In 1984 the film The Evil That Men Do was very relevant because of the news coming out of El Salvador. During the Cold War the USA supported some pretty nauseating folks, El Salvador's regime was one of them. The unnamed Central American country where the action takes place is El Salvador.
Charles Bronson is a retired hit-man who takes a commission to avenge the death of Theresa Saldana's husband, a journalist critical of the regime. The guy she holds responsible is Joseph Maher, known as 'El Doctor' a bloodless sadist of distinctly non-Latin origin who apparently holds the rank of torturer in chief.
It's Maher's performance which you will remember from The Evil That Men Do. He's a man who apparently studied under Joseph Mengele and learned the trade well. He has but one weakness, for his lesbian sister, Antoinette Bower. Bronson plays on that to get his man.
Also note some good work from Raymond St. Jacques as Maher's number one assistant and from John Glover a sleazy CIA station chief in Central America who apparently Maher and company can call on for help.
Jose Ferrer is in the film all too briefly at the beginning as he hires Bronson on Saldana's behalf. He's always been a favorite of mine, I wish there was more of him here.
As for the climax, Director J. Lee Thompson took his inspiration from Tennessee Williams's Suddenly Last Summer. Some very eerie parallels to what happens to Sebastian in that film.
I like The Evil That Men Do because it deals with evil as an entity unto itself. We just have to remember 9/11 to realize that. The Doctor is pure evil and we rejoice in bringing him down.
