The Demolitionist

Granted, as I sat down in 2022 to watch the 1995 action sci-fi movie "The Demolitionist", I wasn't harboring much of any expectations to the movie. I remember watching it back in 1995 on VHS even, because my brother had purchased it, as he was a fan of the ladies from the "Baywatch" series. However, I have to admit that I couldn't remember anything from this movie, aside from it existing.

At first glance, then I feel that "The Demolitionist" from writers Brian DiMuccio, Anne Kurtzman, Robert Kurtzman and Dino Vindeni felt somewhat akin to the 1996 movie "Barb Wire", which also starred a former "Baywatch" star. But putting that aside, then I will say that "The Demolitionist" was watchable, albeit a rather cheesy and campy action sci-fi movie.

Perhaps the storyline was good back in 1995, but in 2022 it felt cheesy and campy, and not really a very well-thought through storyline and plot really. But hey, it makes for some brainless entertainment, and that counts for something.

While the storyline was mediocre, then I have to say that I found the cast list to be rather impressive. There were some very memorable 1990s performers popping up in this movie, with the likes of Nicole Eggert, Bruce Abbott, Peter Jason, Sarah Douglas, Heather Langenkamp, Richard Grieco, Jack Nance, Tom Savini, Nils Allen Stewart, Derek Mears, Greg Nicotero and Bruce Campbell himself.

The effects in the movie were actually fair enough. Not effects that have aged all that well, but they still are passable today.

"The Demolitionist" is probably a guilty pleasure for a great many viewers out there, probably former fans of "Baywatch".

Ultimately, then I am rating "The Demolitionist" a four out of ten stars.

A tired, second-rate "Robocop" rehash. Deadly predictable, too. You know what will happen in almost every scene. Basically the whole plot is: woman gets murdered, woman gets "ressurrected", woman seeks vengeance on those who killed her. Nothing more than that. The movie is not exactly bad, it's just so.....forgettable (and, as others have mentioned, what's with that red powder that we see instead of blood when someone gets shot?). Nicole Eggert is the sole redeeming element. (*1/2)

Nicole Eggert of 'Charles in Charge' fame plays detective Alyssa Lloyd, working undercover in the gang of rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth criminal mastermind Mad Dog Burne (Richard Grieco, '21 Jump Street'). Her cover is blown, her partner murdered, and she's tortured and left for dead - only to be biologically engineered into a super-human super crime fighter by "professor" Jack Crowley (Bruce Abbott, "Re-Animator") and his "Lazarus" project. Clad in a form-fitting, sleek black outfit, this super-human cop comes gunning for revenge.

Decent comic-book nonsense is obviously derivative of "RoboCop", but it works fairly well as a B level variation on that more famous futuristic action flick. There's lots of gunfire, a fair amount of low-budget atmosphere, and a good score by Shawn Patterson - not to mention some real eye candy shots of the sexy Eggert.

The principal value with "The Demolitionist" is a first-rate cast. Any aficionado of low-budget genre flicks will have a high old time playing Spot the Familiar Face - including an amusing surprise cameo (albeit uncredited) by a longtime veteran of this kind of thing, right near the end. Eggert does a good job as the heroine struggling to retain her emotions & humanity, while Grieco is obviously having fun as the greasy bad guy.

You could do a lot worse than this. It makes for agreeable (if unmemorable) entertainment for a Sunday afternoon.

This marked the directorial debut for veteran effects notable Robert Kurtzman.

Six out of 10.

Decent B-scifi/actioner with a fast pace and definite comic book sense about it. The most fascinating thing about it is that nearly every single scene has a well-known face from the late 70s/early 80s horror genre. Kurtzman called in a number of favors from actors he had worked make-up on in various films for this one. Nicole Eggert is in top physical form and rather pleasing on the eye as the heroine, and Richard Grieco is gloriously hammy as the villain.

The flaw that really got me was that "The Demolitionist" (a title which is never actually used in the movie to describe the "Lazarus project") had a pair of guns that fired hundreds of rounds per minute, yet the bad guys only got a few wounds even at point-blank range. I suppose if you can get past this minor detail, it's worth a quick viewing.

This was a real gem! A small movie that really made the most of its budget. It was a great thrill-ride and a lot of fun. I have to admit that the basic story is a total ROBOCOP rip-off, but still the movie knew exactly how to play the story and make it into something genuine and fun. There were a few scenes that were a dead-on copy of the original ROBOCOP and I would have rather see the makers give it an original twist, which they shamefully didn't. Nonetheless this is a great movie with tons of in-jokes and funny cameos. Especially Tom Savini and Bruce Campbell are absolutely brilliant. There is also a lot of sick twisted humor in the movie that gives it the stuff to be a cult movie. The best thing in the movie tough is Nicole Eggerd. She makes a much better super-hero than her Baywatch ex-costar Pamela Anderson did in Barb Wire. The biggest difference; Nicole can act! Next to that, this movie has the balls to be dark, in stead of sexy. Great directional debut by KNB-EFX-master Robert Kurtzman too! An absolute must see!!!