The Evil That Men Do is a 1984 action thriller film directed by J. Lee Thompson, and starring Charles Bronson, Theresa Saldana, and Joseph Maher. The film was adapted by David Lee Henry and John Crowther from the novel of the same name by R. Lance Hill. Bronson plays a former assassin, who comes out of retirement to avenge the death of his journalist friend at the hands of a torturer called 'The Doctor,' who works for various dictatorships worldwide, particularly those of Operation Condor. The movie marks the fifth collaboration between Bronson and director J. Lee Thompson, following St. Ives, The White Buffalo, Caboblanco, and 10 to Midnight.
Plot
In Suriname, where Clement Moloch, referred to as "The Doctor" is shown torturing a journalist called Jorge in front of government officials with electricity. Outside of the building, an Israeli Mossad team attempts to rig a bomb under the Doctor's car. The operation fails and one of the team is killed. The next scene takes place on the Cayman Islands where Holland, a retired assassin, lives in relative peace. He is asked by an old friend to assassinate the Doctor. Though he initially refuses to intervene, after learning that his friend Jorge was killed by him and watching videoed testimonies of Molloch's other torture victims from around the world, including Chile and Asia. Holland then decides to avenge his friend. He agrees to search for Molloch but wants to appear as a family man/tourist and therefore accompanies Jorge's widow Rhianna and her daughter Sarah into Guatemala, where the Doctor is based. The three meet up with Max Ortiz, a friend, who takes them to a cock fighting ring frequented by Molloch. They are followed by an apparently crippled man, but Holland alerts him to his presence before he can get to him and he escapes. Later, Max shows them to Molloch's compound. Holland returns at night and sees the crippled man walking normally. He scopes out the lights and cameras for later. Holland and Rhianna go into town for information. While he is off at the bar, a local begins harassing Rhianna. Holland crushes his groin and neck to a cheering crowd and catches the attention of another of Molloch's henchmen. Holland and Rhianna trick the man into returning to their hotel for a threesome, and Holland kills him by throwing a knife into his neck. Rhianna is horrified and Holland demands she return home, as his mission is becoming dangerous. However, Rhianna refuses to return home, wanting to see the Doctor killed in person. Holland decides to draw the Doctor out by kidnapping his sister Claire. He breaks into her hotel room and awaits her return. She returns, but with her female lover, and Holland is forced to wait for her to leave, hiding under the bed during their love making. After she leaves, a male henchman comes in and begins rolling a joint. Holland apprehends him while Claire showers. He kidnaps Claire and throws the man off the balcony with the fire hose tied around his neck, hanging him publicly to cause a distraction for he and Claire to escape. They go to a ranch owned by Max and Holland advises Max to go into hiding. Unbeknownst to Holland, Molloch has the local militia arrest Max, whom he tortures to reveal Holland and Claire's hideout. When Molloch calls to negotiate, he inadvertently reveals that he knows their location. Holland puts Claire in the trunk and he and Rhianna drive off. Thugs sent by the US ambassador follow and, after a shootout and chase, crash their car and are killed. In the rough chase, Claire dies in the trunk. Holland and Rhianna buy a local farmer's truck and head to the village of Magdalena. They are followed by the US ambassador and other thugs who also decide to head for Magdalena. When Holland and Rhianna arrive, they meet a man who owns a cafe and phone. They go to his place to use the phone and are confronted by the ambassador and a thug. Holland kills them both and calls Molloch, demanding he come alone to retrieve Claire from a nearby abandoned mine. When they go to the mine, they find several disfigured men attempting to find any remaining opal. They advise the men to leave because danger approaches, but they refuse, going into hiding only when they see Molloch's car approaching. Molloch reveals that he has captured Rhianna's daughter, Sarah. Panicking because they do not have Claire, Holland plays a tape recording of her voice. Molloch runs into the open and the miners recognize him as the man who disfigured and tortured them. They begin to approach his car and, becoming nervous, the thug holding Sarah is distracted and Holland kills him. Sarah runs to Rhianna and the miners slowly encroach on the Doctor, killing him with their hammers and picks. Holland, Rhianna and Sarah returns safely to Holland's home in the Cayman Islands.
The movie's first draft was written by the novel's writer, R. Lance Hill. John Crowther was hired to rewrite the draft in the spring of 1982. Crowther was originally hired on a weekly contract, but when the producers realized the extent to which the script needed rewriting, it was drastically extended. Prior to rewriting the film's screenplay, Crowther had written the martial-arts, action movieKill and Kill Again. Crowther had known Pancho Kohner—the movie's producer—for many years. It was Kohner who hired him to rewrite the script. In addition to this, Crowther had worked on Bronson's earlier movies. For example, he was an uncredited writer on Love and Bullets; and a casting director on 10 to Midnight. According to Crowther, Hill's script was of poor quality, and the producers knew that it would need "major rewrites". In Crowther's opinion, there were "holes" in the logic of Hill's script. He gave an example where, in the novel, Molloch is said to have better security than an "Israeli Mossad". But in the reality of Hill's script, Molloch merely has "three lame-os" providing him with security. Crowther called Hill's premise "ridiculous". Crowther felt that it was a constant challenge to rewrite the script. To make the movie more interesting, seven of the novel’s minor characters were cut from the script. In addition to this, a number of vignettes were also cut, including: Moloch’s surreal dream of being tortured in a concentration camp by Josef Mengele.
Production
Filming
The cast and crew went to Mexico to begin filming the movie in March, 1983. By shooting the movie in Mexico, the producers saved a lot of money. There was no sound stage, and everything was shot on location. Producer Pancho Kohner and executive producer Lance Hool were on set for the entire time of filming. Bronson was contracted to film at least eight hours a day. According to Crowther, because Bronson's family was with him on set, he would not work more hours than what was stated in his contract. The cast and crew had a lot of respect for the movie's director. Kohner said that during filming, Thompson was very proficient and knew exactly what shots he wanted to capture.
Reception
, a review aggregator, reports that 40% of five surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 4.8/10. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that audiences want to see Bronson kill people, and the film delivers many audience-pleasing kills. Time Out London called it "a clumsy catalogue of pain and death". Fred Lutz of the Toledo Blade identified the film as a comeback for Bronson. Dan Lorentz of the Milwaukee Sentinel wrote that the film is violent and exploitative, but it will probably satisfy fans of Bronson.
