Angel of Destruction (1994) User Reviews

Not too shabby...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 14 August 2023]

I knew about this 1994 thriller titled "Angel of Destruction", though I never were able to track it down before now in 2023. And thus, as I had the chance to watch the movie, of course I did so. And let's just be honest about why you would watch it, solely because of Maria Ford.

The storyline in "Angel of Destruction", as written by Paul Maslak and Charles Philip Moore, was actually better than I had expected it to be. I was expecting some cheesy low budget rump, but the movie's script was actually turning out to be entertaining and enjoyable, especially if you enjoy the cheesy 1990s semi-erotic thrillers.

Personally, I found the movie to have a bit too much pointless topless nudity in it. It doesn't really make for good entertainment, and it sort of sleazes the movie unecessarily down a notch or two. And if director Charles Philip Moore had opted to cut out the nudity entirely, then the movie would actually have been all the more enjoyable and I would have been able to take it more seriously.

The acting performances in "Angel of Destruction" were fair enough, though I was entirely unfamiliar with the cast ensemble, aside from Maria Ford whom had the leading role here. She carried the movie nicely, though it was a bit difficult to abhor from her very insanely pale skin pallor.

Watchable and enjoyable for the cheesy action thriller that it was, I have to say that "Angel of Destruction" actually turned out better than I had believed it to be.

My rating of "Angel of Destruction" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Crunchy action

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 27 August 2022]

An action B-flick, shot in the Philippines, and showcasing the talents of '90s starlet Maria Ford. She plays a woman investigating her sister's murder who finds himself up against mafia goons and a hulking serial killer with a penchant for misogyny. This trashy low budgeter was shot in the Philippines and contains surprisingly satisfying and crunchy fight scenes alongside gratuitous nudity throughout, a topless fight scene included. The actor who plays the murderer, a very tall blond chap, gives a horrible performance but certainly has an imposing screen presence and the film certainly makes good use of it.

It's Blackbelt with different actors.

[themadsamplist · 6/10 · 13 March 2020]

I watched this movie a few weeks ago and liked it. I just like these kinds of movies. Just now I put on Blackbelt from 1992 and it was very very familiar to me but I never watched it before. Angel of destruction is the same movie with different actors. Blackbelt has real fighters, Angel of destruction has Maria Ford.

Maria Ford *girl power*

[Charlotte_Kaye · 10/10 · 7 July 2006]

This movie is perfect escapist entertainment with the lovely Maria Ford as an avenging angel out to stop a creepy serial killer (Jimmy Broome) who has taken out her sister (Charlie Spradling) and plans to do the same to a bisexual Madonna-like pop singer (Jessica Mark) he is obsessed with. He also has a thing for mutilating topless Asian hookers in his down time and has a slew of 'Nam vet slimeballs working under him. The acting from the leads (Ford, Broome and Antonio Bacci as Maria's partner) is great, the dialogue and one-liners are absolutely hilarious, the guys in the audience will love the gratuitous female nudity and well the action just never stops as Maria karate kicks at least a hundred guys on her way to a final showdown with the killer! There are even several musical numbers! Ford is simply fabulous in this movie and is obviously trained in martial arts, not just some poser like you see in Hollywood garbage like Elektra and Catwoman. There's one hilarious moment I rewound like 10 times where one of Broome's henchmen says "Screw you douche bag!" and Maria immediately kicks him in the head! *Girl Power!* I love this movie. It never gets old and is a must in the collection of any self-respecting B movie fan!

Furious female vengeance

[kimberlymhn · 7/10 · 14 December 2006]

I love this movie. Maria Ford is beautiful and deadly and god knows why she did not make more martial arts movies like this. I read here that she was only cast in the film when the original star Charlie Spradling refused to do a topless fight scene. I applauded Spradling at first for making an ideological stand, (and I was quite anti Ford at first) but then found Spradling has actually done nude sequences which are far less empowering than the scene she supposedly objected to.

Spradling's character Britt appears early in the film and is an irritating swaggering imitation of a 'tough guy' male. She defeats several guys with martial arts but is easily beaten up and killed by a giant psychopathic soldier called Kell. Enter Ms Ford as her sister Jo. Everything Spradling does wrong, the talented Ms Ford does right. Her character is not trying to act 'male' in any way - she is confident, sexy and totally feminine. However when she fights nothing will stop her. Ms Ford must kill about 20 men with firearms and her body in this movie and what is satisfying is she has no 'super powers - she is just trained, fit and ruthless. The most famous scene is where Jo stays over at the house of the irritatingly fake 'female pop star' and her 'lesbian' lover . Several goons enter the house to kill or kidnap them but they don't count on the presence of Jo, who leaps from her bedroom dressed only in a thong and proceeds to destroy them with her hands and feet. Some have claimed that this scene was exploitative, but the thugs attacked at night - it's 99% certain that in a hot climate Jo would sleep in her underwear or nude. A friend of mine told me how she was awoken in her home when she heard an intruder. She was in bed naked at the time but confronted the startled thief and chased him out of her house without getting dressed! Regarding Ms Ford's body she is unconventional and refreshingly real for a 'B' actress with her then small breasts & untanned skin. The fact she is topless with her buttocks exposed makes her destruction of the attackers even more explosive and satisfying - here is an unarmed almost naked woman who uses deadly force to defend herself, crushing one man to death with her bare foot and snapping her final opponents neck with a beautifully executed roundhouse kick. Of course the whole sequence is silly - why do the intruders all seemingly run to separate regions of the house to be beaten to death one by one when they could have overwhelmed their female opponent easily by staying together? I'm pretty sure it was not the intention of the director to produce a scene which appealed to women, but watching Maria Ford fight so powerfully and convincingly in attire which we normally associate with female passivity and the oppression of the 'glamour' industry is amazing. Straight afterwards she has a sex scene, but it's notable that she initiates the encounter and dominates it.

It's not all good news though - there are a couple of embarrassing 'pop videos' which feature topless women for no reason other than 'eye candy' and Ford herself performs a silly and pointless striptease, but these obvious inserted scenes of titillation do not spoil the whole experience. I also liked that Jo is not invulnerable - she takes a savage beating in the final confrontation with Kell and realistically needs help to take him down. I heartily recommend this movie to those who want to see a powerful, uninhibited performance from an under appreciated star. It's a pity Quentin Tarantino didn't cast her as 'The Bride' in 'Kill Bill' as apparently he (like me) is a huge fan.

Maria Ford makes this movie happen!

[capkronos · 8/10 · 17 August 2003]

Unlike the reviewers below (who are probably just looking for a larger set of knockers on display), I am GLAD Maria Ford took over the lead in this film. She plays tough undercover cop Jo Alwood, who is out to avenge her sisters death at the hands of a serial killer. This serviceable exploitation story is a staple of the Roger Corman studios (look way back to the early 70s and TNT JACKSON), but this film would not be half as entertaining if not for the infinite talents of the leading lady.

Aside from just being a gorgeous and sexy lady, Maria is one of most talented, most watchable B-movie actresses of all time. As adept at high kicks and convincingly kicking sleazy male butt as she is at dramatic moments AND delivering her Clint Eastwood-style bad-ass dialogue, one must wonder...Is there anything this lovely lady cannot do well? Ms. Ford is terrific with or without her clothes on and carries this entire picture from beginning to end. It is a true shame she has seemingly retired. I know she will be sorely missed by late night cable and video watchers. Does anyone know what happened to her?

The film in general? Well, I can promise you you won't bored! There's action, blood, lots of laughs, good one-liners, nudity, explosions, music video sequences, severed fingers and much much more.

Brilliant bad movie.

[aloep · 5 February 2004]

Spoilers included:

First things first, this is not as "good" movie by any stretch of imagination, but it's so campy and Maria Ford is so sexy in the lead that it holds tons of entertainment value.

It starts with one guy and a woman heading up to an apartment. He tells her he's left something in the car and she flashes her breasts out and says "You better be quick". That is just the start of the nudity, and the start of how silly this movie gets. This guy proceeds into a room of around 7 guys and proceeds to attack them, and says to the last one standing "You left me and my men in Angola, I didn't like that." or something along those lines and proceeds to throw him out a window.

It then moves onto showing 2 "controversial" female performers on stage. Shortly afterwards, Delilah (the main performer) receives a womans finger with an odd looking ring on it. She presumes it's a death threat, and hires female cop Brit Alwood as her bodyguard. However, the hit-man that her boss has hired for her, has followed Delilah to the location of Brit Alwoods office. After the 2 girls have left, Brit gets a phonecall from her sister Jo (Maria Ford) and she's thrilled to tell her that she's been hired as Delilah's bodyguard. However, while deep in conversation the hit-man comes in and strangles Brit on the phone cord. So now the work of the hit-man Robert Kell is PERSONAL! As usual, there has to be some personal insult against our hero(ine) to make a revenge movie.

After Delilah finds out Brit is dead, she decides to hire her sister Jo (Maria Ford), as her bodyguard. Meanwhile, Jo meets Aaron, Brit's ex boyfriend/partner and just notices the ring logo resembles that of a local sleazy bar. Together, they visit the bar, and Jo asks the barman for info, he's as you predicted, rude and unhelpful, she then asks a customer who tears the sheet of paper up. She explodes at this guy, and what follows is a hilarious barfight of a sexy blonde taking out a bunch of redneck thugs. The fight scenes aren't very convincing as she successfully takes out guys far bigger than herself with no problem, but it's great fun to watch and it is more believable than garbage like Charlie's Angels!

So later on, a bunch of guys appear at the door of Delilah and her performing parters house, while Jo is in the bathroom just getting ready for sleep. Just while their arriving, she catches on and proceeds to take them down while TOPLESS. I loved this scene, it really made me laugh VERY hard. The sheer silliness of it, and the fact it's so obviously exploitive.

In between her and Aaron checking out Robert Kell's hideout from the help of a mercenary friend of his and Aaron getting the crap beaten out of him by Kell, Kell kidnaps Delilah and blackmails Jo into going onto the stage naked or else Delilah dies. Oh please!

So afterwards, we get another bunch of guys failing to take out Jo, this time in a gun battle, in which her boss who hired Kell to get her killed dies. Afterwards, she heads to the house of Delilah and Reena (her performer parter) to find her tied to a chair, she then tells her where Kell has taken Delilah, which is to an old disused prison. What follows is a bunch of inept guys who fail to use their weapons properly and Jo finally reaching Kell, and Aaron checking himself out of hospital in order to help Jo take down Kell. In a brief fight between Jo and Kell, she comes off worse and then Aaron shoots at Kell, while Delilah unties herself and hits him over the head with a plank of wood. Now dazed and weak, Jo spin kicks him a few times, knocking him down a large drop and sending him to his death and says "That was for my sister." Yep, not a cliché in sight.

Overall, this is NOT a good movie but it sure is fun. The acting is over the top, the production values are simple, and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. However, it gave me a great laugh, partly to see a sexy blonde bimbo taking out a bunch of redneck thugs, and partly because it was so stupid and campy. However, for a Corman flick it could be so much worse.

I'll let you work out a rating from your point of view. If your stuck in on a Friday night while all your friends are out and this is on TV, then go and watch it. If you're ever bored and there's nothing else, hell, just watch it. It'll be the greatest fun you've had looking at your TV screen in a while. If you've got something big planned on a night it's on TV, then don't bother.

I still can't figure out what rating I'd give it, it's badly made, silly and rather predictable, but it's fun, and I suppose that's all that matters in the end.

I'd love to see Maria Ford do more stuff like this!

So gratuitous, but yeah entertaining. The lead is good.

[destroyerwod · 7/10 · 18 February 2013]

This is the first Mario Ford movie i watch, but i read enough on her to know she is not afraid of taking her clothes off, and this movie seem to be a perfect example of it. She goes topless... well over 3 times for sure, including a strip tease scene that is as unnecessary and gratuitous as it can get, and she ain't the only one. Pretty much every female except one get naked in this. So yeah we can say that this movie ain't shy on going for gratuitous nudity and trust me, the plot didn't call for it either.

Then the fights, the reason why i bough this movie in the first place, is because I'm on a quest to get every martial art American movie released in the 90s, and if you like this style, you may see my name on quite a few reviews of those. Well lets just say the fight scene are not very convincing, but decent enough when it comes to the lead, who is not by any means a martial artist. The director opted for what he could, as Miss Ford is no Cynthia Rothrock both in fluidity and body muscle. She fights a more "realistic" approach which is not really martial arts except a few kicks, but there its still a bit hard to swallow due to her being not very muscular, looking very fragile and its also a very low budget movie, so there is plenty of times where you think "damn those guys would kick her head off".

But where Maria Ford extremely shine is on the acting, she got that attitude in her character that was very convincing, and she even deliver a couple "attitude" one liners that i tough where awesome. She ain't looking cheesy or anything, surprisingly, even tough she don't have the tough chicks look at all, she act it so well you can actually believe she is.

Overall the story is your typical stalker/bodyguard story with a personal touch of revenge, something very 90s martial art movies style, but effective.

So i will give a nice 7 to this one because i feel they tried, they really tried to make a good movie, Maria Ford make a good performance and I'm looking to watch some of her other stuff for her acting ability. Im surprise she never made it bigger, cause she is definitely a good actress.

THE BODYGUARD with naked kickboxing!

[udar55 · 10/10 · 22 January 2012]

Singer/stripper Delilah (Jessica Mark) is stalked by a creepy ex- mercenary (Jimmy Broome), who likes to leave severed fingers in her dressing room. Justifiably spooked, she hires private eye Brit Alwood (Charlie Spradling) for protection but that ends rather quickly when the psycho shows up in Brit's office minutes after the hiring and kills her. So it is up to Jo Alwood (Maria Ford), Brit's stepsister, to take on the job and stop this killer. Not only that, but she has to deal with sleazy mafia type and former adversary Sonny Luso (Bob McFarland), Delilah's funder who is upset she is too racy and wants her to be more "like Peggy Lee" (what!?!).

I can't believe how long this B-movie masterpiece has eluded me. I don't want to oversell it, but this is about as perfect an exploitation film as you can get with director Charles Philip Moore (DEMON WIND) cramming in everything he could. Essentially a riff on 1992's popular THE BODYGUARD (and essentially a remake of Moore's earlier BLACKBELT [1992], a BODYGUARD ripoff with Don "The Dragon" Wilson that went into production when news of Costner's vehicle hit and beat it to release by 6 months), the film ups the violence and nudity to insane levels. If a fight isn't happening on screen, most likely one of Delilah's nudity filled shows is. Moore reaches the pinnacle during a nighttime assassination attempt where Ford thwarts the goons with her kickboxing skills while clad only in a g-string. It is the type of thing you would expect from a HK production (ESCAPE FROM BROTHEL did it in 1992), but not readily seen in US stuff. The bloody shootouts (done in glorious slo-mo) also echo the HK style at the time. The production tried to get the Philippines to stand in for Hawaii but it doesn't really work.

Not a bad movie...

[blindnes · 18 May 1999]

Not really that bad of a movie, mild T & A in it. The acting was not the greatest as usual in most B movies. The continuity in the fight scenes was a little off. But most of the action was there, and I was able to watch it all the way through so it couldn't have been all that bad!

It's probably one of the last true exploitation pictures in the grindhouse style

[tarbosh22000 · 7/10 · 10 June 2020]

Delilah (Mark) and her sidekick Reena (Chanda) are the hottest act on the Hawaiian pop scene. They combine the female togetherness of T.a.T.u with the 80's-esque rock stylings of Pat Benatar. And they both perform live and in their music videos topless. Naturally this makes unhinged stalker/former mercenary Robert Kell (Broome) even more nutso. Not only does he kill prostitutes for sport while enacting a bizarre wedding ceremony with them, he also offs Brit Allwood (Spradling), a police officer tasked with protecting the duo.



When Brit's sister Jo (Ford) finds out what's going on, she's none too pleased. Not only does she take up Brit's former role of protecting the gals, she also goes on a one-woman rampage to find and stop Kell. After he kidnaps Reena, all bets are off. Jo then pulls out all the stops to save Reena and save the day. For Kell, will Jo be his ANGEL OF DESTRUCTION?

I want to live in a world where extremely attractive cops wear sleeveless half-shirts as their normal work attire. Even the female ones. Anyone who has ever seen any Roger Corman-produced action movies, from TNT Jackson (1974) to Firecracker (1981) to Silk (1986) to Angelfist (1993) to Black Belt (1992) and beyond will be very familiar with the formula used here, again, for Angel of Destruction. At this point it's basically comfort food. It adheres to the Corman-mandated 85-minute running time and meets or exceeds the nudity requirements. Most importantly, however, it's very entertaining.





We could all use more Maria Ford in our lives and here is a chance to see her as the tough chick who gets results. She fights in the time-honored barfight, among other beat-em-up moments (including the classic almost-naked fight scene Corman has used before, but once you've struck gold there's no need to mess with the formula).



The first song performed by Delilah and Reena, which is either called "Are You Changed" or "Are You Chained" is a catchy one, and is a clever way for director Moore to improve upon the rather boring stripping scenes Corman insisted upon around this time. Yes, there is stripping during the song, but it's an original song and a live concert performance, not just a strip act (although Maria Ford as Jo, who does mention she was a former stripper, also strips in a later scene. Apparently even though she's now a highly-capable cop, the lure of the old ways is just too strong).



Jessica Mark as Delilah is a mystery. Despite her - dare I say - exquisite, model-esque beauty, this is her only credited acting role and she doesn't have a Wikipedia page. Her career could have been massive, but it seems she just dropped completely off the map. Chanda is less of a puzzle - she appeared in a decent amount of 90's erotic thrillers before disappearing herself (more than likely marriage and kids with a producer, but that's just a guess). Oddly, legendary adult actress Georgina Spelvin is credited as Foley Supervisor. And yes, it is the same Georgina Spelvin, even though her credit is spelled as Spellvin. Can anyone explain this? Just another mystery, evidently.



Because it was shot in the Philippines, some familiar faces are on display - Jim Moss, Nick Nicholson, and Henry Strzalkowski, among others, but Ford's love interest looks like John Stossel. Well, he has a mustache like Stossel. Angel of Destruction is as close as you'll get to seeing Stossel-Fu. For now.



Naturally, it all ends in a Final Warehouse Fight. This ticks off the final box required, so now we can officially say that Angel of Destruction delivers the goods. It's good old fashioned, Cinemax-style, brainless fun. There's bullets, beat-em-ups, and babes. It's a nice fantasy and it won't take up much of your time.

It's probably one of the last true exploitation pictures in the grindhouse style, and we applaud that to the utmost. Would that more movies had the guts to be this shamelessly entertaining and have such dedication to nudity.

With that, how could we not recommend Angel of Destruction? See it tonight!

not bad at all but it shows being a B flick

[trashgang · 7/10 · 12 January 2017]

I came across this flick due being two reasons, first of all, it doesn't look like a 1994 flick it's more an eighties flick in the exploitation genre. The second reason is the fact that Maria Ford is in it. I never has seen a flick with her but liking exploitation, horror and B flicks and being Quentin Tarantino's "favorite B actress" I gave it a try.

The story I could dig but it shows that this is a B grade flick with a lot of gratuitous nudity even from Ford. And it's so gratuitous that it even made me laugh. She plays a cop but just look how she walks around as a cop, it's more a hooker. But the scene I was referring to is the fight scene she has at a the home of the girl she body-guarding, she has a fight going on just in her G-string. Really?

But the flick never has a boring moment, and a lot of fighting going on, in a ridiculous way edited and you can spot that the actors, ahum, all wait for impact of a fist or feet. No, this one you don't watch for the acting.

With an eighties overlook it's out there for the lovers of exploitation and B-flicks. It's not that bad with only Maria Ford and Bob McFarland being the thespians who you can catch in other flicks. 99% of the actors here only appeared in this flick only. No special effects used, but a lot of action and T&A.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

Regarding Charlie

[helltopo · 14 September 2001]

In answer to the previous poster who felt Charlie Spradling should have been the star, Spradling was originally the sole female lead, but with miles of film in the can and on location, she refused to do the scene where she was required to kickbox several guys clad only in a thong. The producer Roger Corman promptly re-wrote the script whereby the Spradling character was killed off & Maria Ford was drafted in to take the lead as her avenging sister.

A remake of Blackbelt?

[jax-08076 · 6/10 · 9 March 2024]

After watching this, I can simply say that Angel Of Destruction is an almost on par remake of Roger Corman's action flick Blackbelt, which dated this film by two years. The only changes made include the film's setting, Don Wilson's character being swapped out for Maria Ford, Jimmy Broome being selected as the "John Sweet" of the film, and of course, the soundtrack. Some notable scenes are also left in, including the opening hotel fight scene, and the bar fight later in the film, which is watered down quite a lot.

Other than that, this film is decent at best. Plenty of fight scenes (which are better than the shootouts) and the cheese level is just enough for me to give this one a 6.

Funny, and entertaining

[sbr · 28 May 2001]

This movie is overacted, and it's great! If you like watching B movies this is a great one. The line that sticks in my mind and will stick in yours once you see it because of the ho-hum delivery "did your father rape you?" as if she is asking if stamps still cost $.32. This is an example of a film that if the actors were replaced with mainstream actors would cause the film to suck, but the way it is so overly done makes it funny and entertaining. If you feel like making fun of a movie this is the one to rent.

Pretty rough B action

[Dax-21 · 30 September 1999]

Not a great film, but enough to waste a few hours pleasantly. usual storyline featuring a seriel killer and a high kicking karate kidette who is out to revenge the murder of her sister.

Maria Ford as the lead is OK and her fight scenes are adequate but not great - she even high kicks 5 guys topless at one point...but my beef with this is why her and not Charlie Spradling, who plays her sister, who dies early on whilst remaining fully clothed throughout! After all Charlie has a much better bod than Maria!

Anyway. Worth a rent but not a buy.