Project: Kill (1976)

User Rating:

4.1/10   

Director:

William Girdler

Writers:

David Sheldon (story)
Galen Thompson (writer)

Release Date:

October 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

A former government assassin flees a mind-control program in the Philippines, pursued by his ex-partner, the local police and Asian gangsters.

Plot Keywords:

Philippines | Agent | Assassination | Beautiful Woman | Spy

Cast

Leslie Nielsen	...	John Trevor
Gary Lockwood	...	Frank Lassiter
Nancy Kwan	...	Lee Su
Vic Silayan	...	Chief Insp. Cruz
Vic Diaz	...	Alok Lee
Galen Thompson	...	Carl Wagner
Carlos Salazar	...	Insp. Ortiz
Pamela Parsons	...	Lynn Walker
Maurice Downs	...	Hook
Franco Zarrate	...	Lung Set
Louis Florentino	...	Ramon
Henry Salcedo	...	Business Hood
Mark LeBuse	...	Herman Kitolis
Ibano Santos	...	Hotel Clerk (as Ibarro Santos)
Romy Blanco	...	Alok Hood

Also Known As:

The Guardian (USA) (pre-release title)
Total Control (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 (video premiere)

Filming Locations:

El Grande Hotel, Manila, Metro Manila, Luzon, Philippines

Company:

Mid-America Pictures

Trivia:

The head of the company originally set to distribute the film was found murdered shortly before it was to go into international release. It received spotty distribution because the rights were tied up in legal wrangling over the victim's estate for several years.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Carl proposes a toast with Jonathan and Hook, he has a glass in his hand already, but in the next shot he's picking the glass up.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Bourne Identity (2002)

Soundtrack:

Lonely World

"Have You Had Your Injections Today, John?"

And I am not talking about insulin for diabetes. Contrary to popular belief, veteran actor Leslie Nielsen did not have his first comedic role in "Naked Gun." No, ladies and gentleman, that role would have to be here, in "Project: Kill," one of the most unintentionally hilarious movies I've ever seen. What is so tragic is that I believe the filmmakers had half-sincerity in what they were doing - trying to make a decent '70s-style political paranoia movie on the cheap. Director and Kentucky-based B-movie maven William Girdler even called this his greatest film, making me wonder whether he had an injection or two of his own.

What they made instead is a movie with Nielsen embarrassing himself as a drugged-up, brainwashed top-secret assassin, walking through the Phillipines for some reason with both a bunch of Asian gangsters and an ex-partner after him (played by Gary Lockwood who, unbelievably, was in "2001: A Space Odyessey" 8 years earlier. His presence here certainly indicates that he received no royalties from that film). While on this little travel excursion, we get to see the beautiful and seedy sides of the Philippines (the producer appears to have spent the majority of the budget on pointless scenic photography at the expense of a badly-needed dialogue coach), and we also get to see the clumsiest kung-fu fight scenes ever put to celluloid. I'm not kidding - it seems as if Bugs Bunny was the resident martial arts consultant for filming. In addition, we get plenty of pseudo-sophisticated camera-work a la Sidney J. Furie's "The Ipcress File." I half expected to see the cameraman's foot slip into the bottom of the screen these shots were so inept. Two other highlights: a music score which seems to cut off and restart incorrectly during scene transitions, and Lockwood's boss on the telephone who has the voice of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

I feel deeply sorry for the people of the Philippines. First, the United States annexed their country and claimed it as U.S. territory, then a hundred years later it made cheap movies like this even more cheaply over there to exploit the currency differential. A movie like this is grounds for diplomatic sanctions by the Philippines against the U.S. It is good for a few laughs and for curiosity's sake. For that reason, I will forego giving it a formal star rating, and let you get out of this whatever qualities you may; after all, life is like a box of chocolates...