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THE EXTERMINATOR MOVIE REVIEW
WRITTEN BY ZACH CARTER

I saw the sequel to The Exterminator before I even knew that a first installment existed; I assumed one did, because the sequel is called Exterminator 2, but I had no definitive proof.  So after having my mind blown by Exterminator 2 I sought out the movie that started it all, and wasn't too disappointed in what I found really.  The Exterminator is a much more somber, dramatic affair than the sequel, or at least it's intended to be; there isn't a single breakdance scene in the entire movie (although one would have been much appreciated).  As far as pure entertainment goes, I'd give my vote to Exterminator 2, but this one holds it's own quite admirably among it's grindhouse brethren.

A short and reasonably well-done (i.e. explosion-filled) opening scene introduces us to John Eastman (Robert Ginty) and his friend Michael Jefferson (Steve James), two soldiers deep in the shit in the middle of Vietnam.  They're taken as prisoners of war and forced to watch as a fellow soldier is nearly beheaded with a machete before breaking free and gunning down their captors.  Michael and John, badly injured, narrowly escape the battlefield.

After that we're treated to an opening title sequence with a song that lyrically sums up the character of John Eastland for us so that we don't have to think too hard.

I've been a witness to the spilling of the blood
Seen the lifeless bodies, lying in the mud
I walked away alive with a wounded heart
But I had to heal it, I had to heal it, 'til I couldn't feel it anymore

That pretty much sums everything up.  A battle-scarred veteran returns home to face the sometimes even more dangerous streets of NYC and is eventually pushed too far.  There's nothing new to see here for viewers well-versed in the vigilante flicks of the 80's (except perhaps the most ingenious way to cook a hot dog using only a desk lamp and two forks ever put on film).  Aside from John Eastland, we spend the most time following the captivities of Detective James Dalton (Christopher George) as he charms the pants off a sexy lady doctor and solves the Exterminator case in his spare time.  Seriously he does almost no police work, he just happens into information by accident; he only  discovers the true identity of The Exterminator because John interrupts one of his after-hours booty calls at the hospital.  We spend almost no time getting to know John Eastland, we simply follow him from one act of revenge to the next (his decision is to actually become The Exterminator is never even mentioned, it simply happens).

So the story never really elevates beyond paper-thin, but the gritty violence abounds, so no worries.  In this movie we see first instance of The Exterminator's affinity for flamethrowers (although it's much too brief), we see a man slowly dropped into a meat grinder, and in one particularly disturbing scene we learn what a "chicken-hawk" is.  Not too bad.  But the main reason to appreciate The Exterminator is that it paved the way for the most excellent Exterminator 2.

P.S. The street gang in The Exterminator has the worst name I've ever heard; how are we supposed to take them seriously when everyone keeps calling them the Ghetto Ghouls?

REVIEW OF TOXIC AVENGER (1984)

From horrornews.net

APRIL 11 VHS MOVIE REVIEW : FLESH FEAST (1969)

Deadly slow mixture of espionage and horror genres that's more important for it's pedigree than for the actual film itself. First off, it stars 40's blonde bombshell Veronica Lake (who is also a producer) who, unfortunately looks like a bombed blonde shell of her former self. It was directed, co-produced and co-written by Brad F. Grinter, who made the classic badfilm BLOOD FREAK three years later. It was co-written by Thomas B. Casey, who would direct SOMETIMES AUNT MARTHA DOES STRANGE THINGS in 1971. Harry Kerwin, who directed GOD'S BLOODY ACRE (1975), has a small part and is production manager here. Chris Martell, who starred in SCREAM BABY, SCREAM (1969), also stars and is assistant director on this. As you can see, it's a veritable who's-who of early 70's Florida regional filmmaking. It's just too bad that FLESH FEAST is such a total bore. Lake stars as Dr. Elaine Frederick, who has perfected a rejuvenation procedure that involves specially-bred maggots that eat the flesh of dead people and, when applied to live people, give that person new youth and vigor. When some shady South American dudes in dark suits and black sunglasses hire Dr. Frederick to rejuvenate their boss, "The Commander", she prepares her lab for his arrival (her female assistant steals a female corpse from the hospital so the maggots can feed, as we see another assistant cut off the corpse's leg with a bone saw). A subplot involves a female student falling in love with Jose (Bill Rogers), one of the South Americans who have taken over Frederick's house. When Dr. Frederick performs a practice experiment on Max Bauer (Martell), an old man with a scarred face (to satisfy the S.A. dudes that her experiment is on the up-and-up), he becomes a young, spry man who proceeds to rape Jose's new girlfriend and then kills her. Jose kills him and puts his dead girlfriend in Dr. Frederick's lab. Satisfied with the outcome, the South Americans bring The Commander to Frederick's house. The Commander turns out to be Adolph Hitler (!) and Dr. Frederick has revenge on her mind, since her mother died in one of Hitler's concentration camps. The film ends abruptly with Dr. Frederick using her maggots on Hitler in a whole new way, while she cackles "Heil Hitler!" in front of a portrait of her dead mother.  Even at 72 minutes, the film seems hopelessly padded as the Jose subplot and another involving a newspaper reporter/C.I.A. agent Dan Carter (Kerwin) go nowhere and neither one is resolved. The entire film looks to have been shot silent and the post-synch dubbing, though done by the actors, barely match the lip movements. The film is also hopelessly dated, as every male character wears a dark suit with a skinny tie and most of the women sport beehive hairdos, except for Lake, who still wears her hair as she did when she was a femme fatale in films such as THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942). This was also Lake's last film, but try not to remember her this way. Doug Hobart (DEATH CURSE OF TARTU - 1966) provided the not-so-special effects, which include the aforementioned leg amputation, some old age makeup (which looks like oatmeal paste) and various body parts hanging in Dr. Frederick's lab. FLESH FEAST is worth a viewing if you are interested in Florida regional exploitation films (I think the only regional talent not involved in this were William Grefe and Wayne Crawford!), but have a stimulant handy because you'll need it. The Beverly Wilkshire DVD (which is OOP but still available on some online outlets) is pretty poor and looks like a second or third generation VHS dupe. It also has a glitch around the 11 minute mark that brings you back to the main menu. Just go to the second chapter and rewind to just after the glitch and the rest of the film plays fine. Also starring Phil Philbin, Martha Mischon, Doug Foster, Brad Townes and Otto Schlesinger. A Beverly Wilkshire DVD Release. Also available on VHS from World Video. Rated R. { text from critcononline.com }