- Directed by: DW Medoff
- Written by: Joey Miller
- Stars: Jackie Earle Haley, Ella-Rae Smith, Jamie Flatters
- Run Time: 1 Hour 29 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTbFePUNfkY
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
You will immediately think, “This reminds me of Saw,” but it leans into the game show aspect enough to be different and interesting. Jackie Early Haley is excellent as the host and the rest of the cast does a nice job as well. The effects are realistic, and there’s a story that explains things nicely. It was better than we expected, and we liked it a lot.
Spoilery Synopsis
Jake is announced as the “Final Winner” in what appears to be a very bloody, terrifying game. He ends up winning a shotgun blast. Credits roll.
We cut to four young people who are visiting a summer house in the country. Matthew, Melissa, James, and Anita begin their weekend of partying– it’s Anita’s birthday. They all seem a little obnoxious, especially James, whose house they’re in. They hear a noise outside, and James finds a video camera filming their house.
Anita doesn’t want to watch the tape; she’s a real stick-in-the-mud which causes a big argument. Anita tells Matthew that her mother’s dying, and she’s upset over that. They all go about their evening, and we see someone stalking around in the shadows. We watch as the shadowy figure injects each of them with a sedative.
All four wake up chained to the wall in a dark place. There’s another video camera and a strange man in a red suit wearing a mask. He’s got a mannequin studio audience, as he introduces the four contestants for his “game show.” He promises, “There’s always a winner!”
The Host says it’s time for “Rock Paper Scissors Shoot.” He shows them what that means to lose.
Several hours later, the four commiserate about their predicament. He makes them admit the worst things they ever did. James was guilty of killing someone in a car accident. Anita made an adult web page to pay for her mother’s surgery. Matthew scams people online. Melissa admits that her animal shelter sold dogs to dogfighting organizers.
Now it’s time for “Wheel of Pain.” Melissa loses an eye. Anita drills a hole in Matthew’s ear. In the next game, Melissa gets a splitting headache as the point of that one.
The Host comes back in and shows them a video of him cutting a woman up with a chainsaw. He also shows Anita his own scarred face. James thinks the man looks familiar. Turns out, Anita used to work on the Barry Miller show; we get a flashback.
Barry Miller ran “Wheel of Games” , a game show program. Anita watches as a criminal gets released on the TV news. Jake, the guy who died at the beginning of the movie, and Lisa, the woman who got chainsawed also worked there with Anita, and they plant the idea that Anita and others could get a lot of money if they accuse Barry of being a sexual predator. They lied and ruined Barry’s career plus he lost his wife and kid.
Barry’s already killed Jake, Lisa, and the lawyer who ruined him. He makes Anita chew on the dead lawyer’s tongue.
For the next game James and Matthew have fresh sewn incisions on their stomachs. Barry gives Anita the chance to play “Incision Decision.” She’s got a knife and guess where the keys are? Which of them is going to be cut open? They both beg and negotiate, but in the end, she cuts open James and pulls out a key.
Her key doesn’t fit the door, so she needs the other key. Barry releases Matthew so he can fight back. He picks up the knife, kisses Anita, and then cuts his own throat.
Anita gets the other key and lets herself into the back room of “The Show,” where she finds many videotapes and photos. Barry’s obviously been planning this for a long time.
Barry invites her in for one last game. It’s time to pick her prize. Anita offers to admit that she lied about her accusations. She took his money, his career, his family, all just for money to save her mother’s life. Barry promises not to kill Anita’s mother if she just finishes the game.
She cuts Barry and runs outside but is quickly recaptured. She smashes her face into a birthday cake, but there’s no trick there. He says she wins the game. There was no knife in the cake; the icing, however, is acid. She dies painfully.
We watch more videotape, where the lawyer admits he raped all those women; Barry was totally innocent of everything before Anita ruined his life.
Brian’s Commentary
The trailers make it look like “The Running Man” meets “Saw,” but in reality it’s more like “The Price is Right,” done the way Bob Barker always really wanted to do it. As uninspired as that sounds, I thought it was far better than I expected, mostly due to Jackie Earle Haley’s over-the-top performance. He’s great here, and a lot of fun to watch. The characters are all well defined and believable, the set is perfect, and the acting is good from everyone involved.
And, in the end, Barry was right; they were all assholes.
Kevin’s Commentary
I wonder how many game show hosts have fantasized about this over the years. It does remind one of Saw, but it’s different enough to be interesting. I agree that Jackie Earle Haley elevated the whole thing with his performance. It was really good.