty effective yet incredibly grim moments here. Yet the story is not totally without humour, and it even gets uplifting when, after Ted is forced to start singing, his whole family joins in and turns it into a show of defiance to the attackers. The violence is bloody and brutal when it comes. There's also partial nudity and (suggested) rape. The acting is actually pretty good from most of the cast; Judd is likable and retains his dignity the entire time. Lela Small is extremely feisty as the grandmother who's never afraid to tell the bad guys what she thinks of them. Those who do watch this to the end will find their blood pumping and likely raise a cheer at the conclusion.Undeniably a relic of its era and something that likely wouldn't / couldn't get made nowadays, this is therefore worth seeking out for exploitation aficionados.Eight out of 10.

Well, I've now seen two of the video nasties. While I'm sure I will encounter worse films, I'm sure few will be as damn uninteresting and boring as this. A standard house invasion/hostage movie with blaxploitaion/race wars crap thrown in, awful use of music, and a thriller script so standard that the only fun I had while watching this was giggling at the worst part and eating a Quality Street chocolate every time I guessed something right (drinking would have made the movie more enjoyable, and I'm attempting to sit through all these fully sober). That doesn't sound like much fun, does it? The movie's really no fun either. As for why it was classified as a video nasty, I have no idea, and I'm expecting to have a similar reaction to a bunch of other stuff.

"Fight For Your Life" is terrific ' 70s grindhouse entertainment from director Robert A. Endelson.Wild-eyed William ("Deadwood", "Blade Runner") Sanderson plays the racist on-the-run killer who winds up at the home of black minister Robert Judd. Things turn predictably nasty for Judd and his family as Sanderson and his psychotic pals start to entertain themselves.Still banned in the UK due to its racist themes and unpleasantness, this is a gritty movie but its heart is in the right place. Most of the performances are okay and the dialogue's not bad either. There are a few surprises and shocks along the way and the film never loses its pace. 82 minutes fly by watching this exploitation classic.The funky soundtrack by Jeff Slevin is splendid.It's something of a mystery that director Endelson and composer Slevin didn't move on to bigger and better things. There's a lot of talent visible in this low-budget gem.8 out of 10 on the Grindhouse score-o-meter.

This is a movie for people who enjoy offensive dialog and taboos on display. Movies like this are not made anymore and i feel that is sad. We live in a country that's at war but we are too afraid to show fictional violence. This was made in the era that put out such cult classics like "Last House on the Left", "Cannibal Holocaust" and "I Spit On Your Grave". Three convicts escape jail and then hold a religious black family captive in their own home. This film has all the exploitive treats like rape, humiliation, child murder and racism. For it's time "Fight For Your Life" had to be one of the most offensive movies in 1977. I have news for you it still is today. The cast was wonderful, especially the bigot played by William Anderson. He hit all the right notes when it came to portraying a despicable and hateful character. He makes a minister do a shuck and jive dance while shooting at his feet for crying out loud. The thing i like about exploitive films like this is that it delivers with eventual revenge. I don't mind being showed ugliness because it reminds me how wrong things like bigotry and crime are. If you want to see a movie with guts and thats willing to push the envelope and entertain, this is the film for you. The Grandma in this movie is hilarious , especially when the whole family is singing gospel at gunpoint. ***1/2/****