Fight for Your Life

{{Short description|1977 US exploitation film directed by Robert A. Endelson}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Fight for Your Life

| image = Fight For Your Life.jpg

| caption = DVD cover

| director = Robert A. Endelson

| producer = Robert A. Endelson
William Mishkin

| writer = Straw Weisman

| starring = William Sanderson
Robert Judd
Yvonne Ross

| music = Jeff Slevin

| cinematography = Lloyd Freidus

| editing = Robert A. Endelson

| distributor = William Mishkin Motion Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1977|11| |New York City}}

| runtime = 82 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $35,000{{Sfn|Landis|2002|p=104}}

| gross =

}}

Fight for Your Life is a 1977 American blaxploitation thriller film directed by Robert A. Endelson and starring William Sanderson and Robert Judd. The story revolves around three criminals (a White, Mexican, and Asian male) who hold a Black family hostage and force them to fight for their lives.

Plot

Sanderson plays Kane, a hate-fuelled racist redneck who absconds from jail with his sidekicks (an Asian and a Mexican). They hole up in the secluded house of Ted Turner, a black minister, and his family, where harsh epithets are exchanged, and the minister is forced to take action to defend his family.{{Rotten Tomatoes | id= fight-for-your-life }}

Cast

William Sanderson – as Jessie Lee Kane
Robert Judd – as Ted Turner
Cathrine Peppers – as Mrs. Turner
Lela Small – as Grandma Turner
Yvonne Ross – as Corrie Turner
Reggie Rock Bythewood – as Floyd Turner (as Reginald Bythewood)
Ramon Saunders – as Val Turner
Queenie Endelson – as Dog
Daniel Faraldo – Chino
Peter Yoshida – Ling
Bonnie Martin – Karen
David Cargill – Lt. Reilly
Richard A. Rubin – Captain Hamilton
David Dewlow – Joey
Pepe Hern – Navarro
Nick Hardin- Tony

Reception

Fight for Your Life has received a negative response from critics. TV Guide called it "a vile low-budget film that couldn't have found a receptive audience even during the height of tough blaxploitation pictures."{{cite web |url=http://movies.tvguide.com/fight-for-your-life/review/114666 |title=Fight For Your Life Review |publisher=TVGuide.com |accessdate=11 July 2012}} Others have defended the film, finding it an objective look at racism at its worst; the film enjoys a cult following among fans of extreme cinema and grindhouse.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Censorship

Fight For Your Life was denied a British theatrical release in 1981,{{BBFC title|AZF059828}} but a video release the following year allowed the public brief access to the film before it wound up on the video nasties list and was outlawed. It is notable for being the only 'video nasty' to appear on the list due to language, specifically the racism displayed by Sanderson's character.

Availability

Fight For Your Life was denied a British cinema release when it was rejected by the BBFC in October 1981; it was briefly available in the United Kingdom on the independent video label Vision On, released circa 1982, but was outlawed with the advent of the Video Recordings Act (1984). A remastered DVD was issued in the United States by Blue Underground. The director passed on providing a commentary track for the DVD reissue, but did grant an interview for the book Nightmare USA in which he re-watched the film with his maid, Dorothy, and both provided retrospective insights on the film. It was presented at the Quentin Tarantino Film Festival in the QT Six Lineup showing held in October 2005.

The original film negative, stored by the film rights holder in a New Jersey basement, was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.{{cite web|url=http://diaboliquemagazine.com/spider-baby-given-academy-treatment-interview-william-lustig/|title=Spider Baby is Given The Academy Treatment (Interview with William Lustig)|work=Diabolique|accessdate=30 December 2016}}

References

{{cite book|last=Landis|first=Bill|year=2002|title=Sleazoid Express: A Mind-Twisting Tour Through the Grindhouse Cinema of Times Square|publisher=Simon and Schuster}}