The Demolitionist

I love when I have the opportunity to review films that were made in the past. Especially the 1980s and ’90s because I was a little kid catching the movie bug. I never saw The Demolitionist starring Nicole Eggert until now, but it feels like something I grew up with. Maybe because, for whatever reason, as a child, I was briefly obsessed with Baywatch, in which Eggert also starred, though this science fiction/ action flick doesn’t share anything as far as the plot goes with the lifeguard drama, which is certainly fine by me.

It does, however, owe a humongous debt of gratitude to RoboCop. It isn’t the first film that puts a woman in a cybersuit, as that honor goes to the Japanese title Lady Battle Cop. However, I can say that it’s the most fun of those two movies and any other woman manifestations inspired by the Paul Verhoeven character. That can all be credited to the fact that it was made by famous make-up artist/ director/ producer Robert Kurtzman.

“Mad Dog recently escaped from prison and is back to wreak havoc on Metro City.”

Kurtzman worked on many genre films as a make-up artist before The Demolitionist, including Evil Dead II, The People Under the Stairs, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and more. Due to his involvement in so many projects, there are a lot of cool cameos from genre superstars such as Heather Langenkamp, the beloved Bruce Campbell, fellow make-up artist/ actor Tom Savini, and even David Lynch favorite Jack Nance. Trust me, seeing Nance as a priest is certainly a trip.

The plot pretty much follows its RoboCop/ Lady Battlecop roots, with some tweaks in the details to make it its own. Eggert plays undercover cop Alyssa Lloyd, who is killed in the line of duty, trying to infiltrate notorious criminal Mad Dog Burne’s operation. Mad Dog (Richard Grieco) recently escaped from prison and is back to wreak havoc on Metro City. Mad Dog and his cronies murder Alyssa as a message to the mayor (Susan Tyrell) that he’s back. A government scientist, Professor Jack Crowley (Bruce Abbott), has created a project called Lazarus and uses it to bring Alyssa back to life like the Bible’s first successful resurrection. She is kept alive by nanobots in her blood and must go through a process akin to kidney dialysis in a special chair every day to stay alive. At first, she doesn’t want to live, but then her thirst for revenge on Mad Dog and his crew keeps her flame lit.