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Illustration : Unknown |
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DVD Availability
: Amazon.com
| Amazon.co.uk |
Survival Run |
Larry Speigel | USA, Mexico | 1978 |
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An engaging and competent
‘teens-in-peril’ themed thriller, which by all
accounts appears to have been lost in the shuffle of the glut of 70s
actioners. After a languid start, the film quickly picks up the pace
offering a few choice sleazy/exploitative moments. Co-writer and
director Larry
Spiegel
(Evil
Town)
shows a keen eye for action and paints a rounded and believable cast of
characters; special notice goes to Ray
Milland
as the white-suited, cane bearing, merciless
‘Professor’. Six energetic, handsome high school teenagers — three boys, three girls — set out in their van for a weekend excursion in search of good times and adventure. Whilst driving through the desert flats, they manage to crash the van and end up stranded. They pitch camp, and the following morning set off on foot to try to get back to civilisation. They stumble upon Kandaris (Peter Graves) and his gang of sweaty Mexican heavies posing as prospectors; also present is the ‘Professor’ (Milland), a menacing patriarch with a penchant for fine tailoring and a personal bodyguard in tow. The teens think that they have been saved, but they soon realise something dubious is afoot when Brian (Robby Weaver) discovers a cache of weaponry in the back of their truck. It transpires that Kandaris and the
‘Professor’ are waiting for a helicopter to arrive
in order to clinch a deal for $2M worth of dope, and the six
newcomers are excess baggage who know too much. Sal (Cosie
Costa)
is stabbed to death and Stephanie (Susan
Pratt
O'Hanlon)
is raped before the teens make their escape. It’s a race
across the rocky desert as the five remaining youths find themselves
pursued by a determined motorcycle gang, armed with sub-machine guns.
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Amazingly, this film was shot in two
versions. A lighter, less violent ‘clothed version’
released as Survival Run,
and a more explicit, gutsier version entitled Spree.
Spree
contains a
longer rape scene, nudity ('clothed' in Survival Run)
and bloodier gunshot/knife violence. Hokushin's non-descript carton packaging from their November 1981 release did the film no favours, and probably contributed to its neglect in the UK. The amazing eye-popping design from Screen Indoors' September 1986 release (their name quite possibly being inspired by the older Cinema Indoors distributor), also mis-markets the film, with it's screaming syringe holding, pill casting ghoul — firing bolts of lightning at a helicopter overhead! Certainly one of the most remarkable covers
in the history of video artwork, made even more so by the exclusion of
the title of the film from the front panel. An alternative release can be found here. aka : Spree
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