Destroyer is a 1988 American slasher horror movie directed by Robert Kirk.
Susan Malone (Deborah Foreman) is a stunt woman who, along with her boyfriend writer David Harris (Clayton Rohner), is currently working on a Girls Behind Bars-themed Exploitation Film being directed by Robert Edwards (Anthony Perkins) and shot at a now-abandoned prison, which shut down following a riot that saw many guards and prisoners die. The riot occurred on the night of the execution of Serial Killer Ivan Moser.
What none of the film crew seems to be aware of, however, is that Ivan (Lyle Alzado) isn't as dead as everyone previously thought.
The film was released in April of 1988.
Destroyer contains examples of:
- Abandoned Area: The prison most of the film is set in was shut down following a prison riot.
- Asshole Victim:
- It's implied the warden abused Ivan, sticking him in the sewer in solitary confinement. Given Ivan is a psychopathic monster who tortured, raped, and murdered 24 people, including children and brags about it, he deserved it.
- In turn, the warden is implied to be a nasty guy himself. Ivan kills him by burning him to death.
- Ax-Crazy:
- Ivan Moser is a complete psychopath who laughs his head off while brutally killing people.
- While able to hide it better than his son, Russel Moser is every bit the sadistic lunatic as Ivan.
- Big Bad: Ivan Moser, a psychopathic, undead Serial Killer, is the film's main antagonist.
- Blood from the Mouth: Ivan has blood coming out of his mouth following his execution.
- Catapult Nightmare: Susan wakes up with a gasp and shoots upward at the beginning of the movie in her and David's bed , and again at the end, shooting up and gasping while visiting David in his hospital room.
- Destination Defenestration: Ivan throws the priest at his execution through the window into the room formerly full of witnesses of his execution.
- Enforced Method Acting: In-Universe Example. When Sharon is strapped into the electric chair for an execution scene, the director decides to turn it on to get a more legitimate performance out of her. Naturally, she's very angry about it.
- Eye Scream: One of the director's eyes bursts while he's being electrocuted to death in the electric chair.
- Healing Factor: Ivan can rapidly regenerate. Getting stabbed in the leg with a pair of scissors is a minor distraction, and getting fried with an electric chair's power supply completely overclocked only knocks him out for a few minutes.
- Implacable Man: Ivan possesses a Healing Factor and Super-Toughness, so nothing thrown at him keeps him down for long. Being electrocuted, hit by a car, and stabbed are only minor annoyances. It takes being lit on fire, falling down a pit, and finally blown up by a propane explosion to kill him. Even then, Susan isn't sure that was actually enough to kill him and locks his corpse in there for good measure.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Sharon takes a few shots after quitting the movie.
- Neck Lift: After his supposed death, Ivan grabs the priest at his execution by the neck and lifts him off the ground.
- One-Word Title: Naturally.
- Off with His Head!: Susan, and later David, finds a severed head in the prison photocopier.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Ivan is stated to be undead in some capacity, being described as 'half-alive.' This is the reason for his sheer strength and the extreme difficulty actually killing him.
- Police Are Useless: Officer Callahan comes to the prison, and is done away with in a gruesome fashion by Ivan, who ends his life with a jackhammer.
- Serial Rapist: Ivan Moser was convicted of 23 counts of rape and murder. He corrects the warden that it was 24.
- Show Within a Show: Sometimes in the film, TVs will show broadcasts of a Wheel of Fortune Expy called "Wheels & Deals". Ivan watches it excessively...because he murdered the hostess.
- Super-Toughness: Even minus his Healing Factor, Ivan is absurdly tough.
- Take This Job and Shove It: After the
Enforced Method Acting mentioned above, Sharon angrily chews the director out for electrocuting her and quits the movie. - Wounded Gazelle Gambit: When Susan and Russell have both fallen into Ivan's old solitary confinement cell, Russell pretends to be drowning to get Susan to reach for his hand. She takes it, and he pulls her under.
