Endgame

Busy Eurotrash star Al Cliver (2020 TEXAS GLADIATORS) stars in the 1983 Italian production ENDGAME as Shannon, the champion of a violent game show called Endgame in which he plays prey to three murderous hunters. Yes, it’s like THE RUNNING MAN, complete with a smarmy emcee.

Who’s watching Endgame is a mystery, because the only people we see in this post-apocalyptic world are mutants and survivors hiding in alleys. All the Endgame contestants wear garish face makeup, and are monitored by automatic cameras (that are miraculously not vandalized by the street people).

After Shannon wastes predators Alberto Dell’Acqua (BATTLE OF THE AMAZONS), Bobby Rhodes (DEMONS), and George Eastman (1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS) during the first half-hour, director Joe D’Amato (ATOR THE FIGHTING EAGLE) and his co-writer Aldo Florio get to the real story.

Psychic Lilith (Laura Gemser) and neurosurgeon Levin (Dino Conti) hire Shannon and his team of warriors to lead them and their group of mutants to a safe place two hundred miles outside the city. Obstacles on their journey include an army of blind killer monks, bare-breasted Amazons, monkey men, and a drooling fish-man that rapes Lilith (I figured there was no way softcore icon Gemser was going to make it to the end without going nude).

ENDGAME is pretty impressive for a cheap Italian post-apoc action movie. It doesn’t do anything new or spectacular (well, the mutant makeup is interesting), but it moves quickly, looks more expensive that it probably was, has nice costumes, and features a ton of action sure to keep you from becoming bored. The ending is fairly silly, but, hey, I’ll take it.

Cliver, who looks a little like a young Chuck Norris, is a rather dense hero, blessed with not a lick of charisma, but most of what he does is punch and shoot, and he’s functional at that.