Death Row (2007)

Director: Ed Quiroz, Jose Quiroz

Writer: Ed Quiroz, Jose Quiroz

Tagline: In This Prison Every Sentence Is Death.

Actors: Joe Estevez, Todd Bridges, Elias Castillo, Chris Angelo, Jose Rosete, Jimmy Bridges, Keith C. Marshall, Owen Thomas, Carl Washington, Victor Zaragoza

Runtime: 1h 25m

Category: Slasher, Thriller

Synopsis: Eight medium-security prisoners are transferred to an abandoned prison for a weekend work program. But what they and the two transporting guards don’t know is that there is a killer on the loose inside the building! Now the guards and prisoners must work together to stay alive…or die trying.

Review: I had no expectations going into this film…and rightfully so. The whole movie seemed to just creep by without climax or resolution. Just some degenerate with a knife shanking everyone. It would have been a good concept for a book, but not a movie.

That being said I did like the overall story; it had substance and suspense. But as a film this movie was boring, boring, boring. The only time I enjoyed the movie was when one of the characters would make a sarcastic remark of some kind, bringing me an ounce of joy.

The acting was very elementary and B-rate. Although I suppose I should have figured that out when the production company was credited; Pumpkin Patch Pictures. That should have given it away. But everything seemed to be forced, like the actors were not comfortable with their lines or something. It seemed like each actor/character was struck with emotional rigor mortis; I felt no connection to any of the characters.

The gore was also elementary. The blood wasn’t bad but all of the killings were faker than fake. Even when the killer stabbed a guy multiple times in the torso, there were no knife marks in his shirt! For crying out loud, if you’re gonna make a movie about a killer, make it feel real! Damn.

Rating: 10. I did like the concept…I guess that’s it. It was not necessarily original, but it was an interesting twist on a familiar story. As an end note…don’t bother. Kudos for trying though…you gave it a good shot. (10of25).