TAG: THE ASSASSINATION GAME (1982)
Label: Synapse Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes 50 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Nick Castle
Cast: Robert Carradine, Linda Hamilton, Bruce Abbott, Kristine DeBell, Michael Winslow
TAG: The Assassination Game (1982), directed by Nick 'The Shape' Castle (The Last Starfighter), is quirky and offbeat campus noir-thriller about a group of students who participate in a game that, well, could never be played these days, that's for sure! In it the players are assigned assassination targets and then set out to try to “murder” each other using rubber suction cup-tipped toy dart guns. If you are shot, you are “killed” and taken out of the game permanently, the victim then gives the killer their assassination assignment, and they carry-on until only the winner remains. In a a dark twist the game's five-time consecutive champ Loren Gersh (Bruce Abbott, Re-Animator) takes the game a bit too seriously. So much so that when a fat kid in a the dorm shower room, his intended target, accidentally "kills" him first in a fluke turn of events. Gersh mentally snaps, he cannot accept that he has lost the game. He returns to his dorm room as sulks a bit, then returns to the shower with a real gun, shooting the kid who "killed" him. As the game proceeds no one is aware that Gersh is playing for keeps with a real gun!
Other TAG players include Susan (Linda Hamilton, The Terminator) in her first motion-picture role, Shooster (Steven peterman, TV's Square Pegs), Connally (Xander Berkeley, Candyman), Gowdy ("The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects" Michael Winslow, Police Academy), and Randy (John Mengatti, Meatballs II). Other than Gersh and Susan, our other lead here is student newspaper journalist Alex (the only recently late Robert Carradine, Revenge of the Nerds), who has a meet-cute Susan when she unexpectedly ducks into his dorm room while evading a fellow TAG player. He becomes instantly smitten with the beautiful young woman, and grows curious about the game itself, and begins to write an article about the game for the student paper, taking the opportunity to cozy up to her in the process. Other familiar faces that populate the cast include Perry Lang (Alligator) as a fellow student newspaper staffer, future Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker (Body Snatchers) as one Gowdy's pals, and Los Angeles radio-personality Frazer Smith (The Fisher King) as the shady organizer of the TAG tournaments.
It's quite a quirky watch for sure, the sort-of campus set slasher premise is pretty interesting, with college kids playing a "assassination" game, running around campus after dark with toy guns acting like they're hit men, which on it's face would just never go over these days with the widespread school shotting this century, as where back in '82 it was not a common occurrence. The identity of the killer is known pretty much from the jump, so it falters a bit that in you don't have that mystery element of who's the killer, it's more a tension created by the situation and seeing Gersh descend into the role of a cracked killer, while everyone else is unaware of the impending danger. We also get tension in that you get to know and like Alex and Susan as characters, and you can see that she in particular is being drawn towards potential doom as each of the other competitors are being knocked off one by one, with Gersh disposing of the body who knows where, clandestinely carting of their corpses around campus a laundry cart, till it's just she and Gersh left on the board, unaware that she is caught up in a life and death game of cat and mouse.
The film is quite offbeat tonally, there's humor, comedy, romance, tension, and it has noir elements, so it's not exactly easy to pin down, but i was really into it. Hamilton's Susan is shot like a noir femme fatale in a lot of scenes, plenty of close-ups of luscious lips, a cigarette in her mouth, surrounded in a cloud of smoke, shadowed lighting accentuating her face. The noir aspect are somewhat fleeting though and not really carried through as a stylistic choice, but I liked it. Carradine as her awkward suitor Alex is also gets the noir framing as well, stuck behind a typewriter under a lamp while chomping on a cigar, surrounded by his smoke trails as well. Then you have the campus thriller aspect, it's almost slasher like but not really, there's that element of stalkerish pursuit to it. I could see this being a bit off-putting because it's a thriller, there are noir elements, slasher elements, and then we have the romantic coupling with Hamilton and Carradine, it's unbalanced, but I still like all the elements here, it's unique. There's also some early '80s-isms that have not aged particularly well, like when Alex walking in on Frazer Smith's character in what looks like a date-rape in progress, the girl screams and is fending off the handsy with a chair, but Alex does nothing about it.
The movie is well shot, lots of interesting visual flourishes like the aforementioned noir elements, of which Hamilton benefits the most, with some terrific moody lighting and atmosphere, and the references to old Hollywood with references to Ida Lupino, callbacks to Bogart and Bacall in To Have and To Have Not (1944), and an opening reference to 007 all brought a smile to my face,
Audio/Video: TAG: The Assassination Game makes it's worldwide home video debut via Synapse Films, presented in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen, "lovingly restored in 2K from original 35mm vault elements". This low-budget production was shot on 35mm and has an inherently grainy appearance, with some nice texture and detail to the image, the close-ups of jackets, sweaters, strands of hair and facial features look terrific, the color palette looks accurate with dimly lit interiors and dark exterior having some nice shadow detail, without crush or untoward digital manipulation. Skin tones look natural, and the occasional pop of primaries, especially red, have a nice punch to them.
Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles, the track is a bit thin in spots and occasionally slightly harsh in the upper registers, but dialogue is never a chore to discern and the score Craig Sefan (Fade To Black, The Last Starfighter) fates well and live performance from Midwest rockers Rubber City Rebels performing "Born Dead" and "Rebel to the Rescue" are full-bodied sounding, as a fan of the band I wanted more concert footage for sure, but it's a tasty treat nonetheless.
Extras include an Audio Commentary with writer-director Nick Castle and star Robert Carradine, moderated by Horror’s Hallowed Grounds’ Sean Clark. It's a laid back but pleasantly conversational track with Castle recalling how he ended up writing the film and directing it, what it was like shooting on the UCLA campus, memorable sequences, and the cast and crew. We also get the 3-min Original Theatrical Trailer, which is quite a bit of fun even if it makes it feel like more of a spoof than it actually is. The singe-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original illustrated movie poster.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with writer-director Nick Castle and star Robert Carradine, moderated by Horror’s Hallowed Grounds’ Sean Clark
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:34)
TAG: The Assassination game is a curious cult-item that I think is well-worth seeking out, and one that up till now has been near impossible to come by via legitimate means, that is until Synapse Films got ahold of of it. If you're a fan of campus-set thrillers this is an entertaining watch, it's not perfect by any means, but it's a gem with an interesting premise that is well-executed. This new Blu-ray is easily the best way to watch it, wonderfully restored by Synapse, and it would make a terrific double-feature with Massacre at Central High, another campus-set thriller starring the late Robert Carradine.
Screenshots from the Synapses Films Blu-ray:
Buy it!
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