Roger Corman hired Charles Griffith to write a script that would be like Death Race but with motorcycles instead of cars. He got the script and didn't like it. It is unclear just what exactly Corman was expecting from a script that was "Death Race but with motorcycles," but clearly he was expecting more than Griffith was willing to provide. That's when Nicholas Niciphor came on and was tasked with re-writing the script and directing the movie. Carradine was available for only a couple of weeks and Niciphor was pretty much brand new to the medium, just out of film school. Chaos ensued.
The film also starred Playboy Playmate Claudia Jennings. She and Carradine were open about their drug use and according to Carradine himself, the shoot was madness from day one. There were fights on set both verbal and physical, and when shooting was done, Niciphor refused to come back for reshoots and post-production. That's when Allan Arkush was brought in to do newly written nude scenes of Jennings because Corman felt there hadn't been enough in the script as shot.
The movie didn't exactly set the box office on fire and any plans to further the Death Race formula were scrapped. Carradine himself didn't like it but also felt the script was "brilliantly written" and if there had been more time and a bigger budget, it all might have worked. Sadly, it was one of Claudia Jennings last movies as she died the next year in a car accident.
As it is, it's one of the awesome entries in the Roger Corman canon, a quickie B picture shot on a shoestring budget at breakneck speed and released within a few weeks after. Corman's films offered a proving ground for upcoming directors and students of film. The fact that they exist is a miracle and whether or not they qualify as high art shouldn't matter. They are what they are and by that measure, Deathsport is exactly what it needs to be.
Directors: Allan Arkush, Nicholas Niciphor
Produced: Roger Corman
Writing: Frances Doel, Nicholas Niciphor , Donald E. Stewart
Music: Andy Stein
Cinematography: Gary Graver
Film Editing: Larry Bock
Art Direction: Sharon Compton
Cast: David Carradine (Kaz Oshay), Claudia Jennings (Deneer), Richard Lynch (Ankar Moor), William Smithers (Dr. Karl), Will Walker (Marcus Karl), David McLean (Lord Zirpola), Jesse Vint (Polna), H.B. Haggerty (Jailer), John Himes (Tritan President), Jim Galante (Tritan Guard), Peter Hooper (Mr. Bakkar)
By Greg Ferrara
