Bullet Points: Destroyer
We at Bulletproof Action have mentioned Destroyer multiple times over the course of our articles and podcasts and no one had ever seen it up until about three days ago. Luckily the streaming app Tubi had my back and provided this film for me to watch for free and based on this poster, I will definitely not regret watching it.
Synopsis: A prison riot breaks out at the moment of a serial murderer’s execution by electrocution. 18 months later, a team of filmmakers converge on the prison to film a women-in-prison exploitation flick and they are terrorized by the murderer who is still alive and kicking.
- A shocking turn of events: We are immediately introduced to Lyle Alzado’s character named Ivan Moser. He’s a convicted rapist/murderer who not only revels in the fact that he has done some horrible shit, but he laughs maniacally as he is being electrocuted. Sucks to be them, because the power goes out and Ivan stands up and murders the hell out of everyone. Or, at least I think he does. It’s all a bit confusing to be honest.
- Movies make it all better: It’s been a little bit of time and the ensuing prison riot has caused the prison to be shut down. Never let a good thing go to waste, though, so you better Shawshank that place and make a movie in it!
- Oh boy, the acting: Psycho’s Anthony Perkins plays the director of the film in the film and he has to be the best part of the entire movie. You can tell how frustrated he gets as his star of the movie badly acts her way through this terrible women-in-prison movie that they’re filming. Special mention to Lannie Garrett who plays the star Sharon Fox.
- The warden: The old warden of the prison shows back up and tries to defend the way that he ran the place. Guess what? He ain’t gonna make it! Lyle shows back up and uses a blowtorch to roast him while he is taking a dump. It’s a brutal scene but you never get the sense that the warden understands what is going on because I don’t think it ever shows the two of them in the same frame.
- Sewage shower sex for the win: Clayton Rohner is the other guy in the film who is destined to do something. He and his girlfriend Susan Malone (Deborah Foreman) are the only ones who have any chance at survival but based on Clayton’s hair I would say that he’ll eventually get sacked by Alzado. He does get his chance to have some prison sex, though, and this is the kind that won’t hurt your b-hole for a week.
- Stunt girl: Destroyer spends a lot of time leading up to Ivan Moser coming back and killing everyone. Malone plays the stunt woman for the main star of the film and later gets to incorporate some of her stunt training into her own survival. I couldn’t get enough of Malone in this one. She turns out to be the star of the action as Moser chases her down and she continues to evade him. Add another to the list of ‘Final Girls’ of horror films.
- The hole: The warden had built a hole in the bottom of the prison specially for Ivan Moser and Malone leads him right to it. Add in that blowtorch from earlier and some explosive canisters and Ivan just isn’t long for this world. Malone gets her chance to shine for the rest for the rest of the film and even gets to drop a one liner at the end. It’s a pretty sweet ending to a surprisingly good film.
The Verdict: Destroyer takes a surprising amount of time to set up the plot before Lyle Alzado is set loose on the cast to be the killing machine that he so clearly enjoyed being. It’s easily 35 minutes into the film before we see him do much of anything but once he’s set free he starts killing the shit out of everyone! It’s also surprising that the film has a story since the plotline is so simple but I’m here to tell you that Destroyer isn’t just your usual ‘NFL player plays psycho raper/murder movie’. It has that great feminine hero that society wants and a terrible and truly evil villain. Destroyer might be the kind of movie that deserved a sequel instead of the dozen slasher movies that actually got them. If you remember Lyle Alzado destroying dudes on the field then you’ll totally pop for him destroying folks in this abandoned prison!
