The Exterminator (1980) The Movie Promotional Booklet published by The Interstate Corporation

As part of marketing The Exterminator in the USA writer director James Glickenhaus and producer Mark Buntzman put a four page full color Promotional Booklet in the entertainment trade magazine Variety. It consisted of pictures from the movie and almost no text. The advert resulted in a lot of interest from different distributors in the USA. Among the pictures are a few photos not seen in other promotional material for the movie. On the front and back cover we have pictures from the Vietnam footage, including the iconic image of a GI soldier being thrown into the air by a massive explosion. This image of the soldier was at the beginning intended to be key art of the marketing campaign but it was soon replaced by the flamethrower wielding man in a biker helmet.

If you´re lying, I´ll be back...

The Exterminator (1980) Warner Bros Lobby Cards set France

In this blog entry I will be sharing my collection of Lobby Cards from France, half are identical to the Lobby Cards that can be found in the set used by Warner Bros in West Germany but there are also six new cards not seen in the West German Lobby Cards set.

Michael Jefferson (Steve James) attacks one of the Viet Cong fighters (Phil Chong) by garroting him. There is a identical Lobby Card in the West German set.

"The Ghetto Ghouls" attack Michael Jefferson (Steve James). There is a identical Lobby Card in the West German set.

Detective James Dalton (Christopher George) speaking with police officers at a crime scene.

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) going through newspaper clippings, this scene is not in the movie.

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) interrogating mob boss Gino Pontivini (Dick Bocelli) by hanging him above a industrial meat grinder. He asks him about how to get into his house, how to open his safe and if there is anything else he needs to know... "If you´re lying, I´ll be back..."

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) brandishing a 44 Magnum and a submachine gun. This scene is not in the movie. There is a identical Lobby Card in the West German set.

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) in Central Park. There is a identical Lobby Card in the West German set.

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) fires his 44 Magnum at the "The Ghetto Ghouls" coming at him at high speed. There is a identical Lobby Card in the West German set.

"The Ghetto Ghouls" car running of the bridge.

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) cuts off the paralyzed Michael Jefferson´s (Steve James)  life support machine after asking him if he wants him to shut off the machine, by blinking his eyes twice Jefferson answers yes.

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) helps Detective James Dalton (Christopher George) after a CIA sniper has shot him.

If you´re lying, I´ll be back...

The Exterminator (1980) Warner Bros Lobby Cards Set West Germany

In this blog entry I will share photos of my set of 11 West German lobby cards, unfortunately I´m not sure if this set is complete. I think this set of lobby cards have been used in theaters, the cards do show signs of old age and some of them have pin marks after having been on display.

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) as a Prisoner of War in the opening scenes of the movie.

Michael Jefferson (Steve James) attacks one of the Viet Cong fighters (Phil Chong).

Michael Jefferson (Steve James) being attacked by thugs belonging to "The Ghetto Ghouls"

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) wanders along 42nd street.

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) meets Times Square Hooker (Vonnabelle Roocke), as she begin to take her clothes off she reveals the horrific burn marks after being tortured by a sadistic pervert at a Chicken Place.

 John Eastland (Robert Ginty) brandishing a 44 Magnum and a submachine gun.

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) brandishing a submachine gun.

Nice promotional photo of Robert Ginty as John Eastland. 

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) confronts "The Ghetto Ghouls"

John Eastland (Robert Ginty) admires the the burning car wreck and the burning "Ghetto Ghouls" members in it.

Remember, if you´re lying, I´ll be back...

The Exterminator (1980) West German NFP Nr. 7666 Filmprogram

This is a small german language booklet consisting of 4 pages published April 1981 in West Germany, the synopsis is similar to the ones published by Alpha Film Limited for the UK market and Warner Bros for Germany. This small program features 9 stills (two of which are identical) from the movie, on the front and back we have Eastland standing on a rooftop brandishing a sub machine gun. I have a theory concerning this image, which is part of a series of photos but I´ll get back to it in a later blog entry. There are also three stills which I´m not sure if I've ever seen before, the first is of Eastland being cornered by two thugs from "The Ghetto Ghouls", the second shows "The Ghetto Ghouls" partying and the third shows Dr. Megan Stewart (played by Samantha Eggar) with a hospitalized "Ghetto Ghoul" member.

Eastland (Robert Ginty) being threatened at knifepoint by Marty (Ned Eisenberg), belonging to the "Ghetto Ghouls"

"The Ghetto Ghouls" partying, unbeknownst to them their party is about to be crashed by The Exterminator.

Eastland with with boy (Christopher Brenner) he has saved from the Chicken Place.

Dalton (Christopher George) and Stewart (Samantha Eggar) in bed,

The female character simply credited as the Times Square Whore (Vonnabelle Roocke) tied to the bed in the Chicken Place.

Stewart (Samantha Eggar) with a patient, one of the men belonging to "The Ghetto Ghouls" that Eastland left to be eaten alive by rats.

And remember if you´re lying, I´ll be back...

The Exterminator (1980) Warner Bros West German branch promotional material early 1980s

At first glance the promotional material (Synopsis, Biographies and Production Notes) published by Warner Bros. A Warner Communications Company belonging to WARNER-COLUMBIA branch in West Germany is identical to the material published by ALPHA FILMS LIMITED for the UK market but I do have to admit that my knowledge of the german language is very limited. I must admit I was kind of stunned realizing that Warner Bros was the distributor of the movie in West Germany in the early 1980s.

If you´re lying, I´ll be back...

The Exterminator (1980) Biographies for James Glickenhaus and Mark Buntzman and Production Notes

Continuing going through the promotional material used by ALPHA FILMS LIMITED in the UK 1980.

James Glickenhaus
James Glickenhaus, Director and Screenwriter of "The Exterminator", was born July 24th 1950, in New York City and grew up in Scarsdale, New York. He attended the University of California, Antioch, and Sarah  Lawrence, where he received a B.A.

After graduation he made educational, documentary, and industrial films in New York. He also organized and directed the Westchester Young Actor Theatre, a non-profit organisation designed to sponsor minority groups and help them develop theatrical skills.

In 1978 Glickenhaus directed his first feature, "The Astrologer (The Suicide Cult)", a science fiction horror film about a demonic cult, which was produced by Mark Huntsman.

His next venture was to write and direct the suspense thriller "The Exterminator", which stars Christopher George, Samantha Eggar and Robert Ginty, and was produced by Mark Buntzman. It was filmed on location in New York City and Marin County, California.

Mark Buntzman
Mark Buntzman, Producer of "The Exterminator", was born on July 31st, 1949, in Los Angeles, and has lived throughout the United States and Mexico. He has a B. Sc. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and did his graduate work in MIT's Sloan School of Business Management.

While still a student at MIT, Huntsman began producing scientific films, and later branched into educational and industrial films and television commercials. In 1978 he produced his first feature, "The Astrologer (The Suicide Cult)", a Science Fiction adventure picture shot in Washington, New York, England and India, written and directed by James Glickenhaus.

Buntzman's second theatrical film is "The Exterminator" in which he again teams with Glickenhaus.

Production notes
"The Exterminator" is a violently realistic suspense thriller which focuses on a young man who returns from Vietnam and takes the law into his own hands in a bloody vendetta against the New York underworld.

The production was filmed on locations in the New York area over a period of eight weeks, featuring some of the most unique stunts and special effects ever undertaken on actual locales.

After filming was completed in New York, the unit moved to California where the Vietnam battle scenes at the start of the picture were shot on locations in the Indian Dunes desert areas near Palm Springs.

These battle scenes also highlighted a number of unusual and dangerous special effects and stunts, including a beheading for which an entire animated body with facial expressions was built; a man being blown off the top of a high cliff into a canyon; and a series of large explosions.

Produced by Mark Buntzman, the film was directed by James Glickenhaus from his own original screenplay. Music for the film was composed by Academy Award winning composer Joe Renzetti who won an Oscar för Best Adaptation Score for his first film, "The Buddy Holly Story", and has since written the film music for "Stop The World" and "Fatso".

If you´re lying, I´ll be back...

Once upon a time in the late 1980s, the first time I watched The Exterminator (1980)

Once upon a time, in the late 1980s, I first saw The Exterminator (1980). Actually I had been made aware of the movie much earlier due to advertisements being printed in the Swedish magazine called Scandinavian Film & Video and watching the trailer as it was featured among the previews when you rented movies distributed by VTC. At this point I had in my mind constructed my own personal vision of what the movie was, the question was if it was going to live up to my expectations.
As usual in the late 1980s me and my cousin spent yet another weekend at our grandparents and my grandfather rented the movie for us. The movie had a huge impact on me,  it blew my own personal vision, which I had built up in my fantasy, into fragments. I remember rewatching the prologue which takes place in Vietnam not once or twice but several times in just one weekend. Seldom has a few minutes managed to provide such a horrific and violent glimpse into the hell of war. The pictures I share is of the VHS release that was the first release of The Exterminator that I watched, it was distributed by Video Tape Center Stockholm. Art Nr 8122. It was a re-release, the movie had been released earlier but more on that in a later blog entry.

The fact is that even now, as the years has passed, The Exterminator is still my favorite in the action sub genre labeled Vigilante Movies (violent revenge wreaked upon criminals, quite often by military veterans) As one can expect it is a violent genre that quite often feature rape (there's a genre within the vigilante subgenre labeled rape and revenge which features female victims getting back on the rapists, a good example of his is the notorious I Spit On Your Grave), murder and brutality.
And in this genre we have The Exterminator which manages to get us a glimpse into a hellish, dangerous and corrupt New York in the early 1980s (I really love the setting!!). In this movie we get to see a New York that is no more, We get to see the legendary 42nd street, Bronx, the Meat Packing District, Central Park and so on. We see street crime, we see the mob, drugs and sex trafficking as Eastland takes his own personal war into the streets. One thing that sets The Exterminator apart from the other vigilante movies is that Eastland is so brutal. It´s ultraviolet, gory and sleazy.

If you´re lying I´ll be back...

The Exterminator (1980) Biographies for Christopher George and Robert Ginty

Continuing working our way through the promotional material published for The Exterminator (1980) by ALPHA FILMS LIMITED in 1980. When reading what I´m sharing please keep in mind that this is directly from the promotional material, it was published 36 years ago. 

Christopher George 

Since making his professional acting debut on stage in a tour of "Mr. Roberts" in 1966, Christopher George has become a versatile and familiar performer on stage, screen and television.

Song his more recent films are "Day of The Animals", "Grizzly", and "Chisum". He also starred in the action-adventure TV series "Rat Patrol", and has made frequent guest appearances on such popular TV series as "Charlie's Angels", "Fantasy Island" and "Love Boat".

Born on February 25th, in Royal Oak, Michigan, George enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduation from Miami High School, Florida. Upon completion of his enlistment he graduated from the University of Miami with a Batchelor's degree in Finance.

He then took a variety of jobs which included being a private detective in Miami, a crewman on a Caribbean cargo boat, a performer in Florida tent shows, an operator of a drive-in theatre in Miami, the owner of a bar in California, and the owner of another drive-in theatre in South Carolina.

His developing interest in the theatre led him to New York City where he studied under the able tutelage of Wynn Handman and Christine Linkletter. He soon made his professional debut on an East Coast Tour with Hugh O'Brian in "Mr. Roberts".

That successful tour led to many roles in television encompassing both dramatic and comedic performances. Chris obtained unexpected international recognition when he was awarded the New York Film Festival Award for the best performance of an actor in a commercial. This commercial, for a shaving cream product, led to his being cast in his first feature film "The Gentle Rain", and then an important role in "El Dorado", with John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. Based upon his performance in the latter, Chris was chosen to star in the action adventure series, "Rat Patrol" on television.

Chris is married to actress Lynda Day George and the couple have two children; son Nicky and a daughter, Krisinda Casey. The family resides in Los Angeles, where Chris' leisure interest include skin-diving, water skiing, martial arts, hunting, painting, writing and boating.

Robert Ginty

The name Robert Ginty is synonymous with charm, vitality and talent. At six feet two with a slow smile that borders on an impish grin, light blue intelligent eyes and a quiet easy sense of humor, it's not difficult to recognize why Robert Ginty has been 'discovered'.

Though his rugged, outdoor good-looks suggest a California bred background, Bob was born in Brooklyn to an Irish Catholic family. With relatives already in politics, his destiny appeared to be three years of law school followed by steps into the political arena himself.

But at an early age, a relative gave him a set of drums and things were never quite the same. At 16, he began leaving home periodically and went on the road where he played back-up for various performers, including Jimi Hendrix during his rock-n-roll days.

He did take a stab at a more 'establishment' life though, and entered Princeton University. His fascination with acting, however, led him back to New York, and a transfer to college in Manhattan with a closer proximity to his first love - the theatre.

Encouraged by Academy Award winning director John Avildsen, he began to concentrate his energy more and more in acting lessons. Eventually, giving up formal academia altogether, he studied with such luminaries as Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg.

He played off-Broadway as well as in repertory, touring in such productions as "The Lion in Winter", "Once In a Lifetime", "My Three Angels" and "Cat On a Hot tin Roof". His first film break came in 1971 when he starred in "Incident Of October 20th", with Ralph Meeker, followed by "ChildrenCome Back". It was also during 1971 that he starred in the Princetown Playhouse Productions of "More Stately Mansions" and "Orpheus Descending", as well as creating the role of Jimmy in Terence McNally's anti-war play "Bring It All Home". More plays followed, and then in 1972 , he made his directorial debut in an off-Broadway production of "Appetites". That was followed by his performance in the Actor's Studio production of "The Silent Partner" with Estelle Parsons.

A turning point in his career occurred during the New Hampshire Shakespeare Festival where he starred in "Henry IV, Part I", "Midsummer Night's Dream", "Macbeth" and "As You Like It". He also met Harold Prince during this period, and he brought him to Broadway in such productions as "The Great God Brown", "Don Juan", "Government Inspector" and in Israel Horowitz' "The Indian Wants The Bronx".

In 1974, he finally made his decision and moved to Hollywood, Bob quickly found himself guesting in various series including, "Police Story", "Police Woman", and "The Rookies". And starring in such popular series as, "Baa Baa Blacksheep" and "Paper Chase". He also appeared in a number of made-for-TV movies such as "Gibbsville" and "Griffin and Phoenix". And while he has starred in a number of important feature films, including "Bound For Glory" and Two Minute Warning" it is his role in Hal Ashby's "Coming Home"  that he is most proud of.

When not working or studying, Bob can be found working out, playing softball or baseball, basketball, football on a tennis court or a golf course.

Addendum: Both Christopher George and Robert Ginty passed away several years ago.

Christopher George was born February 25, 1931 and passed away on November 28, 1983  due to a heart attack (age 52).

Robert Ginty was born November 14,  1948 and passed away on September 21, 2009 due to cancer (age 60).

The Exterminator (1980) synopsis

The following text is from ALPHA FILMS LIMITED promotional material for the movie doing back to 1980.

The Exterminator, a Mark Huntsman film written and directed by James Glickenhaus, is a story of violence set against the Bronx underworld.

John Estland (Robert Ginty) and his friend, Michael Jefferson (Steve James), survive the hell of Vietnam, with Jefferson barely saving Eastland's life under heavy enemy fire. But the hell doesn't end when they return to the Bronx. Jefferson is brutally attacked and his neck broken whilst saving Eastland from a gang of thugs. Jefferson is paralyzed for life, leaving his wife and children in poverty. Eastland swears revenge on the streetgang responsible - "The Ghetto Ghouls" - whose murders he commits with unthinkable brutality.  Eastland doesn't stop there: to help find money to support Jefferson's family, he preys on the underworld and its resources. The more he's forced into this world, however, the more he becomes involved in a one-man-war against the vicious criminals who live outside the law. He becomes an indestructible task force, obsessed with a righteousness that recognizes only his own morality. A series of incidents follow, gruesome enough to turn the stomachs of New York's finest. And each one increases the stature of the man who becomes known as "The Exterminator" - the man who can do what the cops can't.

While the public sees him as a hero, the police regard him as a one-man vigilante committee and a possible psychopathic killer to be dealt with accordingly.James Dalton (Christopher George), their finest detective is assigned to track him down.

At the same time, Dalton strikes up a friendship with a woman named Megan (Samantha Eggar), who, unknown to either one, is the doctor entrusted with the care of Jefferson, Eastland's friend. Their romance grows as does Eastland's revenge for unsolved crimes, and this relationship gives Dalton the lead for which he's been looking.

In the meantime the CIA has entered the case with instructions to terminate The Exterminator: its election year and no time for a popular hero to undermine the incumbent's ineffective law and order platform.

Fortunately for The Exterminator, Dalton catches up with him first only to be surprised by Eastland's willingness to give himself in. At that moment, shots ring out, catching both men in the chest. One shot sends Eastland off the waterfront catwalk 200 feet into the water. The other catches Dalton in the same manner, killing him instantly. The CIA have left no survivors. Or so they think.