This film starts out with a bang... literally. We see a huge explosion. Then one more. And another one. And yet another one... and this goes on for a while; I don't know exactly how many explosions there are, just in the first two minutes, but the movie wastes no time, that's for sure. Then there are a few sequences of Vietnam, and soon thereafter, the real plot begins. As it did, I couldn't help but wonder: how many action films have an Vietnam vet(short for veteran... obviously, as I doubt that there were many animals, and thereby veterinarians, in the Vietnam war) as the hero, especially in the time right after the war ended. This is exceptionally violent, and the violence is almost disgustingly gratuitous. However, it's mostly also so over-the-top that it almost winds up having a comical effect. Regardless, no one who thinks they might be freaked out by the violence should see it. The plot is decent. A Vietnam vet snaps and starts killing a bunch of criminals systematically after his friend is attacked. He kills a very large amount of various criminals, half of them not having anything to do with his friend at all. I enjoyed the vigilante theme, and found it far more interesting than the usual Hollywood pretty-boy out to save the world from a terrorist from some country the American director can barely even pronounce. The acting is ridiculously bad. Only one actor, the one portraying the main character, can be said to give a decent performance... and even that's a stretch. The humor is decent. The action is pretty good, but the daft filming and editing manages to make several of the sequences seem dull. The cinematography and editing is unimaginative. The dialog is the typical 80's one-liner crap half of the time, and the rest of the dialog is either filler or something hinting at a point or a moral that never seems to appear. Overall, a decent 80's action exploitation flick. I recommend it to fans of 80's action films, but be warned that's it very violent. 5/10
Review of The Exterminator
