Synopsis
Frank Mansfield is a cockfighter and wants to become the Cockfighter of the Year. He leads his life roaming about cockpits with his roosters. He loses every time in competition with his old rival Jack Burke and gives away his girl friend and trailer as well as his roosters. In the end, he sells out his farm house and buys some white roosters with the money. He meets Jack Burke again at the final round of the cockfighting championship. It was Roger CORMAN who handed the scenario by cult writer Charles WILLEFORD to director Monte HELLMAN. The film was shot at actual cockpits in Georgia. They case the majority of performers on the spot. This is why the director called half of this film a documentary. However CORMAN was disappointed with the film and ordered to shoot some extra bare scenes. Moreover, the title was changed into Born to Kill after Joe DANTE remade it. It is a story of life rather than an excellent western movie. Cockfighting itself is a small edition of life and their microcosm is mean like an imposter and cruel like death. The director dares neither to suggest a direction for life nor to define life.Cockfighter truthfully describes life as it is. The hero, who has kept the promise to remain silent until he wins victory, says at the end of the movie, "She loves me, my friend." The moment Warren OATES wears a mysterious smile, the faces of the character and the actor are unified, which creates an everlasting scene. (LEE Yong Cheol)