Not the simple 'Death Wish' variant that one might expect from the title, posters and casting of Charles Bronson as an assassin, 'The Evil That Men Do' is actually light on violence and heavy on atmosphere as the plot focuses on Bronson working out how to stop a sadistic doctor from operating. Joseph Maher is excellent as the doctor in question, clearly modeled on Josef Mengele, who is employed by various governments to devise the most torturous ways possible to kill death row inmates. As such, the film walks an unusual moral line as Bronson is hired by those who believe in dignity in death rather than those against state sanctioned killings. However one feels about the film's stance on vigilantism, torture and violence, the project looks and sounds great with the reliable J. Lee Thompson at the helm. There are several effective hand-held shots throughout, the unsteadiness of which sets one on edge, and Ken Thorne's music score is spine-tingling. The chief setback here is the acting. Bronson does okay within the confines of his role, pretending to be a family man by travelling with a friend's widow and daughter, however, the young actress who plays the daughter is terrible, with rehearsed line delivery all the way, and Theresa Saldana is even worse as the frantic widow, reacting melodramatically to everything. Maher is great as mentioned though, and the talented supporting cast includes José Ferrer and John Glover. The action scenes are also solid (if a long way coming) and the final showdown is hard to forget with Maher's past almost literally coming back to haunt him.
Review of The Evil That Men Do
