Movie
Eve of Destruction (1991)
A moderate budget sci-fi actioner from the “golden age” of B-movies, this well-paced offering has lead actress Renée Soutendijk in a dual role as Dr. Eve Simmons and her android lookalike Eve VIII. She performs admirably as both human and machine, and the two characters are so different it’s easy to forget they’re played by the same actress. To avoid confusion, I’ll refer to Simmons by her surname and the android as Eve for the remainder of the review.
Eve is intended for battlefield use and is Simmon’s flagship prototype for an upcoming funding review. A routine test run in San Francisco goes well until two masked men decide to commit a bank robbery with Eve on the premises. Responding to armed criminals in a civilian setting isn’t something the android was programmed to do, so she doesn’t react to demands to hit the floor. Eve’s handler attempts to intervene and manages to kill one criminal, but gets taken out by the other. Eventually he loses patience with Eve and gives her a shotgun blast, which barely slows her down. She treats the robber as a threat, grabs him, and sends the shocked man flying through a window.
With the machine now locked in “battle mode”, she collects a dropped Uzi, and purchases ammo and a stylish red leather jacket (that’s often shown in promotional material). Hoping to keep a low profile (that was never going to happen), the authorities call in anti-terrorist expert Colonel Jim McQuade (Gregory Hines). We get the usual “chalk and cheese” relationship between science and military, with Simmons and Jim at each other’s throats from the beginning. McQuade is well trained, but Eve is a whole new experience.
As Eve goes on a murderous rampage through the city, Simmons and Jim must work together to stop the killing machine. Eve’s defences and near invulnerabilty to conventional weapons are outlined in a briefing. Mixing 1990s images with future tech always looks silly (especially from a modern viewpoint), but the key message is to aim for the eyes. Jim is quite right to question why Eve doesn’t have an off switch, but such things – at least in movies – are never that simple.
Villainess
Eve VIII (Renée Soutendijk)
Eve has been programmed with thoughts and feelings of her creator, but her inhibition has been destroyed. This leads to an interesting character dynamic where Eve acts out Simmons’ fantasies, doing things the doctor may have contemplated in the past, but never went through with.
First on Eve’s agenda is a visit to a seedy motel bar where she seduces a misogynistic man and takes him to her room. Things get messy when this conflicts with Eve’s self defence priorities, and when the guy calls her a bitch she clearly doesn’t like it. In fact, she bites off… a rather important piece of anatomy (nothing explicit is shown here, thankfully). The guy’s two friends – who had been listening at the door – burst in looking for payback, but taking on a killing machine in hand to hand combat is not advised.
The police outside – who’ve traced Eve’s rental vehicle – prove no match for the android. Several Uzi bursts later, there are five dead police officers for the local sheriff to deal with and an enemy who shows no indication of stopping. Eve’s only concern is the single bullet hole in her expensive jacket, and this is the first taste of her titular destruction. Simmons witnessed her alcoholic father abuse her mother, which ultimately led to a fatal road accident, and now Eve is out for revenge.
Things get worse when she encounters a motorist en route who acts aggressive towards her (and calls her that naughty B word again). Eve takes road rage to the absolute extreme, ramming his car into the dirt. When the guy thinks it’s all over, Eve psyches herself up and smashes into the stranded vehicle at high speed. The physical – and emotional? – shock triggers a device in Eve’s spine. McQuade learns the hard way there’s a nuclear bomb inside Eve that’s now activated and set to explode in twenty-four hours. Needless to say, Jim is not too impressed with the military keeping him out of the loop.
Jim and Simmons trace her father’s address, which leads to a showdown between the special forces man and the android. McQuade wisely tells his men to wait outside, but Simmons isn’t good at following instructions and – after a verbal exchange over the radio gets her nowhere – comes in to witness Eve snap her (not so dear) daddy’s neck. Being Eve’s creator doesn’t give Simmons any special status, and Eve opens fire. Simmons escapes without harm, but some of Jim’s men aren’t so lucky.
With the nuclear countdown clock ticking, Simmons predicts Eve will travel to New York to visit her son, who’s currently staying with her ex-husband. While the doctor’s guess proves accurate, advance warning and covert surveillance by a few Government agents isn’t enough to prevent Eve reaching her target. Simmons warns a surprised ex the “woman” he’s with is an android, but he’s not able to stop Eve abducting the boy. Jim waits in the apartment building lobby, weapon at the ready, but Eve uses the old elevator distraction / take the stairs trick. This android sure is a quick learner.
Eve’s path of destruction moves to the streets – with the leather-clad walking timebomb gunning down the agents and narrowly missing Jim – and then to a subway station. If you’re in this movie, you’re potential cannon fodder and Eve guns down a bystander who makes the mistake of calling her a bitch. Everyone else wisely flees, and it’s then Jim against Eve in a darkened tunnel. He ends up wounded by gunfire after he breaks his own rule and loses concentration. Simmons convinces Eve to toss her the child by triggering a memory, and Jim puts a bullet through the android’s eye.
Anyone familiar with killer robot films won’t be surpised that Eve is still functional. She attacks Simmons and Jim – without a clean shot – slides his weapon to the cornered doctor. Gunshots don’t stop Eve (it doesn’t help that Simmons aims at her chest), but a timely distraction from Jim calling the sensitive droid a bitch and a gun barrel rammed into her empty eye socket prove an effective “off switch”.
Video Review
Honourable Mention (Unranked)
Steel and Lace (1991) – Gaily Morton (Clare Wren)
It seems 1991 was the year of the killer fembot, as this is another B-movie sci-fi thriller with the same central concept. Gaily Morton – the real woman, not the android that will be created later – commits suicide after a powerful businessman is found not guilty in a rape trial, thanks to false alibis from his four male accomplices. The men do get away their crime for many years, but the dead woman’s brother Albert (Bruce Davison) knows a thing or two about artificial intelligence. Now it’s time to send his creation – a robotic replica of Gaily – to exact revenge.
The targets – particularly the rapist Daniel Emerson (Michael Cerveris) – are unrepentent scum, and Albert’s desire for vengeance leads to innocents being killed too. Being a machine, “Gaily” is arguably not a true villainess, but stylish kills gain her an honourable mention. Albert satisfies his hatred by watching recordings of the murders, which are very bloody thanks to the weapons he’s installed. The android has a talent for blending in, using latex masks to pose as other women and holographic technology to pass as a male (which is a great and unexpected narrative feint).
A former court artist named Alison (Stacy Haiduk) assists police with their investigation, though Daniel is the main suspect until they realise what’s going on. The movie ends with Albert and his creation umping from a tall building. By then all five targets are dead, with the android uttering the line “Pretty. Very Pretty.” in reference to the rape.
Fans of gory deaths will be satisfied with the kill methods, which include android Gaily drilling a hole through a man’s chest, decapitating a second with her bare hands, and draining her third victim’s blood. The fourth and fifth murders – chopping her target’s head in two with a helicopter blade and incineration by lightning bolt (a rather cheap effect) – are almost a letdown.
Action Woman Fan 