Truly Dreadful Film

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Starting off in the jungles of Vietnam, we are introduced to a "band of brothers" consisting of Bill Eckert (Stone), Garrett (LHJ), Ray (Graham), Joe (Redfield), and Woody (Wood). After some shooting and explosions confirming that these guys are an elite fighting unit, the text on the screen then informs us: ATLANTA NOW. It seems the town of South Point, Georgia is now a depressing slum. Rival gangs control the town and keep it in a grip of fear. They shake down what local businesses are left for protection money. The gangs The Turks and The Scorpions are bad, but for pure evil, no one beats Roy Boy Jagger and The Rollers. (It has yet to be verified if they opened for John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band on one of their tours).When, in the midst of an armed robbery, said Rollers kill Joe, Bill rallies the old unit back together to clean up the streets of South Point. They use their military techniques and camaraderie to not just expel the gangs, but bring hope back to the community. By that, they obviously mean teaching elderly men and confused waitresses martial arts. Will these heroes defeat Roy Boy and get revenge for their fallen comrade? The Annihilators (great title) is pure 80's fun from start to finish. It is enjoyable the whole time - this is the type of movie that's best experienced with a group of friends who are in a good mood. (If you're not, it will put you in one). The movie seems to be attempting a marriage of two successful action movie sub-genres: the Vietnam shoot-em-up and the urban revenge thriller. The results are humorous. The whole "reunite the old Vietnam war crew to get revenge" was seen in the also-hilarious Kill Squad. What is it about this plot that allows for such laughs? The movie tends toward optimism - only in the 80's could the message of "believe in your dreams" be tied so closely with flamethrowers and shooting people in the face without a hint of irony. You gotta love it.Gerrit Graham plays the comic relief jokester, LHJ, in a pretty early role, gets the best Karate moves in the film, along with a memorable neck-snap. Naturally, the heroes are fighting a panoply of middle-aged punks. In the 80's, it seemed to become a ne'er-do-well later in life was more accepted. The whole "store owners fighting back" angle was a lot of fun and had a Bums feel. Paul Koslo as Roy Boy is very impressive. He's a sort of demented Patrick Swayze that goes far off the rails. His performance is inspired and worth seeing.On the technical side, the opening credits all have a gunshot noise that gets you into the spirit quickly, the music is great in its own way, and the newspaper reads "Vigilantes In South Point". The box art is very cool, if not entirely representative of the movie itself. There's no "Annihilator" in the movie that wears a Jason mask, and they mistakenly call the antagonist Roy Boy Jessup. Apparently both the artist and the writer were allowed to just make stuff up. Keep in mind this is a New World tape (Corman for those who don't know).Overwhelming silliness ensues - in the best possible way - when you put on The Annihilators. Recommended.for more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

After a former brother-in-arms from Vietnam is killed by a gang of thugs his former platoon leader is recruited to clean up the streets. He summons the rest of the squad and the game is on.The story is simple and has been done several times before. There is a relatively short first part that takes place in Vietnam to establish the relationship between the soldiers. I really wish they had spent another ten minutes building on this to give the rest of the film a deeper emotional impact. Sure this is a 80s vigilante film, but that doesn't mean we can't have characters we really care about. Does it? The vigilante force also teaches the neighborhood how they can defend themselves in a montage. And who doesn't enjoy a good montage? This montage is mediocre, but that's okay. The Annihilators could easily have been mistaken for the A-Team. They aren't that professional and they are slightly more violent. Other than that they are just the same. In fact there is at least on A-Team episode exactly like this film. One of the highlights in this film is the gang leader. He looks like a shabby Kurt Russell and when he wears that wonderful pink t-shirt you won't exactly tremble with fear. The guy has balls though. At one point he walks around in the middle of the street with a flamethrower yelling that he wants his drugs back. NOW! It's hilarious stuff! How he became a gang leader is anyone's guess. He isn't a very good leader and his minions are even less capable of anything. They are crappy stereotypes, which I suppose is only what one can expect from a movie like this. On the positive side, this only adds to the overall cheese factor.Now the thing that really annoyed me about The Annihilators is the title. It's called THE ANNIHILATORS! The definition of annihilate in the Oxford dictionary is; to destroy completely. Our vigilante squad frequently just hurt the gang members. Only towards the end do we see a somewhat steady rise in bodies. However, they are still merely shot. At least director Charles E. Sellier Jr. could have had the decency to give us some Peckinpah or Woo style shootings. And even then I doubt they could have called themselves The Annihilators with pride. Now had they taken out the scumbags with rocket launchers, claymore mines or such, the whole affair would have looked a lot different! I could go on about all the things The Annihilators isn't, but that would be unfair to it. For all its faults The Annihilators provide some entertainment, mostly in the cheese department. Grab some recreational drugs, a pizza and watch with friends.

To the people who have seen this hilarious movie, try and imagine in what state of mental exhaustion and/or depression I was, when I actually shed a tear in the scene where the leader of the vigilantes tells the alcoholic one he still trusts him to watch his back. I also cried when the cripple died.Don't worry for me, my life is now back on track.

What can I say about the Annhilators. From the fine film editing (overlooked at the Oscars in my opinion) to the first rate in your face acting. The Annhilators is high caliber pure 80's cheesefest. This is one of the few movies that I've seen in which every single scene has an unintentionally funny scene. I could go on quoting and quoting, but it's really up to you and your friends to rip this puppy apart. 10 years after first viewing you still won't forget this movie.