BLU-RAY REVIEW: THE EXTERMINATOR (1980)
Everyone that knows me has come to the conclusion that I am a huge fan of revenge flicks and vigilante films. There are so many instances of injustice, wrongs, and people getting the short end of the stick in life-whether it is getting screwed over in court by the justice system, or a criminal that has engaged in criminal activity against one and gets off Scott-free because of a law enforcement mishap or technicality. I mean, bullshit happens everyday, if not every minute, to someone somewhere in the world and it can get extremely frustrating. I read the news online and in the newspaper every day and it really blows my mind to how much injustice is meted out daily. I guess at this point in my life, I really shouldn’t be surprised and just be pessimistic about it all terrible things going on all over the world-crime, rape, murder, torture, etc…It really all adds up and if festers in one’s mind it can piss off one and influence their mood, or their day, at least.
This is where films come in to one’s life. They are a poor man’s therapy. They are for me. James Glickenhaus’ THE EXTERMINATOR is 104 minutes of free therapy, unless you paid for the film or rented it. The film is your standard exploitation action flick about a Vietnam Vet whose buddy (also a veteran of Vietnam) is beaten savagely by street thugs in a gang and is left paralyzed. The buddy in the hospital, Michael Jefferson (Steve James, To Live and Die in L.A., American Ninja), is visited by his buddy John Eastland (Robert Ginty, Maniac Killer, Exterminator 2) and after talking to his wife and kids and seeing their obvious pain of seeing their father and husband crippled, Michael decides to dedicate his life to finding the thugs that ruined his best friend’s life and enact a nasty revenge. I love the premise for the film. It is pure and simple. Good guy turns into a relentless bad guy by breaking the law and giving his best friend justice. Is it really justice? I don’t know. The bad guys are going to pay dearly for messing up Michael’s life and viewers get to sit back and enjoy the violent ride.
The film quickly unloads the action on to the viewers, with Michael (Steve James) beating the crap out of what seem to be Puerto Rican gang members in New York (how do I know they are Puerto Rican? I think they are because there are Puerto Rican flags stitched on some of their t-shirts and vests!) breaking open a locker at a loading dock and stealing cases of beer. As the thugs are loading their car’s trunk up, well-built, African American, tough-guy Michael (James) walks up to find his friend and ‘Nam comrade John (Ginty) getting his butt kicked in and about to get knifed by the three hoodlums.
Michael beats the shit out of the thugs, knocking them out and “cleaning up” the area, and then go grab a beer. The next morning Michael is jumped and mugged. The thugs broke his neck with a steel chain and stuck a 3-pronged hook-like weapon into his back. This all occurs the next morning. After all this, the next scene shows John telling Michael’s wife her husband is paralyzed and will never walk again. The transition is extremely quick, if one notices a transition at all as it occurs so suddenly, and soon thereafter John has a thug with a member of the gang responsible for the attack and the botched beer robbery, Ghetto Ghouls, tied up in an abandoned building. After finding out where the gang hangs out, John heads over there with an M-16 rifle and lets the whores they were dancing with leave and shoots one, killing him, and ties up the other two and leaves them dumped in the basement of a building and leaving them to the rats. Before all of this, here is an excerpt of some nice “racy” dialogue. The scene reminds me of the racist stereotypes and feelings that were written into the script of Scorsese’s Taxi Driver.
A hooker is punished for refusing to screw a young boy with a dildo
“I’m sorry about this morning, alright, we didn’t hurt you. Shit man, that guy was just a nigger!”-gang member
“That nigger was my best friend, motherfucker!”-John (Ginty)
Exchanges of dialogue such as this have exploitation written all over it and really show how much times have changed. I mean, now in movies, most racist stereotypes apply to “spics” AND “niggers”. It seems only “crackers” were exempt from the put down of the races in films, even in independent flicks. Aside from the racism in the dialogue to more accurately portray the filth of NYC at the time, there are some very visually stunning shots of New York before 9/11 and one gets to see the Twin Towers before they were taken down by terrorists in 2001. I was pretty impressed that the budget of the film allowed for aerial helicopter shots, in some great length, to be filmed for an indie action flick.
The opening sequence in which both Michael and John are fighting in Vietnam had some impressive explosions and scenes of war, including the beheading of a U. S. soldier by a Vietnamese soldier. The gore in this sequence was decent, probably one of the scenes trimmed by the MPAA in the films’ original release. There are some other decent scenes of gore, if only briefly, in which a pervert is burned to death for providing under-age boys for sex (by kidnapping them) and beating up and torturing a hooker who would not agree to screw a young boy for another sick individual’s enjoyment and pleasure. The film has some dry spells in it though, as many scenes are shot with no soundtrack or music during them and can get pretty stale to watch sometimes. By no means is the acting going to win any awards for the performances, but the detective played by Christopher George was the most solid piece of acting on the screen. George, playing the role of Detective James Dalton, added a bit of credibility to the film with his scenes. Coupled with the lovely Samantha Eggar who played Dr. Megan Stewart, I think their performances were some of the only saving graces the film had. I believe the lead, Robert Ginty, was lacking any type of screen presence and charisma when acting. I just felt he was awkward to watch and his performance kind of stale. I don’t think it hurt the film too much because the film is an exploitative action flick that most are watching because of the violence, not the award-winning performances.
The film continues along with the crooked politicians, mob boss, and police all trying to get the city rid of the “Exterminator”. Ginty continues walking around town and running into crime and filth, trying to solve all the problems that New York’s streets possess. I do not know if there really is any sort of message besides the detective trying to solve the murders and crimes of the vigilante is also a Vietnam Vet, but just one that conforms to society’s norms and laws, while John Eastland has taken the law into his own hands, but that may be part of it. I sat through the film just thinking it may have been slightly better if there was more violence and gore in the film. There is some nudity, but its not too much and one pair of tits are scarred by burn marks all over them–not exactly a turn on.
Overall, I was a little bit more than mildly amused by the film. It was not the most action-packed or well-written film to portray a vigilante exacting revenge for his hospitalized comrade and friend (I thought the Death Wish films were done far better!), but it is not the worst way to spend a couple of hours. I can definitely see this film doing well at a grindhouse theater, though. The film has more elements in it that I found myself laughing at, then being shocked or appalled over. Maybe that was the whole point, to find some humor within the elements of shock, violence, and horror.
As with many films, the extra features on the disc can sometimes be a saving grace to a film that just did not live up to one’s expectations. That is the case here. Synapse Films’ Blu-Ray+Dvd Combo Pack comes with a wonderful commentary by director James Glickenhaus, in which he informs the audience quite a bit about the time of the filming (noting the Twin Towers shot in the film and how pre-9/11 it was far easier to rent a chopper and fly around the city shooting aerial shots) and that the helicopter used in the film was the very one that crashed and killed actor Vic Morrow a few years later. In fact, they shot the whole Vietnam sequence in the very same sound stage that Morrow died in during the filming of Twilight Zone.
This version of THE EXTERMINATOR is the original director’s cut containing more gore and violence, contains a newly restored original stereo soundtrack mix, and the theatrical trailer and television spots. I really think what I liked most about this film was the fantastic cover art for the movie in which a muscular man is shown holding a flamethrower, with fire and explosions in the background along with a helicopter flying. As a kid, I had always wanted to see this film and now after having seen it, I can’t say whether I would be TOO impressed with what I would have witnessed, even as a young chap.
I enjoyed the movie, but wished there was more violence, gore, and some soundtrack to help the movie move along nicer. I think the lack of cheesy music hurts the film. The movie is not an epic masterpiece, so why not throw some hilarious music as background noise to liven things up a little bit.
In the end, I found that I enjoyed the move for what it’s worth, which just may not be too much. Vigilante John Eastland has got nothing on vigilante Paul Kersey, though, except for one of the best one-liners I have ever heard in a film before:
When the CIA has a brief exchange with Det. James Dalton in which they suggest that the vigilante may be the work of a political power or foreign power, Dalton tells the agent what he thinks:
“I think you have to take a shit because it’s coming out of your mouth instead of your asshole.”
On that epic quote, I end this review and encourage film buffs to check out the new print on brd/dvd if they get a chance to. Fans of exploitation and grindhouse movies will be sure to be satisfied with Glickenhaus’ vigilante flick, even if it does not live up to my favorite vigilante film of all time, Deathwish.
