Movie Review | Exterminator 2 (Buntzman, 1984)
The premise and poster guarantee a baseline of enjoyment, and I can report that I didn’t mind sitting through the hour and a half runtime. Listen, I’m a man of simple pleasures, and you have the guy showing up with a flamethrower like in the poster and setting bad guys on fire with some regularity, I will not find the movie entirely unsatisfying. And unlike a lot of movies with a cool poster that might mislead you with respect to the contents of the actual film, this very much delivers on that front. If I’m filing a consumer report, I will not be lodging a complaint regarding false advertising.
I’d seen the first movie years ago and while I’m hazy on specific story details, the overall grimy ambience has lingered in my memory. This is nowhere near as sleazy on the whole. There are certainly exploitative elements, but the tone is much more cartoonish and the violence lacks the pungent charge of the original. The result is not unlike the transition from Death Wish II to Death Wish 3, trading grime for camp, although it never reaches the heights of the latter movie, which turns a city block into a war zone. (There’s also a similar use of Chekhov’s machine gun, although this movie does it with less gusto.) This is most evident with the depiction of the villains, who look more like music video extras than authentic street toughs or scumbags, and the leader of whom, played by Mario Van Peebles, is dressed like Vernon Wells from The Road Warrior. This is not a documentarian portrait of vigilantism by any means. Something was in the air generally, as you could see action movies transition to varying degrees of excess during those years, evident not just in the Death Wish movies but things like the Rambo and Max Max franchises as well. Something was definitely in the air at Cannon Films, which produced this movie and was in the habit of chasing trends no matter how ill-advised. It’s the only explanation for why this movie stops in the middle for a scene where the hero’s girlfriend joins some breakdancers in the park while electro blares on the soundtrack. I’m not complaining. If I can make a second case in favour of this movie, it’s that is serves as the movie you put on when you don’t know which Cannon Films production you want to watch.
All that being said, while I don’t think Death Wish 3 is the best directed movie, you can appreciate the conviction with which it lays waste to its villains and their environment, and the qualities that Charles Bronson brings to such material. Even if he’s less than fully committed, there’s an understatement, an implied capacity for violence, that makes him permeate a certain repugnant aura that makes him compelling in these contexts. This is a guy you do not want to fuck with. In contrast, I don’t think Robert Ginty has the same presence, although I think the issue is less his performance than the way he’s directed. No, he’s not the most charismatic actor, but there’s something curious about the way the movie seems to undermine him at every turn, cutting away anytime he’s been on screen for more than a few seconds, even if it’s in the middle of a dialogue scene. I understand the movie underwent extensive reshoots (and many of the violent scenes were added thusly), but the results onscreen are baffling. You even see it being done to Van Peebles, who is trying to give the kind of juicy, teeth gnashing performance that turn movies like this into cult favourites, yet is rarely afforded the grandeur he deserves. It’s a shame, because he certainly is magnetic.
So yeah, not great, but it’s not like Death Wish 3 has breakdancing or Breakin’ has gang members being flamethrowered, so maybe this is worth a look with low enough expectations.
