L'ange de la destruction

My review was written in January 1991 after a Times Square screening.

Intense thesping by Renee Soutendijk in dual roles as "Eve of Destruction" almost lifts this tasteless horror fantasy above the norm. Inconsistent scripting and direction reduce the Orion release to a genre fan special with limited chances at finding a crossover audience.

That's a shame, because there are germs of interesting ideas in the screenplay by helmer Duncan Gibbins and Yale Udoff, latter the scripter of Nicolas Roeg's intriguing "Bad Timing".

Pic's basis is that most durable of sci-fi properties, Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", which ranks second only to Bram Stoker's "Dracula" for inspiring motion pictures. "Eve" is the third recent pic to hark back to James Whale's classic "Bride of Frankenstein" after last year's satire "Frankenhooker" as well as mad scientist Bruce Davison creating a female cyborg in "Steel & Lace".

Italian bombshell Rosalba Neri played "Lady Frankenstein" in 1971 and created male monsters, but "Eve" goes one logical step further in having Dutch actress Soutendijk as scientist Eve Simmons creating a robot in her own image.

Effective opening scenes show the robot , Eve III, on a test run in San Francisco being damaged by gunfire during a bank holdup. The man monitoring Eve is killed and the beautiful monster becomes a loose cannon.

Gung ho Jim McQuade (Gregory Hines), no relation to Orion's "Lone Wolf McQuade" of eight years ago, is called in from his anti-terrorist activities to find Eve and immobilize her with a shot through the eye. What he isn't told is that Eve was created as a robot/bomb with nuclear capability.

Since Eve is endowed with her creator's memories as well as good looks, the trail to track her down retraces Dr. Eve's childhood traumas and current relationship;s. Film's psuedo-feminist theme is bungled badly: the monster starts living out Simmons' unrealized sexual fantasies only to kill or maim the endless stream of male chauvinist pigs it teses.

Further, the doctor's unresolved problems with her estranged dad (Kevin McCarthy, in a brief uncredited role), who beat her mother and caused her death, leads to a contrived scene of robot revenge.

Aiming at the low-end audience, film's nadir is a tasteless scene of sexy Eve picking up a guy in a bar and then biting off his most prized possession in a hot sheets motel room. The audience is spared the visualization of this "Porky's" level horror motif, but the damage to the film's tone is irreversible.

Running motif of Eve going into her killer molde whenever some guy calls her "bitch!" is the worst sort of pandering to one's assumed target viewer.

Atmospheric climax of Hines chasing Eve (clutching Simmons' son she takes to be her own) through the Manhattan subway tunnels is clumsily directed by Gibbins with several anti-climaxes and a fake James Bond-style countdown as the activated robot is seconds away from a nuclear explosion (film coincidentally is lensed by Bond cinematographer Alan Hume). Much is made of the boy' safety during this sequence, but pic foolishly ignores him completely once the danger is over.

Soutendijk, a versatile thesp who has followed her Dutch triumphs like "Spetters" with several U. S. telefilms and two American features released by Shapiro Glickenhaus, brings utter conviction to both roles to carry the picture.

Hines, no stranger to action roles in "Wolfen" and "Off Limits". Still seems out of place espousing Oliver North-style rhetoric in playing a shoot first, ask questions later hero. Supporting cast is weak in what plays like a 2-1/2 hander.. Makeup effects are satisfying, notably Soutendijk's more than nude scenes as she peels away body tissue to make self-repairs on her robot body. French ace Philippe Sarde contributes an effecitve musical score.

A peculiar story of a woman scientist trying to track down (with the help of a tough army colonel) a female robot with nuclear powers, who not only looks like her but also shares her thoughts and memories. The gimmick is that the robot has no inhibitions, and acts out the woman's darkest sexual and violent fantasies, until "it" gets completely out of control. The story provides plenty of opportunities for male-bashing (it seems that almost every man that the robot meets is a chauvinistic pig), and the film doesn't miss any of them. But if you're patient, you'll be rewarded; the climactic sequence in the New York subway is excitingly staged and delivers the goods. And Renee Soutendijk is utterly convincing in both her roles. (**1/2)

The stage curtains open ...

Back in 1991, this movie was "cool". Now, 30 years later, it is (at best) a guilty pleasure. Despite the fact that is hasn't aged that well, it does hold a measure of sentimental value to me, and even by today's standards, I still enjoy watching this from time to time. "Eve Of Destruction" follows a formula that was popular at the time, when an android named EVE, armed and dangerous, becomes unstable and at large.

EVE is an experiment in military A.I., a female android that was created to look just like her creator, a scientist named Eve Simmons (both roles played by Renée Soutendijk). When EVE is sent into the public population for a test run, her systems become compromised during a bank robbery attempt, and soon she is at large, a danger to anyone who has the misfortune of crossing paths with her. Colonel McQuade (Greogry Hines), an expert in anti-terrorism, is sent in to neutralize the threat. But when she goes nuclear, the clock starts ticking. Together, he and the good doctor track down EVE, leading up to an explosive ending.

I'm of the generation that got to actually see this when it was brand new in the theaters. My wife and I went to watch it, and we both enjoyed it. It was mindless fun with decent action scenes and a few memorable moments. Hines does his best badass imitation finding a new measure of fame in the cinema after the successful films, "White Nights" and "Running Scared". Renée Soutendijk was new to me, though she has been in numerous films before this, and several more after. But, she played her role adequately.

I would recommend this to the action goer who doesn't take their movie viewing too seriously, who can appreciate a little cheese once in a while. This is definitely a guilty pleasure, but still an entertaining 100 minutes and worth the effort. I give it a solid 7 stars out of 10 without hesitation.

Of all the thousands of movies I've seen that have employed guns and tanks and exploding things, this is the first that made me want to turn the gun on myself. As each scene wore on and on, I kept gesturing in the air to 'hurry it up'. It was as if dead people were on the screen. The characters spoke so slow, I began to doubt that any of them ever spoke before! A world of frustration. There was only a little tension, a fair plot and a whole lot of inconceivabilities. Supposedly, the robot was infused with the memories and life experiences of her/its creator. So, it was expected to act and respond according to this 'information'. Yeah, right. Yawn. Gregory Hines was right for the role and his performance was very good, as expected. Everybody else were rank amateurs, as evidenced by their uninteresting, wooden deadpan styles. Avoid this movie unless you want to eat your own lead salad.

I actually rented this by mistake when I was a kid. I intended to rent Kathleen Turner in V.I. Warshawski and I got mixed up when I saw the blonde yielding the gun on the box. I thought Renee Soutendijk was Kathleen Turner and that Eve of Destruction was what I was after. A happy mistake as the deranged nature of the movie appealed to my 11-year-old sensibilities.

Eve 8 is a surveillance robot designed by Dr. Simmons in her own likeness (apparently sharing a badly-timed cold sore poorly covered in Maybelline at one point) with much of her memories copied over. While on a routine test mission Eve is trapped in a bank robbery and is shot. She promptly wastes the robbers but suffers a malfunction, steals their guns, and runs away. The authorities hire terrorist hunter Colonel McQuade to get her back. While following the trail of corpses they discover that Eve 8 is acting out Dr. Simmons' subconscious desires with increasing aggression, triggering a nuclear timebomb failsafe hidden inside her wiring.

Yes, it's absolute drivel, but it's completely mad and has energy to spare, so it's never a bore. But it's also a wasted concept, for the most part. McQuade, despite being the lead, never really gets any development, instead Eve/Simmons get all the character drama. If they explored Eve more she could have been a sympathetic villain and a meaningful, tragic figure. Renee Soutendijk is fine in the dual role, handling an Uzi with style and conviction and a seemingly infinite ammo clip, but they could have cast someone a bit taller. At 5'3'' Eve is hardly the imposing villain she ought to be.

The supporting cast is pretty good, including Kurt Fuller in a rare non-obnoxious role, and a few more recognizable character actors. The late Gregory Hines is fine as the lead and works quite well as an action hero despite being primarily known for dancing and comedy. Phillippe Sarde also delivers a score that is "just fine" without ever really being memorable. In fact, in many places it feels like an 80s sitcom theme.

It's servicably shot by Bond cinematographer Alan Hume but there's not much atmosphere or visual flair to it, which I will chalk up to music video director Duncan Gibbins failing to find the right aesthetic. He only ever directed two movies, with Eve of Destruction being the second. Had it been shot in higher key and in anamorphic Panavision it would have been slightly less disposable entertainment.

I don't say this very often, but I really do think that Eve of Destruction could do with a remake. The idea is great but the execution here never gets beyond "above average", though it is a fun ride. I freakin' LOVE that title too.