{"id":1307,"date":"2024-07-25T03:09:14","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T03:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=1307"},"modified":"2024-10-14T11:43:15","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T15:43:15","slug":"the-annihilators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/07\/25\/the-annihilators\/","title":{"rendered":"The Annihilators"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Annihilators <\/strong>(1985)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New World Pictures\/Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 83 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, strong violence, nudity, drugs)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Brian Russell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Bob Summers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Henning Schellerup\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: November 15, 1985 (Philadelphia, PA)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Christopher Stone, Gerrit Graham, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Andy Wood, Paul Koslo, Jim Antonio, Dennis Redfield, Sid Conrad, Millie Fisher, Bruce Taylor, Bruce Evers, Hugh Jarrett, John Lawhorn, Mimi Honce.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: N\/A<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0New World Pictures will always hold a special place in my B-movie loving heart and of all the movies they put out in the 80s, The Annihilators<\/strong> is one of my favorites.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It\u2019s a vigilante movie that came out roughly the same time as Death Wish 3 (a Cannon Films release, my other favorite B-movie studio). This violent revenge actioner looks like it was shot on a budget of $19.99. It\u2019s set in Atlanta, but was filmed in some God-forsaken slum that makes Skid Row look gentrified. For all I know, it was filmed in the same neighborhood as C.H.U.D. It\u2019s the kind of exploitation movie that begs to be seen in a crappy urban grindhouse theater just so you can hear the audience shout and cheer each time an act of violence occurs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Believe me when I say The Annihilators<\/strong> is violent with a capital V. Within the first 15 minutes, some poor guy gets his head smashed in with a meat hammer. That\u2019s the killing that acts as the catalyst for a group of Vietnam vets taking the law into their own hands. And why shouldn\u2019t they? The police can\u2019t seem to do anything about the gang activity in the area. Since Charles Bronson was otherwise occupied at Cannon, our heroes come in the form of actors willing to work cheap.<\/p>\n

\u00a0All signs point to The Annihilators <\/strong>being absolute garbage and it is! But that\u2019s precisely what I love about it. It\u2019s a movie no self-respecting movie buff should even bother with, but since I don\u2019t take myself as seriously as some of these folks, I find it easy to enjoy movies like The Annihilators<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The action starts in Vietnam circa 1972 when a troop of soldiers are sent by \u201cPopeye\u201d to take out an enemy bunker. One guy, Joe (Redfield, Dead & Buried), proves himself a hero by saving the lives of his brothers-in-arms. Unfortunately, his act of valor lands him in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Jump ahead to present day where we find Joe running a small corner store with his elderly father (Conrad, Wisdom). The neighborhood is under the control of Roy Boy Jagger (Koslo, The Stone Killer) and the Rollers. Sounds like a 50s rock group, doesn\u2019t it? They extort money from all the businesses and beat up anybody that doesn\u2019t pay \u201cprotection\u201d. Joe believes something should be done about it and attempts to get the rest of the business owners on board. Roy Boy shows up and beats some sense into him with the aforementioned meat hammer. You shouldn\u2019t have done that, Roy Boy. You\u2019re in deep s*** now.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The grief-stricken father pleads with Joe\u2019s former commanding officer, Sgt. Bill (Stone, Cujo), to help them get rid of the street gangs. Bill calls in Joe\u2019s old unit- Ray (Graham, Used Cars), Garrett (Jacobs, Welcome Back, Kotter) and Woody (Wood, Rambo: First Blood Part II) – for one last mission. It\u2019s only fair, Joe saved their lives during the war. Speaking of war, that\u2019s what happens on the streets once these dudes spring into action. Raining on their parade is Lt. Hawkins (Antonio, Big Shots), a cop that doesn\u2019t want vigilantes stirring up trouble. Gee, you\u2019d think he\u2019d be grateful for whatever help he can get.<\/p>\n

\u00a0If there\u2019s one thing that The Annihilators<\/strong> isn\u2019t lacking in, it\u2019s action! Once the guys do a bit of recon, they set out to put an end to Roy Boy\u2019s reign of terror. Not only do they train the residents to fight back, they also steal a huge shipment of heroin that the Rollers were escorting through town for the Columbians. The final 20 minutes are awesome as our heroes and the townspeople kick some major scumbag ass. I refuse to believe that some people don\u2019t find this kind of thing exciting. There has to be a small part in everybody that thinks this is cool.<\/p>\n

\u00a0For me, the climax excuses all of the film\u2019s shortcomings of which there are many. Like most of the acting. Oh boy, is it ever terrible! Even at 17, I sat there are laughed at Koslo\u2019s shameless overacting. Is his performance some kind of joke? The other gang members are assorted thugs of different shapes, sizes and colors. They don\u2019t deliver performances; they\u2019re merely cattle lining up to be slaughtered.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I have to admit I like the lead actors. There\u2019s something really cool about that foursome. I\u2019ve always liked Jacobs (aka Freddie \u201cBoom Boom\u201d Washington) and it\u2019s interesting to see Graham in something other than a comedy. None of what they do is top-notch acting, but it works in the context of a B-movie like The Annihilators<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The cheap production values really add a lot to the sleaze factor. It\u2019s directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr., the man responsible for the controversial 1984 slasher Silent Night, Deadly Night. What\u2019s hysterical about that is he used to produce wholesome entertainment like The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, In Search of Historic Jesus, Hangar 18 and Earthbound. What a major change of pace!<\/p>\n

\u00a0I know many people scoff at sleazy, low budget pictures like The Annihilators<\/strong>, but I say there\u2019s fun to be had with movies like that. Granted, they\u2019re not for everybody, especially those who live on a steady diet of prestigious art films. I consider myself a well-rounded movie buff; I like all kinds of movies. I rate them on their own terms and for what it is, The Annihilators<\/strong> is great!\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Annihilators (1985)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New World Pictures\/Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 83 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, strong violence, nudity, drugs)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Brian Russell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Bob Summers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Henning Schellerup\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: November 15, 1985 (Philadelphia, PA)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Christopher Stone, Gerrit Graham, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Andy Wood, Paul Koslo, Jim Antonio, Dennis Redfield, Sid Conrad, Millie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-b-movies","category-kick-ass-actioners"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/The-Annihilators-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1307"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1914,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307\/revisions\/1914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}