El exterminador

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited the 104 mins version recently. This film is a solid vigilante stuff with good effects, specially the decapitation scene by Stan Winston.

The meat grinder scene made me squirm. The sub plot of the love story between the detective n the nurse wasn't required n that is the only stuff which slowed the movie.

In New York John Eastland an Vietnam Veteran turns vigilante when his best friend/Vietnam buddy is attacked by a group of thugs and left paralysed. Since his buddy saved his life in Vietnam, he thought he should do him a favour. So John becomes a one-man show and goes out and gives some of his own justice to these lowlifes. After taking care of that gang, he sets his sights higher, by trying to bring down the city's seedy and dark underground. He calls himself the Exterminator, but police see him as nothing than a psychopathic killer, but the CIA and Government officials see him more as a threat because they believe he could undermine an entire government administration. The media and public, see him as a (anti) hero and these corrupt officials don't want that.

This is one of the many vigilante/exploitation films that flooded the screens within 70's and 80's period… thanks to "Death Wish", which were only meant to shock you with relentless violence and grit. Well, this supposedly DVD I watch claims to be the director's cut, but some sequences definitely feel like they were trimmed… unless that was the director's choice, but I doubt it because they felt odd and was mostly around the violence.

Anyway what we got here is a remotely entertaining low-budget vigilante piece, but really it's nothing we haven't seen before. If your expecting a whole lotta' graphic violence, you might be disappointed as it was rather tame in spots where it could have been grisly to watch. But saying that it does have a couple of shocking moments, but really not enough to make it stand out from the rest of its field. It was rather comic book style violence, with it being more nasty than bloody. What makes it a little tiresome is that a lot of time it skews away from our vigilante doing his work, in favour for a budding romance between a cop and doctor, it just didn't add anything, well not for me. It could have scrap that idea and delve more into the Exterminator's psyche, or please more gripping action. Yes action, the film just lacked something big… I was hoping for more. Especially when we are thrown right into the action when the film begins, but I was sorely disappointed and the exploitative nature was just uneven and what was the deal with the wrenching images. Sometimes the material tries too hard to be moving and have a softer side. It just didn't work for me. You just think, oh this going to be great, with some promising torture scenes and tussles, but honestly you feel short changed with the outcome of most, as there seems to be more of a focus on the aftermath. What didn't help was that some moments are actually unintentionally humorous. But on the other hand there are some nice ideas in the bunch, but it just could've been executed in a better fashion. The plot tries to cover some social discussions involving the Vietnam War, Cheap labour, street crime, media, child prostitution corrupt officials and plenty of wry humour mixed in. Although, there's nothing about these messages that are exceptional or haven't been handled better.

What blew me away was that director James Glickenhaus pulls you into the seedy and dirty streets of New York. He truly makes the raw environment an unpleasant experience to view, along with the scum who walk it. Camera work was potent with some well established shots, with plenty of close ups and fast moving shooting. Also the director loved his slow-mow! Soundtrack was very 70's. A sample of the decade indeed. But there are some odd song choices in certain parts of the film, but they were reasonably groovy and swinging in mood. Although, the editing was annoying at times, it was real choppy and because of that there's several incoherent sequences and stuff left up in the air. Just like the unthinkable ending (that took me by the blue), which is messily put together. Performances are fair, even if Robert Ginty is bland as the crusader and Christopher George makes the most of his character. Though, those people playing the CIA agents really hammed it up with inane dialogue and hilarious appearances.

Mediocre at best, with some heart pounding moments and clever touches, but I just thought it could've been far better. Maybe I was expecting too much? Nonetheless, it did its job by keeping me entertained for the odd 90 minutes or so. That's good enough for me.

I remember watching this movie as a young teenager and it was quite something. Gritty, gross, crappy mega violent.

Similar to a lot of movies at that time (although this was one of the first) the violence was more of the film than the actual plot.

If you are looking to watch a classic movie, this isn't it, enjoyable now for a bit of a trip down memory lane to revisit an era of movie making (like Bronx Warriors and Class of 84), like watching classic horror movies . Does have some memorable scenes and does have a sequel (which is not worth looking at).

This is not a great film, in fact it can't even be considered a "good film," when you take into account the poor, confusing editing, ugly cinematography and some bad acting. What makes "The Exterminator" a valuable movie, is it's "grindhouse credibility. This is one of the few movies of it's kind that actually makes me a little sick when I watch it, and similar films like "Death Wish" and "Vigilante" don't succeed in doing that. Yes, they are both way superior films, but they don't pack the punch that this sleazy movie from 1980 achieves in spades. You have the Vietnam Vet, still feeling the effects of one jungle, when he is thrust into another jungle, the urban jungle of New York city at the very end of the 1970's. The film's anti-hero is hunting the true filth of the Earth, mafioso, child molesters and murdering gang members. At the heart of the story is an ongoing struggle between him and "The Ghetto Ghouls," a hyper violent gang that is terrorizing New York. Offering some great, vintage location scenes of New York landmarks, like the West Side's meat packing district, the crime ridden Central Park, and the slime ridden Times Square. For these qualities the movie has value. It's a rough movie, but this one should be appreciated by fans of violent revenge movies from back in the day. The version I saw on Bluray appeared kind of choppy, like some scenes were missing. If there is an even nastier version of this one in existence, I can't even imagine what they cut..

"The Exterminator" is a film that has many flaws but also has high entertainment value, The Story is nothing new, the characters are only half developed, and the film was made on a low budget, however it has a certain charm to it that makes it an entertaining watch.

The Plot of the film involves A Vietnam vet named John Eastland (Played by Robert Ginty, RIP) Taking the Name of "THE EXTERMINATOR" and Going out onto the streets of New York to hunt and kill a bunch of thugs that killed his best friend, and in the process try to rid new york entirely of crime. A policeman played by (Christopher George RIP) is out to catch him, but unknown to both of them the CIA is also after THE EXTERMINATOR its just a matter of time who will get to Him first.

Like i said the Plot isn't that Original, and the subplot involving the CIA is hugely Underdeveloped, and like i mentioned the characters are half developed, in other words they are only half interesting, but the sole Savior of this film is the violence and gritty atmosphere in which the Director James Glickenhaus Creates, the violence in this film is Raw and nasty and the Villains are extremely Despicable and when they get whats coming to them it Effectively pays off, The Film is what it is, an Exploitation film and a good one at that, in fact it has some truly powerful scenes as well as some emotional ones and if you see the film you'll know what I'm talking about.

OVERALL (6/10): "The Exterminator" is a Film to be viewed with caution, as it is very Depressing and Brutally Violent, But it does have its moments of being effective, and the violence is not Over the top in gore, its nasty and disgusting, I would say its on the level of TAXI DRIVER's violence, For general film goers I would probably say Skip this film but for fans of revenge movies and exploitation films I would suggest checking out this fairly controversial flick.