Destroyer

belial_carboni3.0

This one starts off strong with the hazy intro credits with that late 80s gel covered lens look and direct to video early 90s sleepover vibes. Then right after we see a freaky giant inmate squeezing a doll head, steessing out as he's trying to finish his favourite game show before he's executed. And it's only downhill from there unfortunately. The premise here is pretty cool. A film crew has rolled into the same prison where scary inmate guy from the intro was executed and a subsequent riot broke out. Years later the prison is closed down and is the perfect setting for a women in prison film. Soon enough the crew learns that an evil force is present. Could it be the evil spirit of Ivan Moser the executed prisoner? The potential here was high as it started on a strong note and had lots of cool ideas. But unfortunately everything else was kind of lackluster. The actors were pretty generic, scenes were anticlimactic, the humor often missed the mark and it just kinda flopped along. And most of the movie filming scenes were pretty boring. Almost felt like a Tales From the Crypt lite episode. When it was on it was on and theres certainly still enough cool stuff going on to provide for an engaging little haunted prison film. The strengths are really the qualities I pointed out earlier...the low budget direct to video vibes, great synth score, creepy prison setting, and a few gnarly scenes here and there. Plus that artwork is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Jesse2.5

If the WWE were making movies back in the 80s, this is the type of film they would put out. Prison maniac movie that is a pseudo-slasher and features Anthony Perkins as a filmmaker directing a….shower scene. He must’ve loved that.

Digital Press4.0

Destroyer (aka “Shadow of Death”, the hardcoded movie title on the version I watched) is reminiscent in many ways to Shocker and Prison, all three of which were made around the same general time (1987-1989), so clearly something about vengeful death row dead guys was on the minds of horror movie creatives. The good news is this one is by far the best of them. Saying this just in case a “which vengeful death row dead guy movie should I choose” scenario pops up in your household. I don’t judge.Highest marks on the casting here. Who would have guessed? Former Oakland Raider Lyle Alzado (whose real life story will make you cry) is perfectly cast as the baddie with his crazy football-rage eyes. He is part Jason, part Freddy, part the guy from Maniac, and part Terminator. You’ll see traces of all of them here and for a football player-turned-horror-villain, it’s a pretty diverse role and he’s awesome.Valley Girl Deborah Foreman is the female lead. As always, perky and cute and fun and when she needs to she can play a fine final girl, it seems. Anthony Perkins, who I think is normally a terrible actor (excluding his original Psycho tour de force) puts in a great performance as the director of an exploitative B movie being filmed in this prison with a secret.I would go so far as to say that the only BAD acting that’s done here is intentional, in the bad movie Perkins is directing inside the prison. There are some typical tropes (the crazy night watchman-type guy and the kooky technical teammate, for example), but they’re all entertaining too. The dialogue is way better than horror movies usually get, and all of the production - right down to the atmospheric score - are spot on.A great touch is the emphasis on scenes in and around the electric chair where the whole tale begins. It’s an unexpected use of symbolism that did not go unnoticed. So many important plot points happen right there at that chair!If I have one criticism it’s that because we’ve SEEN Shocker and Prison and Jason and Terminator that the whole thing is rather predictable. It really is. But the performances and pace should entertain even those who have “seen it all”. Destroyer is a great ride!