Exterminator 2 (1984) Cannon/Action RT: 89 minutes Rated R (language, graphic violence, nudity, sexual content, drugs) Director: Mark Buntzman Screenplay: Mark Buntzman and William Sachs Music: David Spear Cinematography: Robert M. Baldwin and Joseph Mangine Release date: September 14, 1984 (US) Cast: Robert Ginty, Mario Van Peebles, Deborah Geffner, Frankie Faison, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Irwin Keyes, David Buntzman, Kenny Marino, Arye Gross, Scott Randolf, Bruce Smolanoff, Derek Evans, Robert Louis King. Box Office: $3.7M (US)
Rating: ***
I didn’t plan on seeing Exterminator 2 at the movies, yet I found myself sitting next to my father at the 1pm matinee on a rainy Saturday afternoon (September 15, 1984) at the old City Line Theater (Philadelphia, PA). At the time, I hadn’t seen the first movie and didn’t own a VCR yet. I hoped I’d be able to follow what was going on in the sequel. That turned out NOT to be a problem. In fact, I enjoyed it very much. Why wouldn’t I? It’s a violent revenge flick that features a vigilante with a flame thrower, what’s not to love?
No doubt you’re wondering why on earth I’d give three stars to such a cheap piece of exploitation trash? I’m fully aware of its shoddy production values, poorly written dialogue, one-dimensional characters and the overall bad acting. Ideally, I should hate this movie. However, we’re talking about a violent exploitation movie here and the normal criteria doesn’t apply. I can excuse the movie’s many shortcomings and enjoy it on its own meager terms.
However, my affection for Exterminator 2 goes beyond the movie itself. It’s significant for another reason. You see, September ’84 turned out to be a pivotal point in my moviegoing career. It marks the beginning of my lifelong appreciation for the low-budget movies released by Cannon Films and New World Pictures. The trailers preceding the main feature were Body Rock (New World) and Ninja III: The Domination (Cannon). I returned to the same theater the following week and saw C.H.U.D. (New World). Suddenly, I found myself in B-movie heaven. I always liked those kinds of movies, but that September is when I really started paying close attention to Cannon and New World. From that point on, I always felt a surge of excitement and anticipation whenever I’d see the words “A Golan-Globus Production” appear on screen.
Exterminator 2 picks up several months after the events of the first movie with vigilante John Eastland (Ginty, Coming Home), aka “The Exterminator”, still up to his old tricks. As the movie opens, he learns of a corner store robbery in progress via a police scanner and heads out to deal with the perps. He arrives on the scene too late as the four creeps have already murdered the store’s elderly owners. They attempt to flee the scene of the crime, but they’re greeted by Eastland in the back alley. He’s fully decked out in his Exterminator gear, wearing his welder’s mask and carrying his trusty flame thrower. He incinerates two of them before the police FINALLY arrive on the scene.
It turns out that the robbers are part of a vicious street gang led by X (Peebles, Rappin’), a psychopath with dreams of taking over the city. He makes a speech to his followers (a la The Warriors) in which he outlines his plan to rob an armored car carrying half a million dollars and use the money to buy a large quantity of heroin from the Mafia. Then, they’ll sell the drugs and use that money to buy enough weapons to take over the streets of the city.
Meanwhile, Eastland bumps into an old Army buddy while walking the streets of Times Square. Be Gee (Faison, Coming to America) drives a garbage truck and offers Eastland a job as his partner. He’s also romantically involved with Caroline (Geffner, All That Jazz), a stripper who dreams of becoming a Broadway dancer. Things are looking up for Eastland; if it just weren’t for his damned night job!
The gang pulls off the armored car robbery, killing both guards and shooting down a police helicopter in the process. Eastland shows up (once again, too late to prevent the crime!) and incinerates X’s younger brother Spider (Bythewood, The Brother from Another Planet). He’s on lookout duty while the rest of the gang tortures one of the guards in a subway tunnel. Now, X wants revenge against the masked vigilante who killed his brother.
Directed by Mark Buntzman, Exterminator 2 is a more straightforward affair than its 1980 predecessor. There’s none of that nonsense about politics and CIA involvement. That always struck me as silly. As for the cops, we hardly see them at all. They ALWAYS manage to arrive on the scene after everything has already gone down. Take the armored car robbery. Don’t you think that the police would have arrived within a few minutes? Surely the armored car guards have some way of calling for help in a situation like this. In fact, I would think that they’d have more than two guards looking after HALF A MILLION DOLLARS! Furthermore, why are they transporting that much cash through the Bronx at night? Wouldn’t it make more sense to do it during the day and not through gang territory? Also, you’d think a police helicopter getting shot down over the streets would attract their attention sooner.
Okay, so Exterminator 2 is riddled with enormous plot holes, but somehow it still works. It’s still not too clear on whether or not Eastland is mentally disturbed. Given that he’s a Vietnam War vet and going around setting violent criminals on fire, chances are pretty good he’s not playing with a full deck. On the other hand, he could simply be another POed citizen who’s had enough of the scumbags that think they own the streets. The writers just don’t make it clear.
The acting is about what you’d expect. Ginty is okay, but he’s no Charles Bronson. In one of his early roles, Peebles shows a lot of raw potential. Geffner is fine as the girlfriend doomed to meet the same fate as any woman who gets romantically involved with Bronson’s character in the Death Wish movies. Faison is good as the sidekick.
Exterminator 2 definitely has its flaws, but it’s still a good vigilante actioner. This time around, Eastland uses his flame thrower a lot. Plus, you gotta love any movie that features a garbage truck outfitted with automatic weapons. Near the end, Eastland makes a few “adjustments” to his friend’s garbage truck and uses it to interrupt a meeting between X’s gang and the Mafia. That sequence is just wicked cool! In addition, I like that character actor Irwin Keyes shows up as gang member called Monster. He really looks the part of a bad guy. He also appeared in the first movie as (can you guess?) a gang member. Throw in a memorable score by David Spear and you have one hell of a B-level action movie. I wish Cannon had made a third one. It would have made a decent franchise.
I’d like to close by thanking producers and Cannon co-founders Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus for giving me an appreciation of cheap B-movies. Long live the kings!
