The Firelight Shocks DVD Review Section

The Exterminator Distributor: Synergy Region: 2 Ratio: 1:85:1 Sound: Mono

At last, one of my all time favourite exploitation films comes to DVD, and in a fully restored 'director's cut' to boot. In case you donıt know, The Exterminator stars Robert Ginty as the Roddy Piper lookalike title character who finds his best buddy, played by the late Steve American Ninja James, paralysed by a gang of street thugs. Seeing as how James had saved Ginty's ass in Vietnam (shown in a lengthy and grisly prologue), it comes as little surprise when 'The Exterminator' hunts down said street gang and annihilates them in a vicious manner. Two creeps are tied up and have their faces eaten off by rats, whilst another is blown to kingdom come! Still, itıs not all 'fun and games' - and soon local police captain, Christopher George (a mainstay of 42nd Street flea houses at this point in his career ­ having been mangled in City of the Living Dead and narrowly missing a chainsaw death in Pieces) is on his trail. Things go from bad to worse when the FBI get in on the case... although this also results in the best line in the film. George tells the FBI chap that he needs to take a shit 'because itıs coming from your mouth instead of your asshole'. Inevitably, The Exterminator tries to focus on as little plot detail as possible, choosing instead to exploit a grim and gritty tale of a bloke with a few screws loose slaughtering some criminal scum. Is it very moral? No, not really. However, it's hard not to cheer just a wee bit as a fat paedophile is shot in the nuts and a group of nasty granny muggers burn to death in a car wreck. The nastiest scene is when a greedy aristocrat is fed into a meat grinder and his remains come out as minced meat... uergh! The Exterminator also features some lovely footage of New York, and an unbearably crap theme tune which plays over the menu screen. Believe it or not but this film also topped the UK cinemas for an entire week upon its release! The sequel, I may add, gives new meaning to the term 'fucking dreadful'.

EXTRAS: Itıs the 'director's cut' which means there is a load of extra footage. We find out that Christopher George was in Vietnam too, and there is a lot of extra gore in the Vietnam scenes and throughout the film. We get to see a Vietnamese fellow grab at his freshly slashed throat, an even longer decapitation (this is a film that uses its money shot early) and Steve James meets an even bloodier attack in this version. Truth be told, I thought that the film moved along better in its shorter version, but it's still nice to see the extra footage ­ all included here by your new and improved BBFC. The disc is letterboxed, but the print varies and it is rarely any better than a good VHS tape. At times the print damage is terrible (especially in an extra scene where we see Ginty feeding some pigeons). Still, I can't see many companies going to the bother of digitally re-mastering this film, although they should because it's ten times better than most of the exploitation pap out there. As for your extras... you get seven trailers (count 'em) and that's your lot. In typical Calum style I'll take you through the trailers. First there is a grainy one for the film itself, which is typical and basically all the violence condensed into two minutes. Then there are trailers for the following: * Maniac Cop (Shite) * Frankenhooker (mediocre film, great idea, fun trailer) *Basket Case (Lots of fun) *Basket Case 2 (Not so much fun) *Basket Case 3 (Even less fun, but with ultra crap special effects) *Red Scorpion (From the days when Dolph Lungren was still employable. 'Nuff said) Not a bad film then, but sadly this is not a great disc. So think carefully before you buy. The choice, as they say on Wheel of Fortune, is yours.