As its subtitle informs us, DOA: Dead or Alive, has nothing to do with the customary medical meaning of those initials or the classic 1959 thriller bearing them and everything to do with a popular video game series of which this is a live-action version.

I use the word 'live' somewhat loosely, because the carefully toned male and female martial artists attracted from all over the world to play the game on an island in the South China Sea act like marionettes who have overdosed on speed.

Their host is the self-regarding Eric Roberts (brother of the now better-known Julia) and apart from the contests between his guests, there is murder, robbery and assorted malfeasance afoot. It is rather like a version of Sartre's Huis Clos relocated to a fitness club on Sunset Boulevard. The cast includes fugitives from Neighbours and Coronation Street.