The Exterminator (1980)

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The Exterminator is a 1980 American vigilante action film written and directed by James Glickenhaus and starring Christopher George, Samantha Eggar, and Robert Ginty. Ginty plays John Eastland, a Vietnam veteran who turns vigilante when his employer gets shaken down by the Mafia and his best friend, a fellow veteran who once saved his life in combat, is left paralyzed by a street gang. George plays a detective who is actively pursuing Eastland.

Production

While promoting his struggling first film The Astrologer, director James Glickenhaus realized the importance of the Southern drive-in and international markets, which demanded more visual and action-driven product. A visit to the 1978 Cannes Film Market with Astrologer producer Mark Buntzman allowed the pair to finetune their assessment of what the world wanted to see.

The impetus for The Exterminator came from the mugging of a Columbia University student in an elevator, which had left him paralyzed. Drawing from Sergio Leone, the original draft only had a handful of dialogue lines, but this did not prove commercially viable and a more conventional structure was adopted. Buntzman, who was Glickenhaus' childhood friend, returned as producer.

Joseph Bottoms was originally hired to play John Eastland. To entice the young star, Glickenhaus topped up his fee with a percentage of the film's profits, which would have made him millions had he foreseen its success. However, when Bottoms landed a role in the Disney film The Black Hole, his camp asked for an extra $10,000, arguing that The Exterminator could damage his image.

Among the actors offered to him was Robert Ginty, whom he had seen portray a Vietman veteran in the 1978 drama Coming Home. Although his everyman physique was at odds with the audience's expectations of an action star, the director rationalized that it might make his vigilante turn more impactful. Ginty loved the script, in part because he had once witnessed a fatal gang attack on a friend, and returned to New York within twenty-four hours.

Steve James also received his first featured role in this film. Originally, James applied for the bit part of a bartender, but Glickenhaus liked him so much that he rewrote Eastland's best friend, a Puerto Rican, as an African-American to accommodate him. Top billed Christopher George and BAFTA Award nominee Samantha Eggar were added to bring respectability to the project.

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