Blu-Ray Review: Death Spa

By Brad Henderson

Ahhh, Death Spa. . .

I felt like I was eight years old all over again when my copy of Death Spa arrived last week. I distinctly remember renting it at the video store one summer while I was visiting my grandmother in Ohio. It was a night I would never forget. Death Spa is the perfect example of a fun, cheesy, straight from the ’80s horror flick that maintains both goofiness and bloodshed until the bitter end.

Death Spa was a little on the harder to find side for a while but has resurfaced from Gorgon Video. Yes, Gorgon Video. Those are the guys who released the Faces Of Death films, the ones that have gone down in history as some of the most controversial films in cinema. Well, these days those films might not be considered quite so extreme, but at the time they came out, they were bizarre and brutal.

Anyway, Gorgon Video is back, and with a vengeance. Honestly, I was a little apprehensive about their release of Death Spa because they have been away from the industry for so long I didn’t know what their output would be like. Now I would like to eat my thoughts and words because Gorgon Video has put together a fantastic package with Death Spa. With a film like this I wouldn’t expect special features and an outstanding transfer but that is exactly what we get, not to mention that they’ve also included the uncut version of the film, which is outstanding. The gore has never looked better.

Death Spa doesn’t need a huge intro because the title basically tells you what to expect. Our story takes place at a high-tech, state of the art gym that suddenly spirals out of control, thus killing its clients. It is up to Michael, the gym’s owner, to find out what is causing these accidents. He has to dig up his past in order to uncover what is happening to his livelihood.

I’ve seen thousands of films from the ’80s, many of which have been horror, and I don’t quite recall any being as fun as Death Spa. Not only is it a gory blast, it is also well shot and looks fantastic. The use of eccentric colors gives it an Italian feel, and there are quite a few places where the framing reminds me of something that Argento would do. I would like to think that director Michael Fischa used that as a guideline to make this film.

The Death Spa Blu-Ray might be more on the expensive side, but it is totally worth it. Keep in mind this is the one of the newest releases from Gorgon Video, so they packed it with many special features, probably putting quite a bit of cash into making it look so good. So save up for a week, buy it, and hopefully we can get more from Gorgon in the future. If they keep putting out discs like this I will be purchasing everything from them.

Death Spa was released on Blu-Ray on May 27 from Gorgon Video and Dark Sky Films/MPI.