The Vindicator (1986)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Well I just got done watching this movie and it's a great flick.The acting's top notch for a production like this. The highlights for me were Richard Cox as Whyte and David McIlwraith as the Vindicator/Frankenstein. The story overall has its twists and turns and keeps you entertained.Some movies move very slow. The only thing that can be said about this movie maybe is that it moves a little too fast sometimes.I don't understand why James Rolfe from cinemassacre.com didn't like it. It's got a lot of drama, intrigue and action. Very recommendable.I don't regret paying those few bucks for the DVD at all.PS: One bad part - the exploding truck. Too much for my taste.

Scientist Carl Lehman(David McIlwraith),working on a special type of NASA space suit, demands to know why his funding has been cut off by colleague Alex Whyte(Richard Cox), threatening to expose his secret project. Whyte has a number of scientists devoted to a project which would create cybernetic humans, offering the possibility of eternal life. The catch..Whyte would have a remote which could order them to do what ever he so chooses, quite a wealth of power at his command. So, Whyte has scientist Ian(Stephen Mendel)set poor Carl up to be severely burned by a nuclear reactor, his body used as the first prototype for the super-powerful cybernetic man..a BIG mistake, because Carl is able to break free, his remote control mechanism unattached, leaving the facility, and out to endanger potential innocent lives because the single touch onto his body causes a negative hostile reaction that's fatal to the one responsible. Carl's brain still contains memories and certain feelings for his beloved wife, Lauren(Teri Austin), and anger/hostility for those who ruined his life forever. Whyte is quite worried that he'll spoil his future success and calls in an exterminator, Hunter(Pam Grier)who has "never lost to a man", a cold-blooded assassin that will eliminate anyone that may've witnessed something they shouldn't have. Carl believes his only ally, besides Lauren, is a fellow co-worker, Burt(Maury Chaykin), but even he might not be the friend he always though he was.I'm a big fan of "human cyborg" films, contributed to my formidable teenage years watching popular sci-fi actioners, ROBOCOP & THE TERMINATOR, and I do believe THE VINDICATOR will appeal specifically to this crowd. The film also is a mad scientist movie as well with Cox well cast as the determined ARC industries boss yearning for the kind of universal control his project might eventually produce(..by controlling the cybernetic human, whose strength is a phenomenal asset, Whyte sees the unlimited potential for power). The true casting choice that will provide an allure for THE VINDICATOR is Pam Grier as a vicious killer who will snap the neck(..or put a long, thin needle all the way through young female witness' throat)of a woman who provides a threat to her employer's company without a second thought. McIlwraith is only seen for a minimum of five or so minutes before Whyte has him terminated, his eyes providing us with the only method to judge his feelings when his cyborg body goes into attack alert(..when he's touched by anything, an alert sounds off, beating faster and faster before trouble starts for those that antagonize him)..or when he takes his face guard/helmet off to reveal his scarred visage, reflected to his horror from a pool of water or store shop window. Those familiar with Maury Chaykin know that his characters are often never to be trusted, even when his Burt consoles Lauren(..actually Burt is lustfully obsessed with her, and his attempted rape/strangling of her is really disturbing).No doubt, Whyte's team of scientists(..and his bounty hunter)are an assortment of ruthless, vile dreamers, willing to go to any lengths for their own success. That's what makes Carl's revenge so sweet. The 80's, interesting enough, featured films like these where revenge was so satisfying because the hero's opposition were such foul cretins worthy of the most violent death possible. The death toll here isn't extravagant, and the violence isn't as graphic as in ROBOCOP or TOTAL RECALL, but I think THE VINDICATOR has enough elements to please sci-fi buffs. A good point was made elsewhere regarding this movie coming before ROBOCOP so it shouldn't be labeled as a rip-off. Carl's robotic suit of armor(..after the golden NASA suit is burned away), in a bit of cool trivia, was made by Stan Winston's studio.

When I first got the Portugese version of this film (it's never been released on DVD in my country but saw it on VHS when i was like, 11) only to discover in Spanish/Portugese speaking countries this film is known as "RoboMan", I laughed, thinking what a silly name. "The Vindicator" is far cooler. But after viewing this trash-cheese-fest again at the ripe old age of almost 30, i realised the Portugese were spot on. RoboMan is a much better title, if only the film itself didn't TAKE itself so seriously it might have been great. It has quite a good script, that I'm sure was effective when it was released, but sadly it just seems a bit dated and sad now, despite some really inventive ideas. As it is, it tries a little TOO hard to be a serious sci-fi horror, and falls a bit short.David McIlwraith stars as Carl, a scientist, who is nearly killed in an "accidental" explosion because the bad-guy scientists don't like him. It doesn't matter why. Once he's mutilated they stick his brain (and his eyes and a bit of nose) into an indestructible space-suit and plug him in, oh and he has a nifty little device that means he goes ballistic and kills people if they touch him. Why you'd need that on Mars (apparently its a Mars-explorer prototype or something) I have no idea. It'd be like, "hey, we found some life on mars! Sh*t dude, Roboman just squished it!" Anyway, in true dodgy 80's movie-style, no sooner has he escaped from the labs when he runs into a couple of no-good-street-punks, and dispatches them swiftly, and it's here that the film really settles into the horror movie thing...it has all the pacing, limited characterisation, atrocious acting and simplistic music score of a "bad" horror movie.He seeks to track down and destroy the scientists who imprisoned him the robo suit, and is hunted by...wait for it...Pam Grier, in a woefully cheesy role as the bounty hunter (or something) named...uh...Hunter, seems so oddly out of place in this film, and has the best line in the film (paraphrasing here, it's not THAT memorable): "Your buddy's dead with a manhole cover up his *ss coz YOU weren't straight with me!" Yep folks, THAT really is the best line in the film.Terri Austin - she is not much of an actress, but she is quite nice to look at and has a nice voice. Unfortunately she's assaulted by the character of Maury Chaykin in a disturbing and unnecessary attempted-rape scene.Vindicator suit - this actually isn't a ripoff of terminator (it couldn't be anyway, since both "creatures" were designed by the same guy!), the exo-skeleton thing is on the outside here. It is quite cool, in a horror-movie kind of way, like when he removes the face plate: "You can't love THIS!" And it looks good (it was made by Stan Winston studios) and you can see a lot of thought went into the design.Setting - foggy Canadian mornings are a highlight in this film. Reminds me of cold days spent indoors by the fire. Likewise the houses in the film are cool, I particularly like the bad guy's living room, and RoboMan's house.I'm glad i went out of my way to find this movie again, it's nice to have it on the shelf for a winter day when I feel like watching it again, but as far as recommending it? I don't know. I'd say it's more for people like me who saw it ages ago on VHS and have a soft spot for it, or if you are a fan of cheesy 80's Canadian cinema. Otherwise, stick with Terminator and RoboCop. They are easily available everywhere for good reason - they are fantastic movies. This one is pretty average.

Looks as if the Robocop writer has been wholesale looting The Vindicator. This is a very solid horror/action movie about a man set up in an accident to be used in cruel experiment. Anyone who have seen Robocop knows the story. Watch out for Pam Grier as a bitchy and darn good looking assassin. This highly effective, violent and bloody horror movie may not be to everyones liking, but this Canadian outing is well worth seeking out for anyone who is fan of the genre. 8/10