What if it were made today?

Puke Bag

If the film were remade today, it would have a little more resonance for a modern audience, especially with the amount of reality based television that is so prolific today.

A straight adaptation from Stephen King's original novel (under the pen name Richard Bachman) would have been much more suitable, especially with the rise of shows like Cops and World's Scariest Police Chases.  Placing the entire game within an actual arena isn't quite like how the future turned out.  However, they may have to modify the ending (the ending of a novel involves a large airplane crashing into a building).

Considering all the remakes and sequels that have been made as of late, it's surprising that they haven't remade this one, even though it's a bit more relevant to today's audience than it was back in 1987.  Shoot the whole thing on digital video (a la "Series 7: The Contenders") and throw in a lot more dark comedy, and you'd have yourself a nice little independent flick and a cult classic in the making.  No need for something with an overbloated budget.

score /10

Puke Bag 24 August 2003

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0250346/