Sombra da Morte

This movie is worth watching (and buying) for one reason: Lyle Alzado!! Of course he plays a maniacal killer-who would expect otherwise? One of his best lines: Girl about to be killed-"Why?" Alzado (with a confused, quizzical look)-"Why not?" Another great scene is when Alzado clothes-lines the guy off his motorcycle, smashing the windscreen for effect! Classic! OK it's not fine cinema, but it is entertaining and interesting if you are an Oakland Raiders fan. Compare to John Matuszak in North Dallas Forty, Caveman, and Weird Science. Too bad those two never worked together on film, they could've provided some over-the-top bad guy scenes in plenty of B action flicks.

"Destroyer" is a low-budget 1988 horror film, with slight touches of comedy here and there. It stars ex-football player Lyle Alzado (R.I.P -- never been a huge football fan), 80s actress icon Deborah Foreman, and Norman Bates himself, Anthony Perkins.

It sort of plays off of the ideas of late 80s supernatural thrillers, which involved supernatural revenge. (Much like "Shocker", "Prison", and "The Horror Show.") In this case, our killer is not necessarily supernatural, he is more pumped up.

It's a fun movie. Yes, it has its issues, it is not perfect, but it still makes for a fun watch when you need to take your mind off of things.

Lyle Alzado does a GREAT job for his original profession at being an NFL lineman. He is incredibly scary and ruthless in scenes, and....we'll just say you wouldn't want him chasing you. Deborah Foreman & Clayton Rohner do a solid job as our main hero & heroine, acting-wise.

Problems with the movie: I think Lyle Alzado could have been incorporated more into the movie, and when he was there, in a more violent, destructive way. In the movie, he kills people with mundane tools. A jackhammer, blow torch, hanging, and off screen decapitation. Nothing that would involve super-human strength as the poster and plot suggest. I also think certain characters should have had more screen time, AND more actions and events they performed. (Including Anthony Perkins, who is fun as the sarcastic director, but his scenes are limited. Rewire, the comic relief, is also someone who should have had more screen time.)

Overall, without spoiling anything; "Destroyer" is a fun watch if you like low-budget movies and movies that are fun. It has issues, and it is not to be dissected. Just watch it for fun, take it for what it was made on, it's a fun time.

7/10

At first glance, Destroyer looks like a very promising film for horror fans on paper. In an era where the slasher flick was in its prime, it looks as if this film sets itself apart from the rest. It features a human enemy who seems to be more of a genetic freak than an indestructible demon who does not target teenagers, as the bad guy usually does in recent entries of the genre. However, all the positive points end there and what we're left with is another excessively gratuitous gorefest that most horror fans won't take seriously.

Beyond Anthony Perkins, there are no seriously notable names in the movie. It's too bad that such the horror icon did not have a notable body of work after his defining performance in "Psycho", making several mediocre "Psycho" sequels and b-movies like this. Nevertheless, he plays his role as skin flick director to a T. Other than the two heroes, everyone else in the movie is either there to get killed or say a few lines. And the heroes aren't even of note either. The only difference they have with everyone else in the movie and in the number of lines they have. There is never any development of their characters, so you don't know what special qualities they possess that make them the good guys in the end other than mere coincidence and serendipity.

If there's one thing the movie has going for it, it's the way some of the characters get dispensed. There's a nice scene with a blowtorch and the movie's best part, involving a huge drilling device (as seen on the video box). However, as the movie goes on, the scenes become a little less graphic though we are treated to some body parts strewn around and some wax-museum quality bodies. Credit must be given to Lyle Alzado, who looks VERY menacing as the main bad guy. He shows a bit of acting ability in this movie. Throughout his brief career acting after football, which was cut short after he sadly succumbed to brain cancer, he was thoroughly underused as a main villain in movies.

In short, the Destroyer is a decent weekend b-movie. Its partly refreshing perspective on the slasher genre and its almost humorously over-gory scenes make it a fun movie to watch and laugh at with a few friends. Look for some nice (if inadvertent) homages to horror classics the Shining (with the blood on the wall sequence) and Friday the 13th (with the gotcha! end of the movie). Finally, be sure to sit through the credits for a very weird name for one of the movie's songs. The laughs are definitely worth a cheap rental.

This horror movie is very similar to others of the time such as Prison (1987), The Chair (1988) and The Horror Show (1989) but this is much more fun.

A movie titled "Death House Dollies" begins filming in what the crew believes to be a deserted prison unaware that a former inmate, Ivan Moser- who raped and murdered 23 men and women, had survied the electic chair years earlier and is still in the prison and he is very angry!

There's plenty of humour, decent kills and gore and there is an entertaining scene from the film within the film showing a group of girls fighting naked in a shower.

Stand out performances go to Lyle Alzado as the demented Ivan Moser and legendary actor Anthony Perkins as the direstor of the tashy "Death House Dollies".

In DESTROYER, a movie is being made in an abandoned prison, where a riot had killed dozens of guards and inmates a few months prior. Said riot had started after the execution of enormous, musclebound serial murderer, Ivan Moser (Lyle Alzado). Now, as the film crew gets rolling, the real, hideous deaths begin.

Has Moser returned from his gargantuan grave?

This is one of those cheap, cheeezey movies that would have played well on the drive-in circuit of its era. It takes a while for this one to get going, and even then it sort of drags along like a tranquilized turtle. By the time we actually get to see Mr. Alzado's character, it's half over. This is a shame, since he's the only dynamic aspect about this entire project!

On a positive note, Anthony Perkins is rather humorous as the Director of the ill-fated movie being made.

Extra Points For: The aforementioned Mr. Alzado, whose cackling maniac character almost saves this film from its own dullness. Almost...