Compton Films [1966] 86′
country: United Kingdom
director: IAN CURTEIS
cast: BRYANT HOLIDAY, MARY PEACH,
cast: NORMAN WOOLAND, RONALD ALLEN
2 Entertain / Cinema Club [2006] £12.99
PAL / single layer DVD5 / region 2 + 4
Order this disc from AMAZON.CO.UK
Competent is perhaps the best word to describe this little late 60′s science fiction thriller, which acted as something of a bridge between the Hammer Studios and Gordon Films productions which came before it and the multitude of Amicus horrors that would appear after. Best known on these shores as the subject of MST3K episode 9.01 [one of my favorites of the Sci-Fi Channel era of the show], THE PROJECTED MAN originally saw release in the states through Universal as the top half of a double bill with the sci-fi horror ISLAND OF TERROR.
The story concerns Dr. Paul Steiner [Holiday], who has been working for years to perfect a process by which electronic transmission of matter will be made possible – though he’s succeeded with inanimate objects, living things seem unable to survive the projection process. With the help of assistant Dr. Mitchell [Allen], who may or may not be in cahoots with the baddie head of the institute Dr. Blanchard [Wooland], and long-time friend Dr. Patricia Hill [Peach] he manages to perfect the process. Little does he know that a cadre of the institute’s financiers, using Blanchard as their pawn, are out to ensure his failure – when a demonstration arranged for a visiting Swiss scientist goes disastrously wrong there is little doubt as to who is responsible.
Informed that his project is to be canceled, Steiner takes to rebuilding his machines and, without notifying his assistants, makes a radical move to prove to his higher ups the value of his work – he intends to transmit himself from his lab to the parlor of Blanchard’s home, where his Swiss colleague is supposed to be staying. Not surprisingly, the experiment goes horribly wrong, leaving Steiner a grotesquely disfigured monster charged with enormous amounts of electricity. Soon he’s on the prowl, intent on taking revenge on those who sabotaged his project.
Produced in part by Richard Gordon, with John Croydon doubling as both a writer and producer, it’s no small wonder that THE PROJECTED MAN bares strong resemblance to the earlier Gordon Films efforts FIRST MAN INTO SPACE and THE HAUNTED STRANGLER, on which both men worked together. The script, co-written by Peter Bryan [THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR and PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES] from a story by Frank Quattrocchi, also seems influenced by the THE FLY series, the last of which had premiered in the UK the year this film was produced – it also reminds a bit of the under-achieving but underrated John Agar epic THE HAND OF DEATH, only with plot. That a number of elements are ill-developed [just why the financiers want Paul to fail is never explained] hardly seems to matter once the good scientist has regressed into titular monster territory.
THE PROJECTED MAN benefits from the suitable direction of Ian Curteis, primarily a writer here helming his first and only theatrically-bound feature, as well as the colorful Techniscope cinematography of Stanley Pavey. The special effects are simple, but work nicely – it’s a pity that none the men behind them ever worked on much, if anything, else – and the make up that brings monster-Paul to life is quite well done. The projection machine itself would make at least one more appearance in a low-budget English sci-fi – as a set decoration in Zia Mohyeddin’s lab in the way cool Amicus outing THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE.
While it certainly isn’t the best it’s still far from the worst – I found THE PROJECTED MAN a fun little diversion that’s definitely worth a look for fans of the genre. Recommended.
2 Entertain / Cinema Club’s 2006 disc of THE PROJECTED MAN is rather disappointing. The film is presented in a progressive and anamorphically enhanced transfer that is, as seems to be a growing and disconcerting trend, cropped from the original 2.35:1 Techniscope to around 1.85:1. With BBC receiving credit on disc load, I wouldn’t be surprised if this transfer were originally intended for television use as opposed to home video. Otherwise the disc looks reasonable, with the aged elements presenting with good color and sparse damage but seeming a bit thin at times – the transfer does suffer from edge enhancement and uneven contrast, looking boosted in some scenes and flat in others. I imagine the image would look fine even projected on larger screens and the single layer encoding is solid, though it’s a far cry from being demo quality material. Audio is a fine monophonic track and is augmented with optional English SDH subtitles.
With no supplements to speak of, this bare bones disc has only one thing going for it – its price. While it originally retailed at an outrageous £12.99, THE PROJECTED MAN can currently be had through Amazon.co.uk for the considerably reduced sum of £2.98. While the disc leaves a lot to be desired it is still the best [and only] home video presentation of the film currently available. The film is enjoyable enough to recommend and I think the disc is worth the low price it currently demands, if not much more.
