Review of The Exterminator

Critics may have hated this sadistic vigilante-themed movie directed by James Glickenhaus, a direct rip-off of Death Wish (1974) , in which Vietnam War veteran John Eastland (Robert Ginty) embarks on a one man mission to cleanse New York of organised crime after a group of thugs paralyze his friend, but it was a big hit with audiences who couldn't get enough of its graphic excesses. The movies infamous scenes of violence and gore don't really happen at all, they're mostly suggestive, and in the case of a sleazy Mafioso who is turned into mincemeat after being fed into a meat grinder, it all takes place off screen. Christopher George co-stars as a detective on the trail of "The Exterminator" who has a hot dog rotisserie on his desk, and Steve James from American Ninja is underused as Eastland's soon-to-be-paralysed bud, who after foiling a robbery gets a garden fork plunged into his back and scraped along the length of his spine until his eyes pop. Gaining a huge cult following since its release, the film was followed by a sequel, Exterminator 2, in 1984, which saw star Ginty return and producer Mark Buntzman step up to direct.