... but that usually requires a conscience and Frank Rowlett (Dirk Benedict) doesn't appear to have one. It's not that he goes looking for evil, it's just that he drifts through life with no scruples, no direction. Well, nature hates a vacuum and his direction ends up in gambling, losing, and losing to the wrong guy to the tune of 7000 dollars.
Frank thinks he has found a way to pay - he's romanced an heiress, gotten her to agree to marry him, and even has her wealthy dad's blessings. But his rough mafia like creditor is not happy with the long time line of a month or more before the wedding and thus his access to the money needed to pay his debt. So Frank gets desperate, hocking the watch his fiancée gave him to a fence, but only comes up with 250 bucks for it. Then he sees that the fence has a huge chest of money in the back of his shop. So when the fence, Hai Lee, is distracted with customers Frank figures he'll take the money and run. But Hai Lee catches him and a fight ensues that Hai Lee intends to make to the death. Unfortunately it is his own as Frank kills him. Also unfortunately Hai Lee stabs Frank in the chest with a tattoo needle before he dies - it is only a flesh wound though. But maybe it was just intended to be, because Hai Lee is also a tattoo artist and a practitioner of voodoo.
So Frank can now pay off the creditor with Hai Lee's cash, nobody ever knew he was at Hai Lee's so he is in the clear for the murder, and he can marry the rich pretty girl. Of course it is not going to be that easy. Because soon he notices something where the tattoo needle wounded him, and that something is growing.
Frank's desperation sends him down the road to bigger and bigger crimes with the cops on the trail of whoever it was that committed the original murder.
This thing is like a film noir about 20 to 30 years after the genre died out. Usually a film noir involves an unlikable protagonist with lots of character flaws who has only not committed big crimes because he has not had to do so. The noir puts him in a position where an act of evil is the easiest way out and from there it is the road to ruin.
I'd say it is worth your time even though it is pretty obvious where this one is going after the first twenty minutes.