Here's a series that could have been great, but fell victim to the curse of the crappy sequel.
Take a Vietnam vet, a reason to seek revenge, add a flamethrower and you have the Exterminator!
(http://www.impawards.com/1980/posters/exterminator_ver1.jpg)
I only saw the first Exterminator movie once, but I remember it being very dark and violent - One scene had a girl who was burned badly by her pimp and the Exterminator (Robert Ginty) made sure the order was returned, extra crispy...
Before Robocop, I thought this was one of the most violent films I ever saw.
Now for the sequel - - -UGH! It felt like I was watching the violent outtakes of Breakin' 2!!!!
Mario Van Peebles was running around showing off his muscles for the whole movie, and it replaced the violence and dark tone of the first film with roller-skating wannabes!
Too bad, because they could have gone so much further with the formula they started out with. Any other thoughts?
I saw both movies during their original theatrical runs. I thought they were both pretty bad, but at least the first one was entertaining. The sequel was bad AND boring.
I've seen both, but I only really remember the first one. Strangely enough, just today I heard someone in a TV show/movie talking about "pulling the plug" on someone and I thought of the scene where he takes his friend off life support by unplugging it and cutting the cord so they can't plug it back in.