A broad, hulking, blond, terminator-like, ex-soldier, professional mercenary and martial arts psychopath, Bobby Kell (Jimmy Broome), hires a hooker, then visits a neighboring room to kill several old business associates, only to return minutes later to murder the prostitute as well. Later, he becomes obsessed with rock singer Delilah (Jessica Mark), performing at the Midnight Bell S&M club (with frequently naked Reena Jacobs (Chanda) at her side) and sends a severed finger with his calling card, a ring, as a gift. Assuming it’s a death threat, Delilah hires the highly recommended Brit Alwood (Charlie Spradling) for protection. Moments later while on the phone with her sister, undercover cop Jo (Maria Ford), Kell steps into Brit’s office and snaps her neck. Out for vengeance and possibly a few answers, Jo sticks close to the vocalist as Detective Aaron Sayles (Antonio Bacci), her boyfriend, searches for leads. The two later scour the town, interrogating Vietnam veterans that might know Bobby’s whereabouts.

Danny Marcus (James Paolelli), Delilah’s manager and abusive lover, starts causing problems for the talent when her producer, bigwig Sonny Luso (Bob McFarland) wants her to change her bad girl image and needs Danny to persuade her. Sonny stands to lose $2 million if she won’t see things her way, but could collect $1.5 million on an insurance policy if she winds up dead – which leads to an assassination attempt that is thwarted by both Jo and Kell, who she believes is trying to save Delilah for a sick and twisted fantasy finale.

Many scenes are simply an excuse to feature poorly choreographed martial arts fights with instant replays and slow motion for the more impressive moves and takedowns (the climax is actually a series of overlong hand-to-hand duels, gunfire and explosions). Others are included just for the sake of female nudity, including multiple musical performances with strippers and topless singers, and a slow-motion, overactive sex scene. Ford cruises around in a sports bra or half a shirt and skintight pants of varying colors; Delilah is content with just a bra. While these moments are present for only one reason, they slow down the sparsely entertaining serial killer bits – not that anyone will ever watch Angel of Destruction for its crime thriller merits. Credit is due, however, to the filmmakers when they opt to combine the two ideas into a topless fight with Maria Ford and a squadron of thugs.

Believe it or not, there is a slowly unfolding murder mystery hiding amongst the violence, sexuality, and stripping, involving the discovery of what makes Kell tick and the infiltration of his rusted boat converted into a dungeon-like house. Broome is actually a fairly convincing kook; too bad the surrounding actors and situations aren’t the least bit believable. Just as it becomes slightly more complex (keep in mind we’re dealing with a Maria Ford film), the story switches direction to showcase more flesh. When Kell abducts Reena, his ransom demands are to have Jo perform naked onstage at the club. This, of course, is where her backstory of previously being a stripper to make ends meet comes into play. Also, laughably, countless tables are destroyed by bodies being thrown across them, since just about every character is either taken out by a table, flipped onto a table, or smashed on top of one (during the conclusion, Ford is punched onto a makeshift table of crates), usually in slow motion. Now that’s classy, high production value. It’s probably safe to say, without having scene Maria Ford’s entire lineup of films, as bad as it is, Angel of Destruction is one of her best.

- Mike Massie

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