1987’s The Survivalist opens with a mushroom cloud forming over a frozen landscape.
In America, a nervous-looking newscaster announces that someone has set off a nuclear bomb in Siberia. The bomb was apparently a “suitcase bomb” and it was probably set off by a group of terrorists who figured bombing one of the most desolate and sparsely-populated places on Earth would make their point. However, the Russians are convinced that America was behind the bomb. Nuclear war is eminent.
People go into a panic. Civil disorder breaks out. Even a small town in South Texas finds itself in the grip of societal collapse. Fortunately, independent builder Jack Tilman (Steve Railsback) has spent his life preparing for this moment. He has hundreds of guns and explosives and he’s prepared to take his family into the desert while civilization collapses. When a desperate neighbor comes back Jack’s house and asks for a gun, Jack gives him a shotgun and then reacts with shocks when his friend reveals that he’s never fired a gun before. Considering that they live in South Texas, I’m surprised too.
(Seriously, how do they scare off the coyotes?)
Jack leaves his home to get some gasoline for their trip. While he’s out, he’s harassed by the motorcycle riding Lt. Youngman (Marjoe Gortner). Youngman is with the National Guard and, apparently, the National Guard has turned into a motorcycle gang. Youngman is declaring martial law and setting himself up as a warlord. With his perpetual smirk and his feathered hair, Lt. Youngman epitomizes the arrogance of authority. Jack has no use for him. Jack also has no use for anyone who wants to keep him from getting his money out of the bank. Jack has access to a bulldozer, after all.
Unfortunately, while Jack is arguing with Youngman and smashing into the bank, a group of hippies are breaking into his house and killing his family. A half-crazed Jack kidnaps two of his friends — Dr. Vincent Ryan (Cliff DeYoung) and his wife, Linda (Susan Blakely) — and he takes them into the desert with him. When Vincent demands to know why they’ve been kidnapped, Jack says that he’s trying to protect them. Linda gets it. Unfortunately, Vincent doesn’t.
Last night, I was searching for some Marjoe Gortner films to review. I came across The Survivalist on Letterboxed and I also came across some amazingly vitriolic reviews, largely from Leftists who accused the film of being a paranoid right-wing fantasy. I read those reviews and I thought to myself, “It stars Steve Railsback and Marjoe Gortner and it annoys the commies? I have to watch this!” I was able to track the film down on YouTube and I proceeded to spend 90 minutes watching civilization collapse.
Is it a good film? It depends on how you define good. It’s a low-budget, unashamedly trashy film that was clearly meant to appeal to people with a very definite worldview, one that the filmmakers may not have shared. (Most films are made solely to make money and any message that is selected is selected out of the hope that it will be profitable.) The government is corrupt. Most of the citizens have become complacent and aren’t prepared to handle any sort of crisis. When civilization collapses, only men like Jack Tilman and Lt. Youngman will thrive because they’re willing to be ruthless. To try to rationalize the situation, as Dr. Ryan does, is an often fatal mistake. In short, The Survivalist is a very paranoid film. That said, its story and its worldview really isn’t all that different from One Battle After Another.
I enjoyed The Survivalist, precisely because it is such a shameless film. This is the type of movie where the National Guard rides motorcycles and blow up random buildings for fun. It’s the type of film where one gunshot can cause a car to explode. It’s the type of film where actors like Cliff DeYoung and Susan Blakeley attempt to find some sort of deeper meaning in their awkward dialogue while Steve Railsback does his Clint Eastwood impersonation. Best of all, it’s got Marjoe Gortner going totally over-the-top as a smug authority figure. It’s a fun movie, a trashier version of Red Dawn.
What’s not to love?
