Project: Kill (1976) User Reviews

Dumb and Double Dumb rumble at sundown

[yonhope · 4/10 · 10 October 2005]

Hi, Everyone, One way to make a movie build as it progresses, is to start with a very boring scene. Leslie Neilsen begins his role here by narrating a training film. We can instantly see he ain't the swiftest. The problem is, it is not a comedy. It's funny sometimes but never a comedy.

The director must be given most of the blame. The cast is OK. Gary Lockwood and Leslie Neilsen should change their roles. Leslie would make a better pursuer. Maybe Nancy Kwan and Gary should change roles. Nancy would be more believable in the fight scenes than Gary.

The actors appear to be doing their own stunt fighting. They look confused. They seem to be trying to remember their choreography while the opponents wait to be punched.

The acting borders on awful. Sometimes it crosses that border. The writing is conventional. You have a super secret agency of the government that is made up of well armed men. They are all very stupid. They have $300,000 to play with that they had hidden somewhere. They film some of their exploits for training purposes, but the films are all too dark to see what is going on.

My guess is that Leslie Neilsen and Gary Lockwood and Nancy Kwan have never got together to celebrate the release of this stinker.

I almost forgot. There is a song in the movie. The girl who sang it was the one who should have been chased and Karate chopped. Actually maybe the song writer should have been the villain.

Compare the beginning speech of George C. Scott in Patton with Leslie Neilsen's speech at the beginning of this movie. George C. Scott had a passion and the words to fit that passion. Leslie Neilsen sounds like a boxer being interviewed after a bout where he was unable to find a neutral corner.

If you want a turkey for Thanksgiving, this might be it. This is the bird that didn't quite make it over the cuckoo's nest.

Tom Willett

Project: Thrill-Free

[lemon_magic · 3/10 · 22 March 2008]

There's a vaguely interesting storyline with a tragic overtone in this little film - if you were generous, you could even call it "Ludlum-esque" - and the two lead actors have done good work elsewhere, but any promise "Project Kill" might have is buried from the opening credits under laughable execution and cheap, shoddy direction and production values.

I don't have the problem some viewers do with Leslie Nielsen as an dramatic hero, because I remember him from "Forbidden Planet". And Gary Lockwood was good in "2001" and even played the dashing lead in a light-weight fantasy film called "The Magic Sword". But this film proves that these two actors are really only as good as their screen-play and director let them be - they're badly miscast as secret agent "killing machines". Lockwood, in particular, just can't seem to get with the program - half of the time, he doesn't seem to know what to do with his arms. Nancy Kwan is OK - although she is so skinny and frail looking that it's kind of hard to see her as a sex object, and the other female "lead" is annoying, shrill and unappealing. (I admit that the lines her character has to speak don't help her cause.)

Oddly, the acting in some of the minor parts is a lot better, or at least more suitable for the story. Victor Diaz hams it up nicely as the chief gangster, and the guy playing Inspector Cruz is actually a pleasure to watch - here's a character actor who knows what he's doing on camera. And some of the extras and gangster thugs mug pretty well for the camera. Also, when they get shot, they really get into the whole "death throes" thing.

As for the fight scenes - it's as if someone associated with this movie watched the action sequences from "Mannix" and "Star Trek" and took notes...but they then lost their notes and tried to reproduce every thing from memory five years later. Nielsen and Lockwood are actually in pretty good shape for older male actors from that era, and Nielsen in particular is pretty buff with his shirt off - but they aren't fighters and they look silly and stiff trying to mix it up with the bad guys and with each other. There are a couple takes that don't completely such; for instance - there's a scene where Nielsen charges a door and shoots a bad guy through the door and back-fists another one out the window - that one was decent. Lockwood sucker punches a couple of thugs in a bar and hits one with piece of furniture, and that's decently done. But that's about it.

There are some nice, pretty shots of scenery, and one or two decent shots of Nielsen looking forlorn and lost, but for the most part, the movie is completely static and boring; even the sound and vocals are muddy and muffled. Sound design is one of the most underrated, but important, aspects to a quality film, and this one was obviously recorded on the cheap, which costs it another star.

Did I mention that the plot makes no sense? That there are holes in it you could drive a truck through? That most of the dialog completely misfires?

I only paid a buck to see this (it's a reissue from Digiview Productions) and I watched with a couple of glasses of nice wine late one night after everyone else had gone to bed, but I wasn't sleepy...I was looking for a time-killer, and that's what I got.

Poor Gary Lockwood. I hope he recovered from this.

Lacked Several Key Elements

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 2 October 2014]

Formed as a counter-assassination unit, "Project-Kill" has evolved from protecting persons of influence to one of covert assassination. Having risen up through the ranks "John Trevor" (Leslie Nielsen) has seen this change and he doesn't approve of it. As a result, even though he is in charge of training he announces his decision to leave the organization to his subordinate, "Frank Lassiter" (Gary Lockwood). This decision stuns Gary who reminds him that this type of action requires a lengthy debrief due to the top-secret information he possesses which other countries would love to have. Along with that his departure would also require a gradual withdrawal process because of the drugs all the agents take to bolster their effectiveness. But John remains firm and decides to leave immediately. When Frank attempts to stop him he is knocked unconscious. We then discover that John has fled to the Philippines with both Frank and other foreign governments in hot pursuit of him. Now, as far as this film is concerned, although the overall plot was certainly good, it lacked several key elements which could have immensely benefited this movie. For starters, other than Leslie Nielsen and Nancy Kwan (as "Lee Su") the acting was pretty bad. In particular, the performance of Pamela Parsons (as "Lynn Walker") was especially wooden. Likewise, both the script and the fight sequences needed improvement as well. In short, although this movie isn't extremely bad, it isn't necessarily that good either. I rate the movie as slightly below average.

"Surely, you don't have to keep doing these types of movies" "I'll try to stop...but please don't call me Shirley!"

[Poseidon-3 · 14 February 2007]

Oh, the horrid and lackluster road Nielson's career would have taken had he not participated in "Airplane!" a few years after this, a riotous comedy which gave him an entirely new lease on a career that had nearly come to a close. Here he is stuck in a horrible, low-budget mess in which he plays a government assassin who leaves his highly secretive organization (of which he was the head) and flees to the Philippines. His second-in-command Lockwood pursues him in order to either bring him back or eliminate him while the local police and local hoodlums are also on Nielson's tail. Somehow, he still finds time to meet and bed down Kwan, a lady staying at the same hotel as he is. Things start off inauspiciously with a group of men in those distinctly seventies workout suits watching a training movie about political killing. There seems to be an unspoken contest between Nielson and Lockwood as to who can unzip his top the furthest without looking too ridiculous. Since Nielson has a gold chain on under his, he wins by default. The film is alternately dull as dishwater and unintentionally hilarious. If a person has been waiting to see a knock-down kung fu battle between hired thugs and a man in a wheelchair, this is the film to grab. There's a fair amount of arm-wrenching and neck-breaking as is to be expected from a film called "Project: Kill", but it's more than a little laughable to see Nielson, and even Lockwood, performing these tasks, even if one considers that Nielson was taken fairly seriously at this stage of his career and that a solid career in comedy was yet to come around the bend. It must be noted, however, that in his shirtless scene, Nielson has remarkably toned abs for a man his age and for this time when working out was not a daily ritual for most people. Kwan's role couldn't be more thankless or insubstantial (or inconsequential!) Don't miss the scene in which Lockwood trashes a large section of a hotel lounge (not because of the resident singer, as one might expect!) and strides out without so much as a nod to the management and is then seen sitting in his room on the phone as if nothing happened. Maybe the place was just going to add the damage to his bill. Also, the said phone conversation appears to be with someone from "The Flintstones", so high-pitched and fast is the other voice on the line! Only those with an interest in obscure martial arts flicks (preferably bad ones!) or fans who feel the need to see Nielson's complete filmography should bother with this eternally average and amateurish movie.

Why, God, why?

[rjvspurs · 1/10 · 11 April 2007]

I have seen many movies throughout my life just like the next guy. This was something special. Project Kill is the worst movie I have ever seen. I actually bought this movie because of the comments made on this website and thought to myself that it can't be THAT bad. Boy was I wrong about that. This movie was rated R back in 1977 and after viewing it, I have yet to find out why. Just a few things that made this film horrible include: The dialogue has inflections that don't make sense where they are placed, the "fight" scenes are so fake I almost started throwing things at the TV, and Nancy Kwan's role in this gem is absolutely pointless. This movie is so bad, I just had to force myself to laugh during some parts to avoid an aneurysm. Godspeed to those who want to subject themselves to this torture.

Virtually unwatchable...

[doublezero-1 · 2/10 · 3 September 2007]

... and not just because my copy looked like someone held their cell phone camera up to a 16mm projector.

A young, spry (all of 55 years old!) Leslie Nielsen stars opposite Gary Lockwood with a vintage Pete Rose haircut in this attempt at a psychological thriller that, frankly, left me more confused than anything else. I'm amazed to learn that this film even saw a theatrical release.

"Project: Kill" borrows a theme successfully used in other films (like "The Manchurian Candidate"): government-bred, mind-controlled assassins. Nielsen's John Trevor, longing for the peaceful life he gave up the chance for long ago, decides he's had enough- he wants out, and escapes to Manila suffering withdrawal from The Program's brain-altering chemicals all the while. Lockwood's Frank Lassiter is charged with retrieving Trevor, as drugged-out brainwashed assassins aren't allowed to up and retire to Boca Raton. The two characters are apparently friends with a history together- which would indeed add an interesting dimension to the story- but their relationship is never really elaborated upon. As Lassiter tracks Trevor around the Phillipines, they each find themselves a romantic interest, some allies... some random gangsters get involved for some reason... and the movie climaxes with a fight at the always exciting location of "the docks."

Now, the climax is what convinced me to spend the $1 on this DVD. The synopsis on the package boasts that "Neilson (yes, it's misspelled) and Lockwood collide in an epic climax filled with exciting martial arts sequences." I know what you're thinking: battle of the Franks! Drebin vs. Poole! This is going to be amazing! Alas, no. Lockwood beating up William Shatner with his mind in the second pilot of Star Trek is more convincing. Nielsen's fight with the world's terrorists at the beginning of The Naked Gun was choreographed with more effort. The one redeeming feature of Project: Kill's climax was the "kill shot" Lockwood executes on Nielsen, in wondrous slow-motion against a setting sun- pretty darn funny. Unfortunately, the movie dribbles on for a few more unnecessary minutes after that.

So was it worth watching? Probably not the whole thing. Fast-forward to the "martial arts" scenes for a few chuckles. Leslie Nielsen and Gary Lockwood are both good actors, with 11 decades of film and television work between them. But this barely qualifies as film.

Modern MST3K anyone?

[Queer-qatfm · 2/10 · 12 January 2005]

It's a pretty heinous film that features a man in a wicker wheelchair, Leslie Neilson's scarred chest, plenty of very ugly Filipinos, horribly set up karate sequences, and people who look like they are waiting for others to finish their lines so they can begin.

I think the plot is like this. Two guys, one being Leslie Neilson, are at odds since one wants out of this Project Control. Basically people are shooting up to become superstrong? Well Leslie Neilson gets mixed up with some Filipino gangs who don't like either one of the Americans. There is a side romance too. Makes little sense really.

I'm sure Leslie would love for you to forget that he was in this one, but sadly like the movie says: "The only way out is DEATH."

Watchability: 2 out of 10 MST3K quality: 7 out of 10

Project Kill

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 19 June 2023]

William Girdler said that Project: Kill was "...the beginning of what I can do if I'm given the opportunity. Here I'm not pinned down by cliches or lousy material. It's the only picture I'm really proud of."

John Trevor (Leslie Nielsen) has spent six years as part of an MK-ULTRA experiment that gives American soldiers better killing abilities through training, drugs and hypnosis. It's kind of like a cult for killers and now, he wants out. He even tells his second-in-command Frank Lassiter (Gary Lockwood) that he's about to escape. It'd all be great if the withdrawal didn't make John incredibly violent or that an Asian gang wasn't looking for him in the hopes of taking the drugs from his system and using them for their own army.

Come for Nielsen dressed like a 70s dad despite being billed as an action star, stay for his romance with Nany Kwan and by all means, come back for his fight with Lockwood on a beach. It even ends a lot like Scorpio, where the older killer tells the younger one, "Now they're going to come after you."

On the William Girdler web site, Girdler's insurance man Joe Schulten said, "Project Kill was supposed to be distributed in a lot of countries. Nancy Kwan was an international star at the time, and it was booked up all over the place. But the man who was going to distribute the movie was either killed or committed suicide right before the film was scheduled to come out. So the release was tied up in an estate dispute. I don't think Project Kill was ever released to movie theaters. I think it only showed up on cable in the eighties.:

Producer David Sheldon had the answer: "Project Kill was released in the theaters, though not a very wide release. It has been on television quite a bit and there's a home video in the stores. We pulled the picture from Arnold Kopelson (Inter-Ocean Films) who was supposed to distribute the film overseas, but was taking too long. A company called Sterling Gold tried to take it next, but the owner was found murdered organized crime style. Finally, I put it with Picturmedia who released it theatrically and sold the home video rights. The CEO of Picturmedia is Doro Vlado Hreljanovic. Picturmedia has done a poor job in releasing the picture. It deserves more.

That said, it does have Vic Diaz in it.

Writer Galen Thompson went on to script Superstition, The Evil and several Chuck Norris projects while David Sheldon was part of Grizzly, Lovely but Deadly and Foxy Brown.

Project: boredom

[Chase_Witherspoon · 3/10 · 25 February 2012]

William Girdler made a number of memorable, b-grade action films in his prolific though brief career before his premature death, but "Project: Kill", unfortunately, isn't one for the highlight reel. Nielsen stars as a jaded US military project head, conditioning elite soldiers to become assassins with the aid of drug control. When he escapes to the Philippines to consult with a crippled ex-army buddy (Thompson), his 2IC (Lockwood) follows in pursuit with orders to recover or destroy before other sinister interests learn the project's secrets.

Kwan is terribly wasted playing a Chinese love interest for the programmatic Nielsen, emotionally inert, unable to develop feelings of attraction and love until the drug withdrawal begins to wane and he discovers a human side he'd long neglected. Lockwood is the kung-fu fighting 2IC, another unlikely looking killing machine, while ubiquitous Philippino actors Vic Diaz and Vic Silayan are the villain and the cop respectively, both looking relaxed in their environment.

Girdler's picture aims high but is seriously compromised by its production limitations and fatally stagnant pace. The plot has more holes than a sieve and the action sequences are poorly choreographed and lack intensity. Girdler was indeed a fine, emerging director with some talent, but "Project: Kill" isn't among his best work.

there's a reason why Leslie Nielsen got most famous for silly comedies

[lee_eisenberg · 2/10 · 26 December 2014]

William Girdler's "Project: Kill" is your basic B movie. Leslie Nielsen - still a few years away from telling people not to call him Shirley - plays an agent stationed in the Philippines training special forces members enhanced with drugs. But when he finds out too much, he becomes a target.

Despite the lousy action scenes and low production quality, I still feel as though I have to recommend this movie. It's the sort of movie to which Quentin Tarantino often pays homage, and in fact Tarantino called co-star Vic Díaz the Filipino Peter Lorre. The rest of the cast includes Gary Lockwood (Poole in "2001: A Space Odyssey") and Nancy Kwan (who's had some famous roles, but this is the first movie in which I've seen her).

And then there's the director. William Girdler later cast Leslie Nielsen in the eco-horror flick "Day of the Animals", and Nielsen wrestles a grizzly bear in one scene (seriously, it's a movie that you have to see to believe). Unfortunately, Girdler perished in a helicopter crash while filming on location in the Philippines in 1978.

Nonetheless, it IS a B movie. I have no doubt that Leslie Nielsen preferred his reputation as the person who remains serious amid silliness.

Phillipinos make better Phillipino films than Americans...

[winner55 · 1/10 · 9 November 2008]

This was obviously put together by Phillipino financiers hoping to sneak into the US TV movie market by stuffing American actors and crewmembers into and shooting it in English. They failed, miserably.

Long, drawn out story of 'rogue' agent getting hunted by top secret assassination group.

Although the acting is wet cardboard, and the direction and camera-work basically phoned-in, the worst parts of the films are its supposed action sequences - especially the martial arts choreography which is the phoniest I've ever seen.

Nielson had four more years to wait before having his career saved by his appearance in Airplane! - this is the film his career had to be saved from.

Not worth the buck it costs on cheapie DVD.

The most painful movie I've ever watched 10 times!

[bertsnert · 10/10 · 20 November 2005]

This movie is not even "so bad it's good". This is the worst directed, acted, choreographed, written and scored movie I've ever seen. It is a serious film, not a spoof (which is not surprising because Leslie Nielsen was in a lot of serious movies before appearing in 'Airplane') although I find it hard to believe that the reviews which praise William Girdler are not spoofs.

Even if you an Ed Wood fan, you'll probably still hate this. It is unfortunate that you cannot even laugh at the low quality of this film. You can only feel embarrassed for all involved.

Yet, I have watched this many times trying to figure out just why it is in a league of its own. I can't figure it out. If you had a "bad film" competition and invited entries from the most talented and innovative directors (as well as any old hack), no one could top this. I am not joking.

So Why did I give it 10 stars? Because that was the only number available with a zero in it. Also, because film students should be forced to watch this and write down everything wrong with it and promise never to make any of those mistakes.

I'm sorry Leslie!

Pedestrian spy thriller

[DigitalRevenantX7 · 2/10 · 12 July 2017]

John Trevor leads a top-secret military program called Project: Kill which turns soldiers into elite bodyguards through use of mental conditioning & drug therapy. Tired of the constant injections & concerned about the program creating assassins, Trevor defects from the program & flees to Manila. His second-in-command Frank Lassiter is sent to either bring him back or to eliminate him if he refuses to comply. At the same time a Hong Kong arms dealer named Alok Lee gets wind of Trevor's defection & decides to track him down in order to force him to help with Lee's plan to set up a parallel program to train the perfect assassin.

Years before he became one of the world's best-known comedians & the master of the deadpan (and creating the immortal reply: "I am serious… and don't call me Shirley"), Leslie Nielsen was a modestly accomplished serious actor who starred in various thrillers (I loved his performance in CREEPSHOW). In Project: Kill he stars as a former soldier turned master warrior who gets sick of the hypocrisy & abandons his program for the quiet life.

With the exception of Nielsen's performance, everything about Project: Kill is pedestrian to the point of acute boredom. The story is one-dimensional & filled with poor plotting. The majority of the cast are poor, particularly Gary Lockwood, who makes a decidedly wooden hero & Pamela Parsons as the useless adviser. Vic Diaz delivers some minor enthusiasm as the villain but his role is too slight to make much impact to the storyline. The action scenes, consisting of bland, unexciting & poorly set-up fights & a rather pathetic attempt at a car chase, are boredom inducing. Nielsen is the only high point, with his dangerously unpredictable character's attempt to flee a life he did not want making some minor headway in an otherwise unexceptional & painfully poor thriller.

"Have You Had Your Injections Today, John?"

[Sturgeon54 · 19 June 2005]

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...

Without a doubt one of the kookiest political thrillers I've ever seen.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 11 August 2023]

Somewhere between "Forbidden Planet" and "Tammy and the Bachelor" and later on "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun" films, Leslie Nielsen was desperately either trying to find a niche as a TV series or movie bad guy or escape from it. Here, he's over the top as a drug addicted agent who's supposedly brainwashed and trying to find his way back to sanity before he's killed by his enemies in the Phillipines.

This certainly isn't the easiest film to get into, a messy storyline and silly script, with Gary Lockwood as one of Nielsen's colleagues and Nancy Kwan as Nielsen's love interest. There's plenty of action but the structure is one of the messier I've ever had to deal with, really violent sequences that overall makes this really a nasty experience. Certainly not the type of film that would improve American and Phillipines relations.

"Bring him back or eliminate him!"

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 31 January 2010]

These poorly done films from the Seventies always bum me out, often not because of the stories, but because they remind me once again of the seriously hideous fashion sense and hair styles the era produced. Which is to say that I was part of that decade and probably looked just as goofy as the characters depicted here, allowing myself some measure of relief for having grown out of it.

This flick however combined the fashion faux-pas with lame execution and the result was a tortuous hour and a half to make it to the end of the picture. I was surprised to see how old Leslie Nielsen looked in a film from just over thirty years ago, and got the shock of the day to find out he's a couple weeks shy of eighty four as I write this. Glad to see he's still working after turning out a clunker like this.

But it wasn't all his fault. Though the film attempts to be an action adventure, it finds itself misfiring on any number of fronts. The martial arts scenes are agonizingly orchestrated, note I didn't use the word choreographed. Most of what occurs on screen is unintentionally funny; as an example, check out how Gary Lockwood throws his hair back after any scene in which it might have gotten mussed up a bit. Other reviewers have commented on Nancy Kwan's dubious need to be in the picture, but if that's the case, it goes double for Pamela Parsons as the intrepid Lynn Walker. Why was she here? She stands around watching the other players in most scenes she's in, and once was even asked by Lockwood's character to go watch the fish in the aquarium while he hooked up with the Filipinos. Very strange.

Listen, don't get hoodwinked by the video jacket proclaiming exciting martial arts displays or an adventure of pressure cooker intensity. If there's a Priority One for this film, it's to be warned in advance of what you're getting yourself into.

Ludicrous Potboiler Wastes a Decent Cast

[jfrentzen-942-204211 · 2/10 · 1 February 2024]

Before his comeback as a slapstick comedian in the NAKED GUN films, Leslie Nielsen floundered in many dull movies like PROJECT: KILL.

He plays John Trevor, head of an elite squad of government assassins who use a mysterious drug to maintain Herculean strength. The drug also causes painful headaches and psychotic episodes, so Trevor just ups and leaves the service, heading for the Philippines to start over. Nancy Kwan, who is totally wasted as Trevor's new girlfriend, consoles him as he babbles on about his empty life. A glum-looking Gary Lockwood is a fellow mercenary sent to retrieve Trevor dead or alive.

Much of the screen time is devoted to Lockwood, who at one point steps in front of an exploding grenade and doesn't die. The story unfolds with an utter lack of conviction, but in the amusing finale Nielsen and Lockwood prance about in mock-kung fu poses and smack each other a lot.

PROJECT KILL was a troubled production filmed in The Philippines, and was barely released in theaters in 1976.

Project: Kill Project Kill

[Masonlgibson_2002 · 1/10 · 30 March 2020]

My friend and I had to destroy this movie because of how bad this movie was.

It burned to a crisp.

Girdler's last film is not bad.

[Serpent-5 · 23 April 1999]

Interesting actioner from the late director of GRIZZLY, MANITOU and DAY OF THE ANIMALS. This features Leslie Nielsen as a Kung-fu expert/secret agent who wants out, but in his line of work, there is only one way out...DEATH. Nielsen goes on a run, his friend and fellow agent Gary Lockwood is hot on his trail. Nielsen battle local bad guy Vic Diaz as a second plotline. I don't know if this film got any theatrical booking, for it played a lot on CBS late night. The video print is dirty and looks like it was from a 16mm print. The film is not bad, and Nielsen does a real good job in the film. It's not recommended for most fans of Nielsen today will view this film as a comedy.

"Have You Had Your Injections Today, John?!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 10 July 2021]

Director William Girdler, primarily known for horror movies, tries his hand at an action / thriller with PROJECT: KILL.

Leslie Nielsen stars as John, the head trainer for the hit squad of the title. John's had enough and wants out, which proves to be rather difficult.

Now, not only are his old associates after him, but John's also going through withdrawal from years of mind control drugs.

Karate and death ensue.

Considering the subject matter, this movie isn't quite as exciting as one might expect. Even the fight scenes and homicides do little to raise our pulse rates. The shallow dialogue and meandering plot don't help. Nielsen isn't bad, but can't save this gobbler from its terminal dive...

Manitou was Girdler's last not Project: Kill.

[eddy-28 · 7 October 2000]

Actully Project Kill was made in 1976, however the same year Grizzly was being made with Edward Montoro.William Girdler could not make Project Kill and Grizzly at the same time. So Girdler made Grizzly but despite the law-suit with him and Montoro which did effect Day of the Animals. Shortly after Day of the Animals. Girdler went back to make the rest of Project Kill then The Manitou. Although Girdler did not get to see The Manitou nor did he get to see Project Kill after his helicopter crash in the Philipinnes while making The Overlords.

Here is all about Project: Kill

It stars Leslie Nielsen who was also in Girdler's Day of the Animals, as a Top Secret Agent who is summgeling drugs. Although people today whould think that this was a comedy since Nielsen is in many comedys it's actully a good action thriller. David Sheldon dose a great deal of producing the film. Robert O. Ragland's (Born on July 2, 1931) dose some good music. And William Girdler's direction is magnifsint. If you're a big fan of Girdler's work (Like I am) Project Kill is one not to be missed.

Project- Kill......the film viewer

[oscar-35 · 10 June 2008]

An older secret agent (Nielsen) detects and finds himself hunted by a group of drug-fueled hit men from a super secret military group in the sleazy underbelly of the Philipines. Star: Leslie Nielsen, Gary Stockwell. A very one-dimensional plot line with little interest and very boring for the viewer to watch. The actors are truly wasted in this film. The roles are 'phoned-in' with no energy. The Philipine locations are also wasted and add nothing to the production quality. The film's ending is really no surprise. This film leaves you feeling like you want the time you wasted watching this film back in your life. A totally flat film with no entertainment value. What a waste of film production money. Did the stars want an all expense paid vacation in the Philipines and US federal tax deduction? The film has no obvious purpose or theme.