DVD Review: The Evil That Men Do
Written by: Kage Alan

Film Rating: C
DVD Special Features: N/A

Nobody exacted revenge the way Chucky did and I'm not talking about that
overgrown maniac doll.  I'm talking about the man who brought us "Death
Wish", "10 To Midnight" and "Murphy's Law" and those are just the later
classics (if we can call them as such).  I once caught an interview with
Charles Bronson and he said that he never watches a movie he makes because he always plays the same character.  He's right.  Change the scenery, change the bad guys, change the weapons, but kill one of Charles' family members or
friends and he'll still hunt your bad self down!

The evil in "The Evil That Men Do" is a sadistic…um, sadist (Joseph Maher,
"Sister Act") called "the Doctor" who enjoys torturing political prisoners
and lecturing politicians on the fine art of how to do it.  If he'd been an
author, he'd have written "How To Electrocute A Naked Man For Dummies".  Yes, that's how evil this guy is.  Unfortunately for him, the man he electrocutes during the first couple minutes of the film just so happens to be a friend of Charles.  Believe me, killing anybody back then was a risk because, let's face it, Charles had to know a lot of people based on the body count he
wracked up in his film career.

So, the Doctor screws up and it's not long before Dr. Hector Lomelin (José
Ferrer) tattles on him and asks a retired professional killer, Holland
(Charles Bronson in case you couldn't see that one coming), to return the
favor and kill the Doctor.  Holland plays it cool, just as always, and hems
and haws that he's retired and can't get involved again.  His conscience gets
the better of him a few minutes of film time later and he agrees to make the
hit, but in his own way and on his own terms.  Duh!

Holland heads off to Central America posing as a journalist with his deceased
friend's wife, Rhiana (Theresa Saldana, "All My Children") and her daughter.   
First he takes out the Doctor's head man, Randolph (Raymond St. Jacques,
"They Live") and a couple more guards, then decides to really rattle the
man's cage by kidnapping his sister.  Complication arise as usual, but not
without some highly anticipated Bronson payback, and the final confrontation
is quite juicy.  I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that Doctors always
do make the worst patients.

While I'm quite pleased that Tri Star has released "The Evil That Men Do" in
Widescreen (they included a dreaded Full Screen Presentation as well), the
picture quality is simply atrocious.  I've seen a couple of other films from
the same year this was made that look so much better.  There is a great deal
of grain and film specs throughout that reminds me of a first generation VHS
copy.  That and the mono soundtrack are the most disappointing things about
this disc besides the $19.99 price and lack of any extras (there is a film
trailer, though, but that's all).  I don't mine paying $20 for a disc with no
extras as long as the picture is decent.  While I enjoyed the movie, it gets
a lower mark from me because of the picture and sound quality.

Boy, they don't make them like this anymore.  Charles doesn't make them like
this anymore either.  The man is 81 years old, so it's unlikely we'll ever
see him in anything other than "Denture Wish VI".  Even if all the characters
he played were all essentially the same, who cares?  We went to see Bronson
do what he did best and the script was always secondary anyway.  This is a
man who, on the set, could vomit on command.  "The Evil That Men Do" is
another fun example of what we could expect from Charles and will remember
him by.  If you'd like some extra fun while watching the movie, look for the
hanging microphone in the top right of the picture 42 minutes in.  Ah, those
were the days.

Kage holds degrees in Creative Writing, as well as Film & Video. He has been featured in a Life Journey Tele-Course, published poems in several national anthologies, been a contributor to The Third Coast Magazine and written several novels. kage@modamag.com This site is a