Raze (2013) - Josh C. Waller

Josh C. Waller’s Raze begins with a young woman waking up in a dark, desolate room that’s dimly lit by an ominous red light.  She has no idea how she arrived at this destination but she soon discovers that she is in for the fight of her life.  It turns out that she is just one of fifty women who have been kidnapped by a diabolical husband and wife, who want to use them for entertainment purposes.  These women are forced into death match style fights in order to entertain an extremely rich clientele who seek new thrills.  Of course, these woman could refuse to fight but if they choose that path, their loved ones will be exterminated.  Raze is a horror film with exploitation-based ambitions but unfortunately it comes off as little more than a somewhat entertaining Hostel knock-off.   It’s a film that doesn’t know what it wants to be, dancing the line between exploitative fun and grim drama and in doing so, Raze truly fails on both levels.  The film works best during its fight sequences, with some impressive fight choreography that is brutal, never backing away from capturing the primal-level of violence a fight to the death would entail.   Unfortunately not much else works in Raze, with the film being full of uninteresting characters, including its main protagonist, a mundane screenplay, and a generic narrative.   In terms of characters, the one exception would be the evil husband and wife duo that seem to grasp the type of film they are in, delivering delightfully twisted performances.  Raze is a film that is sure to appeal to some gore hounds and fans of the old-school “Women in Prison” films but anyone else will have a hard time finding enjoyment from this rather dull piece of sadism.

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