The Exterminator (1980)

 

Are you up for some sleazy grindhouse stuff? Are you not fooled by the poster that seems like it's a bit more action packed than it actually is? Then you've come to the right place. 'The Exterminator' is a fairly cheap vigilante/revenge film, that manages to make New York look like the grimiest place on Earth. Maybe it was at one point (see also 'Taxi Driver'), but I digress.

The film starts with an extended sequence (supposedly) in Vietnam, where two soldiers are sent through the wringer before heading to New York. Now both guys are working hard in the industrial district, but things aren't peachy: many honest workfolk are pressed for protection money by gangsters and hoodlums as the Ghetto Ghouls run havoc, stealing and fighting and so on and so forth. You get the picture insanely fast. 

Things go south quickly as our protagonist's friend gets attacked, which leaves him paralysed and unable to provide for his family. So our antihero decides to do something about it and sets out to clear the streets of scum. You don't see too many kills (because budget), but the fact that a lot is implied can make it more gruesome. Gangbangers are tied up and left to be eaten by rats, a mobster gets dropped in a meat grinder and some particularly nasty paedophiles get burned alive and shot in the crotch. 

But because even here, murders get noticed, a policeman is trying to figure out who this vigilante is, while higher ups want him dead as he is not only disturbing the peace but also making painfully clear politicians that promised to clean up the streets aren't doing that. 

Yes, there is also a government angle in here somewhere.

This is not a masterpiece, not by a long shot. It's not even a particularly good film. The acting is stilted and wooden, the editing choppy, the story piecemeal and the conclusion a bit from out of nowhere, but this is enjoyable because it moves at a ridiculous pace, it is never boring and especially never pretentious. It never claims to have a big message or anything of that ilk: it's about a guy who's had enough and who dispatches some criminals. Period. If you go in for this sort of thing, then 'The Exterminator' is a pretty fun ride. It's not super memorable, but you could do a lot worse. So if you happen to like sleazy vigilante-stuff (but not thàt sleazy), then have a watch.