THE DEMOLITIONIST
USA. 1996. Director - Robert Kurzman, Screenplay - Brian DiMuccio & Dino Vindeni, Story - Anne & Robert Kurzman, Producer - Donald P. Borchers, Photography - Marcus Hahn, Music - Shawn Patterson, Visual Effects - Flash Film Works (Supervisor - William Mesa), Special Effects - Ultimate Effects (Supervisor - John Hartigan), Makeup Effects/Demolitionist Costume - K.N.B. EFX Group Inc, Production Design - Charley Cabrera. Production Company - Le Monde Entertainment/A-Pix Entertainment. Nicole Eggert (Alyssa Lloyd/The Demolitionist), Richard Grieco (Mad Dog Burns), Bruce Abbott (Professor Jack Crowley), Susan Tyrrell (Mayor Eleanor Grimbaum), Peter Jason (Higgins), Tom Savini (Roland)
Plot: In the future undercover police officer Alyssa Lloyd is discovered trying to infiltrate the gang activities of escaped gang leader Mad Dog Burns. Mad Dog leaves her crucified as a warning in his ongoing campaign to destroy Mayor Eleanor Grimbaum for banning all guns. However Mayor Grimbaum authorizes Alyssa to be used as the first subject for Professor Jack Crowley's Lazarus Project, where her blood is replaced by nantotech plasma and she rebuilt as an enhanced human fighting machine. Using a hi-tech motorcycle and a masked bodysuit she takes on Mad Dog's gang and is quickly nicknamed The Demolitionist in the media. But Mad Dog retaliates by using his influences in the council to have The Lazarus Project stopped by showing Alyssa as unstable.
Robert Kurtzman is best known as the K in the KNB EFX Group makeup effects workshop, who of course have provided work for films `The Evil Dead' sequels, `Lord of Illusions' and `Spawn' to name but a handful. Kurtzman earlier provided the story for `From Dusk Till Dawn'. And with `The Demolitionist' Kurtzman joins an increasing number of makeup effects artists who have also branched out as directors (Kurtzman having since has gone on to direct `Wishmaster' (1997)). Although the sad truth is that the body of makeup effects artist-directed films - which so far include Stan Winston's `Pumpkinhead' aka `Vengenace: The Demon' (1987) and `Upworld' aka `A Gnome Gnamed Gnorm' (1991), Screaming Mad George's `The Guyver' (1991), James Cummins' `The Boneyard' (1991), John Carl Buechler with `Troll' (1986), `Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood' (1987) and sundry Charles Band productions, Chris Walas's `The Fly II' (1989) and `The Vagrant' (1992), Bob Keen's `Proteus' (1996) and Gary J. Tunnicliffe's `Within the Rock' (1996) - has failed to yet produce a single memorable or even worthwhile film. The most watchable to emerge has perhaps been Tom Savini's `Night of the Living Dead' remake (1990) but that was still a pallid shadow of its predecessor. One might think that when these creative talents get behind the camera they might be capable of producing some really way-out makeup effects that no other director has yet been capable of but even in their own specialist regard, these films remain remarkably routine.
And sadly `The Demolitionist' proves no different to any of these others. The plot has been shamelessly stolen from `RoboCop' (1987) - a frontline police officer is brutally killed by a gang then resurrected as a law enforcement cyborg where they must fight official interference/corruption to finally despatch the gang. Although as much as`RoboCop', `The Demolitionist' reminds of `Barb Wire' made the same year as this which likewise featured a `Baywatch' bimbo in a anarchic near future action setting. In both cases the films' seemed to have some sort of fetish with seeing their lead actresses' pneumatic bodies encased in black leather. Both `Barb Wire' and `The Demolitionist' want to be comic-books of films, although only really `Barb Wire' achieved this to any kind of absurdly unreal regard.
`The Demolitionist' has its odd moments - like one scene where Richard Grieco introduces his "negotiator" - a Doberman which spends the duration of the "negotiation" barking its head off at leash length from the cowering opposing party. But mostly the film is really bad. Some of the dialogue is appalling - a line like "After you're cooked, shall I serve you with potatoes or stuffing ?" falls utterly flat. Bruce Abbott introduces his resurrection device, "In the age of bio-molecular mechanics, this [chair] is God." Richard Grieco overacts badly in the villain part, although in the awful acting stakes has the honours stolen out from under him by Susan Tyrrell who gives the appearance that most days she turned up for shooting drunk. The film's low budget tends to get in the way of any effectiveness - the city of the future is represented by a single night skyline, and the action stunts look threadbare and cheap where they should have given the film a real kinetic charge.
Copyright 1998 Richard Scheib
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