{{Short description|1987 film}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = Deathrow Gameshow | image = Deathrow Gameshow.webp | alt = | caption = | director = Mark Pirro | producer = {{Plainlist| * Brian J. Smith * Sergio Bandera * Glenn Campbell * Mark Pirro * Steven J. Wolfe (uncredited) }} | screenplay = {{Plainlist| * Mark Pirro * Alan Gries (additional material by) }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * John McCafferty * Robyn Blythe * Beano * Darwyn Carson * Mark Lasky }} | music = Gregg Gross | cinematography = Craig Bassuk | editing = | studio = Crown International Pictures | distributor = | released = {{Film date|1987|12|4|United States}} | runtime = 83 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $200,000 (estimated) | gross = }} '''''Deathrow Gameshow''''' is a 1987 black comedy film, directed by Mark Pirro, in which condemned prisoners are given opportunities to be granted reprieves for their sentences by participating in a television game show.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bishop |first=Michael |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Nebula_Awards_23/7jDnaKC7O0cC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Deathrow+Gameshow%22&dq=%22Deathrow+Gameshow%22&printsec=frontcover |title=Nebula Awards 23: SFWA's Choices for the Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 1987 |date=1989 |publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |isbn=978-0-15-164930-3 |pages=357 |language=en}}</ref> Starring John McCafferty and Beano, it has gained a cult following since its initial release.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016132757/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/12972/Deathrow-Gameshow/overview|url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/12972/Deathrow-Gameshow/overview|work=The New York Times|title=Deathrow Gameshow|date=2007|archivedate=October 16, 2007}}</ref>

== Synopsis == Chuck Toedan is a TV producer who hosts a game show named ''Live or Die'', where condemned prisoners participate for the chance to earn their freedom. If they fail, they are executed on live TV. The show is successful, however there are those who protest the show's cruelty. On one episode Toedan executes the head of the Spumoni crime family in a humiliating fashion. This angers the crime family, who sends out an assassin named Luigi to murder Toedan. The mission becomes personal for Luigi when his senile mother becomes a contestant after wandering onto the set. Toedan learns of the assassin's existence while talking to Gloria, a protestor he met on a talk show. They are quickly captured and forced to participate in ''Live or Die''. They are ultimately saved when a fan arrives on set and shoots Luigi so that he will be sent to prison and become a contestant.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In the 1987 film Deathrow Gameshow, there are no winners |url=https://www.avclub.com/in-the-1987-film-deathrow-gameshow-there-are-no-winner-1798234980 |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=AV Club |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Cast ==

* John McCafferty as Chuck Toedan * Robyn Blythe as Gloria Sternvirgin * Beano as Luigi Pappalardo * Darwyn Caron as Trudy * Mark Lasky as Mama Pappalardo * Paul Farbman as Dino * Debra Lamb as Shanna Shallow * Bill Whitehead as Don Stuart * Paul Farbman as Dino

== Release == ''Deathrow Gameshow'' was released to theaters in the United States on December 4, 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 4, 1987 |title=Advertisement for film, showing its opening date |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/723056823/?match=1&terms=%22Deathrow%20Gameshow%22 |work=Newsday (Newspapers.com)}}</ref> It has received several home video releases. It was released as part of the ''Rare Cult Cinema'' DVD box set through Mill Creek Entertainment and received a Blu-ray release through Vinegar Syndrome in 2018.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Pirro, Mark. ''Rare Cult Cinema''. Mill Creek Entertainment, 2010.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Foywonder |date=2016-09-13 |title=Vinegar Syndrome Digs Deep for Blu-rays of Hobgoblins, Deathrow Gameshow, and a Trio of Linnea Quigley Chillers |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/188991/vinegar-syndrome-digs-deep-blu-rays-hobgoblins-deathrow-gameshow-trio-linnea-quigley-chillers/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Dread Central |language=en-US}}</ref>

A director's cut was released in 2015 and included as part of the Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Wheat |first=Phil |date=November 14, 2016 |title=Deathrow Gameshow' Review (Vinegar Syndrome) |url=https://www.nerdly.co.uk/2016/11/14/deathrow-gameshow-review-vinegar-syndrome/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Nerdly |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Reception == Ted Mahar reviewed the film for ''The Oregonian'', where he gave it one star and stated that it had a good concept that was poorly executed.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mahar |first=Ted |date=November 18, 1987 |title='Deathrow Gameshow'? Off with the director's head |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/1086462793/?match=1&terms=%22Deathrow%20Gameshow%22 |work=The Oregonian (Newspapers.com)}}</ref> David Pickering of the ''Corpus Christi Caller-Times'' was also critical, stating that it was "sorely lacking, except in the darkly humorous opening sequence."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pickering |first=David |date=November 18, 1987 |title=Movie after movie, miss after miss |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/757948093/?match=1&terms=%22Deathrow%20Gameshow%22 |work=Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Newspapers.com)}}</ref>

Contemporary reviews have been more favorable.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-12 |title=Film Review: Deathrow Gameshow (1987) |url=https://horrornews.net/77067/film-review-deathrow-gameshow-1987/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Horror News {{!}} HNN |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Blacktooth |date=2016-11-16 |title=Blu Review – Deathrow Gameshow |url=https://www.horrorsociety.com/2016/11/16/blu-review-deathrow-gameshow/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Horror Society |language=en-US}}</ref> Nerdly's Phil Wheat reviewed the Vinegar Syndrome release in 2016, praising the film transfer and stating that the movie had "a satirical, dark edge – reminding me very much of Troma’s output from the same era – mixing sex, sleaze and over-the-top, politically incorrect comedy to perfection."<ref name=":1" />

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0092859}}

Category:1987 films Category:1987 black comedy films Category:1987 thriller films Category:1980s satirical films Category:American prison films Category:American satirical films Category:Films about television Category:Films about quizzes and game shows Category:Crown International Pictures films Category:1987 American films Category:Films directed by Mark Pirro