O Aniquilador

Dated 1980's shlock, except for one brilliant throwaway scene near the end.

I wouldn't recommend buying the VHS, and pretty sure this never made it to DVD or Blu Ray, but with a little digging you can probably find it on YouTube. Be ready to skip forward to this scene (a little less than an hour and a half into the movie) if you don't find the movie watchable.

A momentary nice touch, completely unnecessary to the story or plot.

A malfunctioning android. The WAY it malfunctions is nothing short of genius!

It's only a couple of minutes, midway into the climax. I don't want to spoil with any more detail. All I can say is that 30-odd years later, it's every bit as good as I remember.

In watching this film, I never got the sense they were aliens. The constant shots of churches and crosses made me think of something else. They called themselves Dynamitards. (This was an actual 1800s secret society in Europe.) I would have loved a sequel. Or maybe a look at the original script. I did wonder why the Dynamitards would leave an assault rifle and ammo laying around at their camp. Especially since they'd already bent the barrel on his handgun while he was away from his room. The film isn't available on DVD, which would be great. I think "Otherworld" is available in a boxed set (another fantasy series from the same producer).

Just seen this film on tv......and well the plot had promise but never delivered on it-we never found out why all this was happening and how.The way the film ends you think there may be a sequel-leaves a lot of unanswered questions.......

I caught this on HBO back in 1989, and this was definitely meant to launch a television series. Mark Lindsay Chapman plays a reporter who discovers a plot by aliens/androids to begin a conquest of Earth. Unfortunately, he's branded a fugitive when he is caught killing one of the cyborgs who replaced his girlfriend. His trip takes him through California and Oregon, where he learned that while his girlfriend was replaced by an android, others that vanished with her on an airplane flight she was on are still human. The end had him on the run with a list containing the names of all people that were on the flight that his girlfriend was on in an effort to see just who from the flight could remember just what happened. Great premise, though a bit underbudgeted (what could one expect when it came to sci-fi on network tv back in 1986?), and there were many questions that were never resolved. Definitely should have been followed up, since we never learned if Chapman's girlfriend was alive (played by Catharine Mary Stuart) or how he would manage to convince the human race of the threats posed by the aliens. With today's budget, it'd be great to see 'Annihilator' retried. Nice mix of 'The Fugitive' and 'War Of The Worlds'.

I first saw this TV movie on late-night British TV in the late eighties and was thrilled with it's simple, yet effective sci-fi edge; obviously, the film was made for a prospective television series that never happened - Which is a shame as the end result was far better than many of the series' that were approved and syndicated at the time.

Synopsis: Mark Lyndsay Chapman plays Richard Armour, a likable reporter whose life changes after his girlfriend, Angela (Catherine Mary Stewart) returns from a holiday in Hawaii with a female friend (Lisa Blount). Their return sees them change into emotionless cyborgs (like that of Terminator, complete with robotic red eyes under their lifelike human skin masks! In fact, so close is the analogy to "Terminator", that the "Annihilator" also stars Earl Boen (whom played Dr Silberman in both movies!) in a supporting role as fellow reporter, Sid!)).

These cyborgs (or Dynamitards as they are later revealed to be known as) exhibit calculated and unsympathetic views of animals, at one point referring to a dog as being 'One of these lesser animals', before disposing of the poor canine in a dumpster! Angela's lack of 'humanity', soon gives Richard just cause to think that something is up and is easily convinced that a dirty weekend away to a remote log cabin would be the ideal solution to rekindle and reconnect! It is here that Angela reveals her deadly intentions and Richard gets more than he bargained for as he barely escapes with his life and is forced to go on the run...

Richard soon discovers that the Hawaii passenger manifest is something of a Dynamitard 'hit list' and tries to find other passengers in hope of finding answers - And possibly the whereabouts of the real Angela - Before running into more deadly Dynamitards! The film is punctuated with Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" soundtrack, using this now classic song to great effect as our hero staggers around, disillusioned and helpless; armed with a pump action shotgun, an English accent and some attitude, Richard's quest for the truth is soon accompanied by female friend and convert, Layla (Susan Blakely) as she convinces him to seek additional help and advice from Professor Alan Jeffries (Geoffrey Lewis), with disastrous consequences of betrayal...

Truly could have been a great TV series ( Personal Rating 8 / 10 )