The Exterminator

"...The Man They Pushed Too Far!"

- tagline

The Exterminator is a 1980 action film directed by James Glickenhaus, the producer of Maniac Cop and the Basket Case sequels.

Some time after a traumatic tour of duty in Vietnam, John Eastland is working with his war buddy Michael Jefferson at a New York City meat packing plant, and life is good...until a group of thugs(the Ghetto Ghouls) cripple Jefferson. Eastland takes his revenge on the thugs, but doesn't stop there, taking on every lowlife possible. He gives the press his moniker of "The Exterminator" and draws public support, but is drawn into conflict with various law enforcement agencies, including the CIA who misunderstands his motives.

The Exterminator was followed by a 1984 sequel, Exterminator 2. Eastland returns to take on the gang leader X, who killed his girlfriend.

The Exterminator provides examples of:

 * Big Applesauce
 * Cruel and Unusual Death
 * Fire-Breathing Weapon
 * Groin Attack
 * Hero Stole My Bike
 * Off with His Head
 * Pay Evil Unto Evil
 * Poisoned Weapons: Eastland takes to using poisoned bullets.
 * Politically-Incorrect Villain
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Det. James Dalton, who tries to gain an understanding of Eastland and why he went on his revenge spree.
 * Shell-Shocked Veteran
 * Vigilante Man

The sequel provides examples of:

 * Actionized Sequel
 * Disposable Woman
 * Sequel Escalation: In the original, Eastland only uses his flamethrower once. In the sequel, the order of the day seems to be "burn everything".