| The Demolitionist | |
| Director: | Robert Kurtzman |
| Producer: | Donald P. Borchers |
| Story: | Anne Kurtzman Robert Kurtzman |
| Starring: | Nicole Eggert Richard Grieco Bruce Abbott Heather Langenkamp Susan Tyrrell Peter Jason Sarah Douglas Tom Savini Jack Nance |
| Music: | Shawn Patterson |
| Studio: | A-Pix Entertainment |
| Distributor: | Two Moon Releasing |
| Runtime: | 100 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $1 million [1] |
The Demolitionist is a 1995 American action horror film directed by Robert Kurtzman. The film stars Nicole Eggert, Richard Grieco, Bruce Abbott, Heather Langenkamp, Susan Tyrrell and Tom Savini.
A murdered female police officer is brought back to life by a cold-hearted scientist to serve as "The Demolitionist", the ultimate crime-fighting weapon in a city overrun by criminals and internal corruption.
Special effects artist Robert Kurtzman made his directorial debut with The Demolitionist and co-wrote the original screenplay with his wife Anne.[1] The Kurtzman's had wanted to work on a low-budget film together with the plan being for Anne to produce the film while Robert would direct it.[1] After producer Donald P. Borchers learned of their planned film, he came aboard and helped set up the film at Border Planet Productions and A-Pix Entertainment which gave the film a bigger albeit still low budget.[1] In order to stretch their low budget, the producers made a deal with Coca-Cola who in exchange for prominent product placement provided funds for the production as well as unlimited drinks for the cast and crew during production.[1]
The film premiered in Los Angeles on March 10, 1995. It later received a limited theatrical release in May 1996 before debuting on video in July 1996.
The film has a 17% approval rating based on 6 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.[2] Ray Mark Rinaldi of St. Louis Post-Dispatch highlighted the films camp aesthetics, and described the performances as a "cartoon brought to life."[3] Glenn Kenny of EW praised the film for its "low budget charm".[4] Lorry Kikta of Film Threat praised the action sequences, costume design, and dialogue. She also highlighted the performances of Susan Tyrell and Richard Grieco.[5] In contrast, TV Guide panned the movie, commenting that it was obviously inspired by RoboCop, but lacked the "inspiration's satiric viewpoint, or enough of a budget to create any memorable action scenes."[6]