Must See Movie...

good back-story, and good acting

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

For some reason every slasher from the late 80s has to have a quirky, wise-cracking killer, even though a mindless killing machine is usually a whole lot scarier. Our Freddie Krueger rip-off du jour (played by steroid-enhanced NFL star Lyle Alzado) ends every sentence with "bitch", laughs maniacally at his own non-jokes ("I just want to talk you...hahahahaha", did he forget the punchline?) and worst of all is on screen far too long. That whole trope with the villain trying to be funny works when there's actually some decent writing involved and the finale doesn't last forever ("Scream" would be an obvious example of doing it right). In this one the killer plays cat and mouse with the final girl for almost half an hour, the pacing of this movie is very weird. You have a very slow build-up, a somehow even slower third act, and somewhere in between everybody dies (mostly off-screen at that) in a span of ten minutes or so. There's one scene though that almost redeems the film, not too surprisingly it's the one scene that has an on-screen kill. It's the only scene that really warrants the coveted so bad it's good label, and I was hoping to see more of that. Unfortunately, the rest is just stale and generic.

Totally obscure slasher/action "thingie" from the late 80's that really doesn't have such a bad basic premise, actually. It's just suffering slightly from an overall clumsy execution, like pitiably written dialogs, lousy acting performances and not enough usage of great set pieces. "Destroyer" opens with the pretty awesome electrocution of a beefcake serial killer Ivan Moser, whose last wish was to watch an episode of Wheel of Fortune. It's a bit of a weird sight, but later it becomes clarified that the show's hostess was one of the killer's last victims. The first attempt to barbecue Ivan fails, and then riots break out in prison and the killer mysteriously vanishes. Years later, the abandoned prison is used as the setting for a sleazy and so-called "women-in-prison" flick; although the writer is convinced his film is a drama based on true events. Mr. Beefcake killer comes back to life and apparently one of the film's crew member, stunt woman and girlfriend of writer Susan Malone – has a psychic link with him. "Destroyer" is a very uneven horror effort. The film starts off very slow with a few extended and gradually build up towards murder sequences, and then suddenly shifts in high gear with multiple off-screen killings. The few on screen kills are disappointing and the giant jackhammer illustrated on the VHS cover hardly makes an appearance. Thanks to the film-within-film structure, however, there are some very welcome gratuitous nude sequences to enjoy. There isn't any real tension to detect in "Destroyer" and the beefcake dude, regardless of how ugly, isn't menacing at all. The guy, Lyle Alzado, apparently was a famous American Football player during the 70's and 80's. Hey, I'm European so I never heard about him before. To me, he's just a lousy wannabe actor who looks like the bodybuilder version of Luciano Pavarotti or maybe even Dom DeLuise on a really bad day. There's also a miserable little supportive role for washed up superstar Anthony Perkins as the director of the sleazy WIP-flick. At times, you can actually see him think back about the glorious days of "Psycho".

This movie is worth watching (and buying) for one reason: Lyle Alzado!! Of course he plays a maniacal killer-who would expect otherwise? One of his best lines: Girl about to be killed-"Why?" Alzado (with a confused, quizzical look)-"Why not?" Another great scene is when Alzado clothes-lines the guy off his motorcycle, smashing the windscreen for effect! Classic! OK it's not fine cinema, but it is entertaining and interesting if you are an Oakland Raiders fan. Compare to John Matuszak in North Dallas Forty, Caveman, and Weird Science. Too bad those two never worked together on film, they could've provided some over-the-top bad guy scenes in plenty of B action flicks.

How can anyone give this movie a good rating???????? This was by far one of the two worst movies I have ever experienced!!!!!! This movie is the tragedy that time has thankfully forgotten and hopefully by the grace of god this movie will never appear again!!!!!!!!!