Movies have warned audiences of the consequences when man plays God and creates life in the lab. Frankenstein didn’t end too well for the doctor and his creation. But what if instead of creating life, a scientist builds a robotic simulation of a human? Is that safer? Eve of Destruction points out that simulating life is not a bad idea. Building artificial intelligence within that robot using the memories of the lead scientist is a bad idea.
What looks like Dr. Eve Simmons (The Fourth Man‘s Renée Soutendijk) hits the town for a series of normal activities. However what nobody seems to notice is this is really Eve VIII (also Soutendijk), an android meant to look and act like the doctor. But the experiment of sending Eve outside the top secret lab goes wrong when her visit to the bank has an unexpected twist. There’s a hold up and the android gets damaged. This messes up her up so she goes off her set program. She is now in “Battlefield Mode” which makes her eliminate anyone that’s a perceived threat. Even more terrifying is that she’s got a 20 megaton atomic bomb inside her that just might go off. She needs to be brought back to the lab before going boom. The only hope to track her down is Col. Jim McQuade (Gregory Hines). He’s the military’s main man in the world of counter terrorism. He’s given the unwanted assistance of Dr. Simmons. At first he thinks she’s holding him back, but he comes to understand that Eve VIII has her memories. The best way to predict the android is to study the human form. But can he succeed in time?
Gregory Hines was on a pretty good roll playing cops with Running Scared and Off Limits. He keeps it up here with his tracking ability. He doesn’t quite have the time for his usual charming moments. Renée Soutendijk was a major actress in Holland before coming to Hollywood. This would be her biggest achievement before she packed up and went back to the land of tulips and wooden shoes. She does pull off the double role. She’s better as Eve VIII when she gets to just beatdown evildoers and idiots. She’s an extremely hard-boiled blonde in such circumstances. She does seem to be having fun as a female Terminator with a ticking bomb in her bosom.
Eve of Destruction makes a great double feature with the recent Scream Factory release of Dark Angel. The two films came out within a year of each other. Over the course of the ’90s, their VHS boxes got pushed together on the Videorama SciFi section. Eve of Destruction dares to predict happens when you give a mechanical woman the memories of its female creator. Can a robot be a killing machine with maternal instincts? Although the bigger question is can the android be stopped?
The video is 1.78:1. The HD transfer brings out the fashions of the early ’90s. The audio is DTS-HS Master Audio Stereo. The sound quality is fine for the big action moments.
Trailer (1:58) lets us know that Eve VIII doesn’t play around.
Eve of Destruction is popcorn fun with its mixture of Frankenstein and The Terminator. Hines gets to show his action skills once more as he uses the scientist to track down her creation. Shame there’s no bonus features, but Gregory Hines and director Duncan Gibbons have passed away. Actress Renée Soutendijk is still in Holland.
Scream Factory presents Eve of Destruction. Directed by: Duncan Gibbons. Screenplay by: Duncan Gibbins & Yale Udoff. Starring: Gregory Hines, Renée Soutendijk, Kurt Fuller, Michael Greene and John M. Jackson. Running Time: 100 minutes. Rating: R. Released: November 19, 2013.
