Movie

Eve of Destruction (1991)

A moderate-budget sci-fi actioner from the golden age of B-movies, with lead actress Renée Soutendijk in a dual role as Dr Eve Simmons and her android lookalike Eve VIII. She performs admirably as human and machine, and the 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 rest of the review.

Eve is intended for battlefield use, and Simmons’ flagship prototype for a funding review. A routine test run in San Francisco goes well until two masked men commit a bank robbery with Eve on the premises. The android’s programming didn’t include armed criminal etiquette, so she ignores their demands to hit the floor. Eve’s handler intervenes and kills one criminal, but gets shot by the other. The robber loses patience with Eve and blasts her with his shotgun, which barely slows her down. She treats the robber as a threat and sends the shocked man flying through a window.

With the machine now locked in battle mode, she collects a dropped Uzi, then purchases ammo and a stylish red leather jacket. Hoping to keep a low profile (yeah, right), the authorities call in anti-terrorist expert Colonel Jim McQuade (Gregory Hines). We get the usual chalk and cheese relationship between science and the military, with Simmons and Jim at each other’s throats from the start.

As Eve goes on a murderous rampage through the city, Simmons and Jim work together to stop the killing machine. The android’s defences and near invulnerability to conventional weapons make her a tough opponent. Mixing 1990s images with future tech always looks silly, but the key takeaway from the briefing is to aim for the eyes. Jim questions why Eve doesn’t have an off switch, but things are never that simple.

Villainess

Eve VIII (Renée Soutendijk)

Eve has been programmed with the thoughts and feelings of her creator, but no longer has restraint. This leads to an interesting character dynamic where Eve acts out Simmons’ fantasies, doing things the doctor contemplated in the past but never went through with.

First on the agenda is a visit to a seedy motel where she seduces a misogynistic man and takes him to her room. Things get messy when this conflicts with Eve’s self-defence priorities. When the guy calls her a bitch, she bites off… an important piece of anatomy. The guy’s friends – who had been listening at the door – burst in looking for payback, but engaging a killing machine in hand to hand combat ends badly.

The police outside – who’ve traced Eve’s rental vehicle – are no match for the android. Several Uzi bursts later, there are five dead officers for the sheriff to deal with and an enemy who shows no sign of stopping. Eve’s only concern is the single bullet hole in her expensive jacket, and that was the first taste of 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 who acts aggressively (and calls her a naughty B word). Eve takes road rage to the extreme and rams his car into the dirt. When the guy thinks it’s all over, the killer android psychs herself up and drives into the stranded vehicle. The physical and emotional shock triggers a device in Eve’s spine. McQuade learns that the nuclear bomb inside Eve is now active and set to explode in twenty-four hours. And he’s not too impressed the military kept 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 tells his men to wait outside, but Simmons isn’t good at following instructions. After a verbal exchange over the radio gets her nowhere, she enters to witness Eve snap her dad’s neck. Being Eve’s creator doesn’t grant Simmons any special status, and Eve opens fire. The doctor escapes without harm, but some of Jim’s men aren’t so lucky.

Simmons predicts Eve will travel to New York to visit her son, who’s staying with her ex-husband. While the guess is accurate, covert surveillance by government agents doesn’t prevent Eve from reaching her target. Simmons warns a surprised ex that the “woman” he’s with is an android, but it’s too late. Jim waits in the apartment building lobby, weapon at the ready, but Eve uses the elevator distraction / takes the stairs trick. This android sure is a quick learner.

Eve’s path of destruction moves to the streets, with the leather-clad walking time bomb gunning down agents and narrowly missing Jim, and then to a subway station. If you’re in this movie, you’re potential cannon fodder, and Eve murders a bystander who makes the mistake of calling her a bitch. Everyone else wisely flees, and it’s Jim against Eve in a darkened tunnel. He’s 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 surprised that Eve is still functional. She attacks Simmons and Jim – without a clean shot – slides his weapon to the cornered doctor. Bullets don’t stop Eve, but a name-calling bluff from Jim distracts her. Simmons rams the pistol into her empty eye socket, and that kill shot is an effective “off switch”.

Honourable Mention: Synthetic Women

Steel and Lace (1990) – Gaily Morton (Clare Wren)

A year earlier, we had another B-movie sci-fi thriller with the same concept. Gaily Morton commits suicide after a powerful businessman is acquitted in a rape trial, thanks to false alibis from his four male accomplices. The men escape justice for many years, but the victim’s brother, Albert (Bruce Davison) is an expert in artificial intelligence. Time to send his creation – a robotic replica of Gaily – to exact revenge.

The targets – particularly the rapist Daniel Emerson (Michael Cerveris) – are unrepentant scum, and Albert’s desire for vengeance leads to innocent victims too. Being a machine, Gaily is arguably not a true villainess, but stylish kills gain her an honourable mention. Albert satisfies his bloodlust by watching recordings of the murders, which are graphic thanks to the android’s weapons. She has a talent for blending in and uses latex masks to pose as other women. Her best moment, though, is impersonating a man by holographic technology (an unexpected narrative feint).

A former court artist named Alison (Stacy Haiduk) assists the police investigation, though Daniel is the prime suspect until they realise what’s going on. The movie ends with Albert and his creation jumping off a tall building. By then, all five targets are dead, and the android says, “Pretty. Very Pretty,” to reference the rape.

Fans of gory deaths will be satisfied with the killing methods. These include drilling a hole through a man’s chest, decapitation with her bare hands, and draining blood. The later 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.