THE EXTERMINATOR 1980

"In War, You Have To Kill To Stay Alive...On The Streets Of New York, It's Often The Same..."

    Robert Ginty (BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP) kicks some major butt of low-life bottom feeders all over a grimy pre- Giuliani NYC in this 1980 urban revenge opus directed by James Glickenhaus. One of the better post DEATH WISH vigilante based films, it’s helped along immensely by excellent performances by the leads (especially Ginty) and makes wonderful use of NYC locations.

   Opening with some pretty spectacular pre-credit Vietnam footage (filmed at Indian Dunes, Calif.), as we’re introduced to fellow soldiers (and friends) John Eastland (Ginty) and Michael Jefferson (Steve James). After they’ve both been taken prisoner Jefferson saves Ginty’s character (which incorporates a pretty terrific Stan Winston beheading) and we then flash forward to contemporary NYC where the two are employed by a food wholesaler.

   During a run-in with some lowlife beer stealin' street gang members Michael again saves John’s life and the thugs later attack Michael is reprisal leaving him paralyzed and on life support. This causes Ginty to break out the ol’ army foot locker and head out for some reprisal, which includes blowing some away with his M-16 and tying others up in basement and leaving them for the rats to munch on.
  This gets the attention of a police detective (Christopher George) who begins investigating the killings, while Eastland (Ginty) begins writing to the local news and labeling himself The Exterminator. He also begins taking on the local mobster (Dick Boccelli) via kidnapping & a large meat grinder and then moves on to a scuzz bucket child porn merchant (who numbers among his clients "a state senator from New Jersey" in the form of character actor David Lipman from LAW & ORDER). As Christopher George's detective character delves further into the case, the CIA becomes involved and a rather awkwardly inserted love story is introduced into the proceedings between George and a doctor played by Samantha Eggar

  Along the way Eastland meets up with an abused prostitute (Cindy Wilks) and seems to begin to develop a relationship with her, but some reason this plot point is abandoned - with the George/Eggar one played up. It is interesting to see how Eastland is not presented as a super hero action type figure, but as a regular guy (albeit a resourceful one) who as previously noted has to have his ass pulled out of the fire a couple of times early on.

  The film is filled with some pretty startling violence including a pretty rough bed burning, soldering iron torture, the above mentioned mind grinder & rats, plus Ginty blowing people away with his dum dum bullet equipped .44 magnum. The editing is sometimes pretty jarring with no transitional scenes, which creates some rather "WTF" story jumps and people have speculated that maybe the whole movie is suppose to be a dream with a flash forward and/or backward thing (although on the Synapse disc commentary Glickenhause dismisses this). As mentioned there is some great location work, including Ginty wondering about a pre-Disney Times Square and a beautiful nighttime helicopter ride over Manhattan as the opening credits role.

   Director Glickenhaus had a rather oddball career directing the "almost there" classic THE SOLIDER (1982), the so inept it's funny MACBAIN from 1991 (which features Christopher Walken as a mercenary and most likely inspired the character from THE SIMPSONS) and the interesting SHAKEDOWN from 1988. Ginty appeared in the non-Glickenhaus disappointing follow-up Exterminator 2 from 1984 (which does however deliver on the flame thrower that the original's one sheet promised).

   I really like this movie and along with Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45, its my favorite urban vigilante film. Robert Ginty (who passed away in 2009) gives a wonderful stoic performance and its shame he never really got his big break. He's probably most known for his TV work such as THE PAPER CHASE & BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP and in his movie work seemed to specialize in low budget actioners (always giving a solid performance). Later he started directing and producing TV and experimental theatre. Dick Boccelli, who plays the gangster here, was the original drummer in Bill Haley & The Comets.

 

Gordon's War 1973

 

"They Said It Would Take An Army To Get The Mob Out Of Harlem"

"This Is The Army !"

"This Is Gordon's War !"

    Though most often categorized as a standard Blaxploitation/urban revenge film, 1973’s Gordon’s War tries to approach its subject matter with a little more gravity and seriousness then usually seen and along with some solid performances by the leads makes this a really excellent (and somewhat unsung) piece of 70’s cinema.

 

    Paul Winfield plays Gordon Hudson who after returning from service in Vietnam finds his wife dead from an overdose and his Harlem neighborhood overrun by drugs & prostitution. Gathering together three of ex-army buddies they attempt to clean up the streets with their ultimate goal being the local drug boss Spanish Harry (Gilbert Lewis - ACROSS 110th STREET and the King of Cartoons from the 1st season of Pee Wee’s Playhouse). Being all ex-military men they carefully plan out their operations and have a set up an HQ in an abandoned building complete with maps and police scanners.
   It’s interesting to watch this as there is a deliberate and exact course to their actions, which may leave some action movie fans restless. Although the film does kick the plot into gear immediately with Hudson visiting his wife’s grave in a pre-credit sequence followed in the movie proper by his tracking down of his wife’s pusher and the recruitment of his army buddies, it takes it time before any gunplay. In addition Hudson is not portrayed as a gun blazing vigilante hero, but as a real person. After his encounter with his wife’s pusher he just beats him up (and smashes up his car with a trash can) which later leads himself to getting a pretty major whoppin’ from the pusher’s gang.

   Directed by actor Ossie Davis (who earlier had helmed COTTON COMES TO HARLEM) the film makes excellent uses of gritty blighted 70's NYC locations (plus we got bunches of big ol' Cadillacs, floppy hats & technicolor clothes) and really tries to show how rampant drugs & crime were eating away at the neighborhood. If the movie has a fault its that the middle section gets a bit convoluted plot-wise (as if chunks of the script and some transition scenes were jettisoned before filming) and the ending has some of that "we're out of time - gotta wrap this up in hurry" look.

    Gordon's three buddies are all given well written characterizations that allow them individual and remembered roles, as it just not Winfield and a bunch of guys following him. Winfield homself is especially good here giving a nice stoic performance (plus he gets to burn a guy's face off with an aerosol can & cigarette lighter !) and the cast is filled with many familiar faces from 70's  Blaxploitation and T.V. As mentioned before, the film takes its time but after the first hour really kicks into high gear with a raid on heroin cutting operation, a shootout with sawed off shotguns and finishes off with a really neat car/motorcycle chase thru the NYC streets (including a tunnel !). Look for a quick bit by Grace Jones a drug mule.
  Long unavailable on home video this was released by Shout Factory on a dbl. feature DVD with the rather odd pairing of OFF LIMITS.

Night of the Juggler 1980

 
    A neat, tight little film that unfortunately is pretty much forgotten today, director Robert Butler's 1980  Night of the Juggler is an excellent NYC thriller. Starring a shaggy haired, bearded James Brolin, who plays Sean Boyd, an ex-cop/truck driver who chases the kidnapper of his daughter from all over NYC to the other during the course of the story.  The kidnapper played with creepy intensity by Cliff Gorman  (money is his main focus, but you get the idea of something more evil lurking under the surface) has taken Brolin's daughter Kathy (Abby Bluestone) in error, mistaking her for a rich real estate mogul's daughter.

   With the kidnapping occurring 15 minutes into movie and followed by 30 minute chase that has the antagonists moving from from cars to foot, on to the subway, back to cars and ending 100 min. later in the steam tunnels under Central Park, this is movie that pretty much never lets you catch your breath. Along the way we find out that Brolin was a Serpico -like cop who testified on police who were on the take and was subsequently fired.  This leads to Sgt. Otis Barnes, a psycho cop who's out to get him played by a wild-eyed Dan Hedaya (best known as Carla's's ex-husband on T.V.'s Cheers) chasing him. Also featuring Richard S. Castellano (The Godfather) as a sympathetic cop, Julie Carmen, and Mandy Patnikin as a crazy Hispanic (!?!) cab driver.

    A virtual breathless tour of a dirty, gritty NYC from the bombed out ruins of the Bronx (where Brolin runs afoul of a Warriors type street gang) to a pre-Disney Time Square where he tears apart an adult peep show - complete with a cameo by adult film star Sharon Mitchell (Serena also pops into a couple of shots). James Brolin is really good here (he seems to do much of his own stunts) as the determined father who spends almost the entire movie running or beating people up. Director Robert Butler did this after coming off a bunch of T.V. (The Waltons) and Disney (The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes & The Barefoot Executive) among others.  The original director was Sidney J. Furie had to drop out after Brolin broke his foot and production had to be delayed. 

   This is a film that REALLY needs a nice DVD or Blu-ray release as all we've had is crappy budget VHS releases. Hopefully someday.