The Evil That Men Do

This movie was a foray into the darker sides of men. It was released in the final-wave post WWII 'man hunt' era, and the midsts of human rights troubles in various parts of the world where governments tried to rule by violence. The year of its release '1984' is probably not an accident either.

Unfortunately, this movie quickly fell victim to the 'PC' culture, apparently, and with a few snips of the sissors became nothing but a hollow vision of barely believable evil.

This movie, largely because of the now 'missing' scenes, etched its message deeply upon me the first time I saw it. The second time I saw it, those scenes were gone. And they are not in either of the 2 VHS releases I have.

Playings on both pay and free TV over the past decade have cut out (at least) the first scene where the 'doctor' discusses and demonstrates the differences in torturing men vs women. Without that opening scene, many of the following scenes and much of the movie become pointless depictions of torture without the insights into the deepest 'evil that men do.'

Admittedly, even with those scenes, it was not Charles Bronson's best, yet any movie that etches itself as deeply, and as hauntingly upon the memory is worth seeing at least once, uncut.

Charles Bronson plays Holland, a man who has retired from his 'professional killer' days and lives at a beautiful island home. Suddenly, Bronson's character is coerced into un-retiring upon hearing about various crimes committed by a sadistic Josef Mengele copycat-killer/torturer named Mulloch (J. Maher). By plotting his vengeance step-by-step, Bronson eliminates Mullochs inner circle in a cold, calculated fashion leading up to the inevitable confrontation at the end of the film. This film to me seems to follow the vigilante-Bronson thread pretty well, his character in this movie seems to reflect previous characters he portrayed in earlier efforts in his career (i.e. The Mechanic and Death Wish). Director J. Lee Thompson's pace throughout the film was enough to keep me interested, Maher's portrayal of the sadistic Mulloch was very eerie and uncomfortable at times, his methods/beliefs of and about torture are pretty gruesome, which greatly impacts how we as the viewer look at him during the film. This is definitely a good installment to the collaborations that J. Lee Thompson and Charles Bronson have had together in film, it isn't the best they've done together but it is well worth a watch if you are a fan of either Thompson's or Bronson's works.

Stumbling upon this 1984 movie by random chance in 2023 and seeing that it starred Charles Bronson, of course I opted to sit down and watch it.

I had actually never heard about this movie before, so I didn't know what I was in for here. So writer John Crowther and Fred A. Wyler had every opportunity to entertain me with this movie.

The storyline in "The Evil That Men Do" was entertaining enough for what it turned out to be. It wasn't, however, the best of Charles Bronson movies. And that being said, don't get me wrong, because it definitely is a watchable movie, it just was sort of bland in a way.

The movie does have some familiar faces on the cast list, aside from Charles Bronson himself, with the likes of Joseph Maher, John Glover, Roger Cudney and Joe Seneca.

As it turned out, then I hadn't exactly been missing out on a particularly outstanding Charles Bronson feature here. And now that I have seen it, I doubt that I will actually ever return to watch it a second time, because the storyline just didn't have all that much appeal.

My rating of director J. Lee Thompson's 1984 movie "The Evil That Men Do" lands on a five out of ten stars.

OMG lol this 1984 ultra gritty ultra violent ultra sleazy Bronson Thriller is Fantastic!!! This is Charles Bronson at his absolute best!!!

Yes this is just as good if not better than his excellent Death Wish films.

The Evil That Men Do is a really gritty & grimy vigilante Thriller & it's very well made for a low budget 80's exploitation flick, it's directed by the excellent J Lee Thompson who has made lots of Bronson films so he knows exactly how to use Bronson better than any other director!!!

Here Bronson plays Holland a retired Hitman/Assassin who lives a peaceful life now away from the evil cruel world on a beautiful secluded island somewhere tropical & as Holland says it's Magical.

Holland is pushed out of retirement when he is visited by a man who needs him & i won't go into all the plot or story as it's better not knowing everything but Holland comes out of his comfort zone & back into the violent world to hunt down & EXECUTE a very Evil torture expert called the Doctor who is used around the world by armies to really hurt people in the most evil & depraved ways.

Bronson done his best work with director J. LEE THOMPSON & whilst under contract with CANNON FILMS!!!

This is a very harsh, raw & very brutal Thriller & Bronson is Fantastic here!!!

Holland is a great & fascinating character & you want to know about him!!!

The violence is brutal & real looking very gritty & in your face,this movie really is an 80's underrated gem, the action is very cool & fast & violent & no one gets revenge better than Bronson!!!

The movie has that low rent grimy feel to it & a very dark atmosphere & creepy music almost like a Horror movie than a Thriller!!!

But yes this is Bronson at his brutal best & should sit nicely next to his best & most iconic movie DEATH WISH (1974). BRONSON is truly a legend & his movies are nearly all great & i think he actually got bettter as he got older just check out his excellent t.v movie work as he's done some excellent Thrillers: FAMILY OF COPS (1995).

A FAMILY OF COPS 2:BREACH OF FAITH (1997).

A FAMILY OF COPS 3 (1999).

DONATO & DAUGHTER (1993).

The Evil That Men Do is at once typical and atypical Charles Bronson 1980s fare. On one hand, it contains the grind house trademarks of graphic violence and gratuitous sex that characterized most of Bronson's eighties output. At the same time, it touches on serious political themes that most of his other action films shied away from.

In particular, the film examines the torture being carried out by right wing Latin American regimes during that decade with tacit American support. Unlike most of the right wing vigilante films that Bronson appeared in, this film takes a subtle, if not particularly well explored left wing tack.

The film's violence will not disappoint action or gore fans. The opening torture sequence, reportedly heavily cut, is still quite gruesome. Furthermore, the villains meet some of the nastier deaths in action film history, particularly in the bloody climax. The Columbia / TriStar DVD release renders all this in a beautifully restored print, making it look like it was released yesterday, rather than 26 years ago.

However, one cannot help but wish their had been a more open examination of the political themes that underlie the film, particularly the American involvement in human rights abuses. The film itself begs for a remake, focusing on torture during the War on Terror.