Raze (film)

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = Raze | image = Raze2013filmposterWaller.jpg

| alt = | caption = | director = Josh C. Waller | producer = Josh C. Waller Kenny Gage Andrew Pagana Rachel Nichols Zoë Bell | writer = Robert Beaucage | story = Kenny Gage Josh C. Waller Robert Beaucage | starring = Zoë Bell Rachel Nichols Tracie Thoms Sherilyn Fenn Doug Jones Bruce Thomas Rebecca Marshall Adrienne Wilkinson Allene Quincy Bailey Anne Borders Jordan James Smith | music = Frank Riggio | cinematography = Dylan O'Brien | editing = Brett W. Bachman | studio = Cinipix Quincy Pictures | distributor = IFC Midnight Cosmic Toast Studios | released = {{Film date|2013|4|21|Tribeca Film Festival|2014|1|10|United States}} | runtime = 87 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = }} '''''Raze''''' is a 2013 action horror film that was directed by Josh C. Waller.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rachel Nichols Talks Raze, Criminal Minds, G.I. Joe, and Female Empowerment|date=7 January 2014 |url=http://www.parade.com/249663/scottneumyer/rachel-nichols-talks-raze-criminal-minds-g-i-joe-and-female-empowerment/|publisher=Parade|access-date=14 January 2014}}</ref> The film premiered on April 21, 2013 at the Tribeca Film Festival and stars Zoë Bell and Rachel Nichols. The story focuses on women forced to fight to death for the twisted entertainment of the wealthy elite.<ref>{{cite web|title='Raze' Interview: Zoe Bell on Being a Badass with a Fear of Praying Mantises|date=9 January 2014 |url=https://screenrant.com/zoe-bell-raze-interview-expendabelles/|publisher=ScreenRant|access-date=14 January 2014}}</ref>

==Synopsis== Sabrina (Zoë Bell), along with 49 other women, is kidnapped by the diabolical husband and wife team of Elizabeth (Sherilyn Fenn) and Joseph (Doug Jones), and kept in a prison where they are all barefoot in matching white tank tops and gray sweatpants. The women are told that they will fight to the death for the entertainment of a group of bored rich people. If they lose or refuse to fight, a sniper will kill their loved ones.

==Cast== * Zoë Bell as Sabrina * Rachel Nichols as Jamie * Tracie Thoms as Teresa * Bruce Thomas as Kurtz * Bailey Anne Borders as Cody * Rebecca Marshall as Phoebe * Allene Quincy as Brenda * Adrienne Wilkinson as Nancy * Doug Jones as Joseph * Sherilyn Fenn as Elizabeth * Amy Johnston as Gloria * Tara Macken as Dee * Nicole Steinwedell as Isabelle * Kelly Thiebaud as Vanessa * Jordan James Smith as Adam * Rosario Dawson as Rachel

==Production== While creating ''Raze'', Waller tried to treat the film "as seriously as if it were men that were abducted and forced to fight each other."<ref name=EW>{{cite web|title='Raze' director Josh Waller talks about his all-female fight movie|url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/01/08/raze-zoe-bell-rosario-dawson/|publisher=EW|access-date=14 January 2014}}</ref> For him this meant avoiding stereotypes typically seen within the "largely exploitative subgenre of women-in-prison" such as nudity, as he felt that viewers would not see this in an all-male exploitation film.<ref name=EW /> Waller also tried to avoid gratuitous gore.<ref name=Fearnet>{{cite web|title=We Talk to 'Raze' Director Josh C. Waller and Actress Zoe Bell|url=http://www.fearnet.com/news/interview/we-talk-raze-director-josh-c-waller-and-actress-zoe-bell|publisher=Fearnet|access-date=14 January 2014}}</ref> ''Raze'' was shot with a very tight schedule and the crew had only thirty days to film nineteen action sequences.<ref name=Fearnet /> Partway through filming, Rosario Dawson was brought onto the set for a cameo as she had previously worked together with Bell and Thoms on the 2007 film ''Death Proof''.<ref name=EW /> Bell was not made aware of Dawson's casting or arrival, as Waller wanted her appearance to come as a surprise.<ref name=EW />

==Reception== Critical reception for ''Raze'' has been mixed. The film holds a rating of 45% on ''Rotten Tomatoes'', based on 31 reviews.<ref>{{cite web |title=Raze (2014) |url=https://rottentomatoes.com/m/raze_2013/ |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=13 May 2025}}</ref> On Metacritic it has a score of 41% based on reviews from 16 critics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Raze |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/raze |website=Metacritic }}</ref> Criticism for the film predominantly centered upon the familiarity of the film's plot,<ref>{{cite web|title=Film Review: 'Raze'|date=9 January 2014 |url=https://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-raze-1201038414/|publisher=Variety|access-date=14 January 2014}}</ref> and ''Fearnet'' reviewer Scott Weinberg commented that "'' Raze'' is simply a gender-friendly twist on a very conventional tale, but it's still a rather fun way to spend 85 minutes if you're tired of the same old action."<ref>{{cite web|last=Weinberg|first=Scott|title=Raze (review)|url=http://www.fearnet.com/news/review/fearnet-movie-review-raze|publisher=Fearnet|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-date=15 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115173541/http://www.fearnet.com/news/review/fearnet-movie-review-raze|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''The Hollywood Reporter'' criticized the movie's screenplay, as they felt that it did not give actors Jones and Fenn enough to work with and also opined that the movie's "opening title card, which cites statistics about the number of women who go missing in any given year -- the co-opting of real-world suffering making it that much harder to go along with Waller's idea of it's-only-a-midnight-movie kicks."<ref>{{cite web|title=Raze: Tribeca Review|date=26 April 2013 |url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/review/raze-tribeca-review-447296 |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=14 January 2014}}</ref> ''Twitch Film'' praised Bell's acting as one of the film's highlights, as they felt that it helped "lift Raze above similarly themed genre film endeavors."<ref>{{cite web|title=Tribeca 2013 Review: RAZE, A Bloody and Brutal Female-Centered Action Spectacle Headlined by Stuntwoman Turned Thespian Zoe Bell|url=http://twitchfilm.com/2013/05/tribeca-2013-review-raze-a-bloody-and-brutal-female-centered-action-spectacle-headlined-by-stuntwoma.html|publisher=Twitch Film|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111062844/http://twitchfilm.com/2013/05/tribeca-2013-review-raze-a-bloody-and-brutal-female-centered-action-spectacle-headlined-by-stuntwoma.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ''New York Times'' opined that the film would not appeal to everyone but that "there is food for thought here about the subjugation and exploitation of women, the limits of psychological and physical endurance, and more."<ref>{{cite news|title=And You Thought Cockfights Were Brutal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/movies/raze-with-zoe-bell-and-rachel-nichols.html?_r=0|work=New York Times | date=10 January 2014 |access-date=14 January 2014| last1=Genzlinger | first1=Neil }}</ref>

===Awards=== * ''Grand Jury Prize for Best Supporting Actress'' at the Las Vegas International Film Festival (2013, won - Tracie Thoms)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{official website|http://www.cinipix.com/raze/}} * {{IMDb title|2111392}}

Category:2013 films Category:2013 horror films Category:American action horror films Category:American exploitation films Category:Films about kidnapping Category:Films about death games Category:2013 English-language films Category:2013 American films Category:English-language horror films