13 SINS - A remake of "13: Game of Death". A downtrodden wage slave on the verge of losing everything figures he's found a way of saving his relationship and disabled brother from looming destitution - salvation seems to have arrived via his mobile in the from of a game promising big money, if he'll only play along... '13 Sins' is pretty entertaining, a straightforward take on the well worn trope of 'game goes evil and there's a seemingly vast conspiracy behind it all' (see uhm 'The Game'). The protagonist here switches from milquetoast to savage psychopath as the voice on his mobile cajoles him into increasingly violent assaults on public order, but he never loses core sympathy (or at least a sliver of it). I generally like films like this, they tap into real day-to-day fears caused by the nightmare of late capitalism, where economic and social survival is always under threat and aggressive interpersonal competition (we're taught) is the only route to 'being a winner'. Well, '13 Sins' is a winner of sorts, a very good action horror flick which delivers cheap thrills under the guise of pessimistic (but probably opportunistic) social commentary.
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