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Charles Bronson plays Holland, a man who has retired from his 'professional killer' days and lives at a beautiful island home. Suddenly, Bronson's character is coerced into un-retiring upon hearing about various crimes committed by a sadistic Josef Mengele copycat-killer/torturer named Mulloch (J. Maher). By plotting his vengeance step-by-step, Bronson eliminates Mullochs inner circle in a cold, calculated fashion leading up to the inevitable confrontation at the end of the film. This film to me seems to follow the vigilante-Bronson thread pretty well, his character in this movie seems to reflect previous characters he portrayed in earlier efforts in his career (i.e. The Mechanic and Death Wish). Director J. Lee Thompson's pace throughout the film was enough to keep me interested, Maher's portrayal of the sadistic Mulloch was very eerie and uncomfortable at times, his methods/beliefs of and about torture are pretty gruesome, which greatly impacts how we as the viewer look at him during the film. This is definitely a good installment to the collaborations that J. Lee Thompson and Charles Bronson have had together in film, it isn't the best they've done together but it is well worth a watch if you are a fan of either Thompson's or Bronson's works.

In recent times I've been watching the collaborations between director J. Lee Thompson and actor Charles Bronson with pretty decent results. "The Evil that Men Do" was somewhat an interesting, and cynically effective little shocker. From the very beginning you realise this gritty b-grade fodder is looking to simply shock you with its sadistic subject of torture for political ground, and the hidden acceptance of it in the governments that makes Maher's pitiless character believe his actions of the trade to be far from evil. The material stays powerful, scathing and covered with moral questioning. It's always seems to be about retribution, and finding it in themselves to take that next step. Even when it isn't visually hard-hitting, the despairing oral context can get under your skin. Strictly the tone and style Thompson opts for is unpleasant, rough and ice-cold.

I was engrossed, but then the formula (but still packing an excessive sting) changed to a by-the-numbers revenge spin and an unconvincingly irate Theresa Saldana floods the screen. I just didn't buy her, and the chemistry with Bronson felt weak. Joseph Maher easy performance drips with a strangely subtle intensity of callousness that's purely evil. He's not some demanding, towering presence but those vile sadistic acts, and unflinching cruelty comes second nature for this character, that just listening to his softly spoken voice is very uneasy. Charles Bronson's calculated, stalwart and quite mystique turn is hard to switch off because he makes this character an all-out professional killer with a more humane view of things, and managing to keep his self-righteousness intact.

Thompson's raw, tactical direction utilises the low-budget, and working in its favour is the grimy, fade-out look from the authentically seedy urban consolidations to the sparse desert locations. A harrowing music score by Ken Thorne has a slight and edgy tinge, and Javier Ruvalcaba Cruz's tight, voyeuristic cinematography hit's the mark. When called upon the tension stays hard-boiled, and some scenes pack an abrasive bite as the meaningful violence is highly explicit and explosive. However it's not an all-out torture parade full of senseless snapshots. Antoinette Bower, Jose Ferrer and Max Ortiz offer strong support.

Rather a effortless manner by all, but certainly it does the daring job it sets out to do.

One of the most widely hated films with the great late Charles Bronson, "The Evil That Men Do" of 1984 is the nastiest most brutal, and in my opinion one of his better collaborations with director J. Lee Thompson. I haven't seen "The White Buffalo" yet, but their other collaborations include the decent "10 To Midnight", the mediocre "Murphy's Law" and the god-awful "Death Wish 4". Even though far from flawless, "The Evil That Men Do" is another highly entertaining Bronson flick, with a super-tough Bronson, non-stop action and extreme brutality - can one ask for more? Bronson plays Holland, a professional assassin who has retired to a tropic paradise on the Cayman Islands. When an old friend, an oppositional journalist in a South American dictatorship is tortured to death by the English torture specialist 'The Doctor' Clement Molloch (Jospeh Maher), Holland decides to come out of retirement to avenge his friend and free Latin America of its most despicable torturer, The Doctor, who travels from one dictatorship to another in order to fulfill his evil deeds...

Bronson is great and super-tough as always and Joseph Maher makes a particularly evil bad guy. Bronson has had better roles playing a professional assassin - Sergio Sollima's great "Citta Violenta" is just one example. But he nevertheless kicks ass as Holland in this movie, even if it is far away from being one of the masterpieces he has starred in. The only character that annoyed the hell out of me was that of Teresa Saldana, who plays the wife of the friend Holland is out to avenge. On the one hand she wants Bronson to avenge her husband and put an end to the Doctor's evil deeds, but on the other hand she keeps complaining when people get hurt. The violence is omnipresent and bloody, the film begins with a torture scene that is more than a bit nasty. People keep complaining about the lack of character development and plot, and about the violence. I wonder what people some people expect from a mid 80s action flick with Bronson that runs 87 minutes. Citizen Kane? Charles Bronson is one of my favorite actors, and director J. Lee Thompson was doubtlessly talented, which great films like "Cape Fear" (1962) prove. I admit that their collaborations were not exactly masterpieces, but most of them, such as this one, are pure, violent fun made strictly for entertainment purposes. And that is exactly what "The Evil That Men Do" provides: Pure, violent entertainment! Enjoy!

OMG lol this 1984 ultra gritty ultra violent ultra sleazy Bronson Thriller is Fantastic!!! This is Charles Bronson at his absolute best!!!

Yes this is just as good if not better than his excellent Death Wish films.

The Evil That Men Do is a really gritty & grimy vigilante Thriller & it's very well made for a low budget 80's exploitation flick, it's directed by the excellent J Lee Thompson who has made lots of Bronson films so he knows exactly how to use Bronson better than any other director!!!

Here Bronson plays Holland a retired Hitman/Assassin who lives a peaceful life now away from the evil cruel world on a beautiful secluded island somewhere tropical & as Holland says it's Magical.

Holland is pushed out of retirement when he is visited by a man who needs him & i won't go into all the plot or story as it's better not knowing everything but Holland comes out of his comfort zone & back into the violent world to hunt down & EXECUTE a very Evil torture expert called the Doctor who is used around the world by armies to really hurt people in the most evil & depraved ways.

Bronson done his best work with director J. LEE THOMPSON & whilst under contract with CANNON FILMS!!!

This is a very harsh, raw & very brutal Thriller & Bronson is Fantastic here!!!

Holland is a great & fascinating character & you want to know about him!!!

The violence is brutal & real looking very gritty & in your face,this movie really is an 80's underrated gem, the action is very cool & fast & violent & no one gets revenge better than Bronson!!!

The movie has that low rent grimy feel to it & a very dark atmosphere & creepy music almost like a Horror movie than a Thriller!!!

But yes this is Bronson at his brutal best & should sit nicely next to his best & most iconic movie DEATH WISH (1974). BRONSON is truly a legend & his movies are nearly all great & i think he actually got bettter as he got older just check out his excellent t.v movie work as he's done some excellent Thrillers: FAMILY OF COPS (1995).

A FAMILY OF COPS 2:BREACH OF FAITH (1997).

A FAMILY OF COPS 3 (1999).

DONATO & DAUGHTER (1993).

Stumbling upon this 1984 movie by random chance in 2023 and seeing that it starred Charles Bronson, of course I opted to sit down and watch it.

I had actually never heard about this movie before, so I didn't know what I was in for here. So writer John Crowther and Fred A. Wyler had every opportunity to entertain me with this movie.

The storyline in "The Evil That Men Do" was entertaining enough for what it turned out to be. It wasn't, however, the best of Charles Bronson movies. And that being said, don't get me wrong, because it definitely is a watchable movie, it just was sort of bland in a way.

The movie does have some familiar faces on the cast list, aside from Charles Bronson himself, with the likes of Joseph Maher, John Glover, Roger Cudney and Joe Seneca.

As it turned out, then I hadn't exactly been missing out on a particularly outstanding Charles Bronson feature here. And now that I have seen it, I doubt that I will actually ever return to watch it a second time, because the storyline just didn't have all that much appeal.

My rating of director J. Lee Thompson's 1984 movie "The Evil That Men Do" lands on a five out of ten stars.