Objectif meurtre

This Canadian movie is a pretty standard early 90's thriller. It's truthfully pretty pedestrian in most ways but it does benefit from the presence of genre legend Michael Ironside and respected character actor M. Emmet Walsh; both of whom play a pair of brothers, whose bad actions get the film's plot underway. The story is essentially about a professional killer who seeks incriminating photographs which are in the possession of a man whose brother he murdered. This leads to all manner of unreasonable behaviour being carried out by out pony-tailed psychopath.

This is not a particularly well written film. It is not, for instance, especially clear why the pivotal murder even happens in the first place. And characters continue to act in illogical ways throughout the story. In fairness, it's not the first thriller to succumb to this, so it's hardly a deal breaker. It is a bit lethargic though and really only comes to life when either Ironside or Walsh are on the screen. So, not an awful lot to recommend here but at the same time it does get the job done, it just does it with the minimum effort.

My review was written in December 1992 after watching the movie on Paramount video cassette.

"Killer Image" is a well-made Canadian suspense feature debut that has inexplicably opened at year's end in Los Angeles to qualify for Oscar consideration. Its natural home is home video, where Paramount Home Video released it this past summer.

M. Emmet Walsh toplines as a corrupt senator whose brother, perennial screen baddie Michael Ironside, is shown dumping a body in the film's opening.

Incriminating photos of Walsh with a prostitute, snapped by Paul Austin, cost the shutterbug his life. Austin's brother Max (John Pyper-Ferguson) is out to set things right, but Ironside frames him for the murder of another hooker and discredits him with the police as a "boy who cried wolf".

Filmmaker David Winning, in his second feature assignment, has a plot that becomes increasingly far-fetched as Ironside's complicated schemes keep going awry. Pyper-Ferguson teams up with his brother's girlfriend, lovely American thesp Krista Errickson, and of course a romance develops.

Storyline resolves itself with Pyper-Ferguson turning Walsh and Ironside against each other. The symmetry of brothers versus brothers is not fully developed since Austin's role is minor.

Though the film is set in the U. S., its Calgary area locations are attractive, including a cliffhanger finale above surging water rapids. Cast is okay.

Despite a small role from a tall actor, there is nothing lanky about Steve Merchant's performance as Kirk in Killer Image.

Even though this only seems to be his first Hollywood movie, he displays the cool attitude of a modern day actor like Clive Warren.

While he wasn't able to display them in this movie, Merchant's past experience with wire work and stunt falls truly shone through in this movie.

Mark this movie as the start of his now budding action star career. His next role should have his imagined riches turning real, with these kinds of performances.

As for the remainder of the cast, they turn in serviceable performances. While Ironsides is as good as usual, I'd rather just watch an episode of Columbo over this forgettable movie.

Edgy, atmospheric little psycho thriller made the more interesting for having Michael Ironside in his usual typecast role. Yep you guess it right… no one does stone-cold, dangerous psycho better than Ironside. What I thought was going to be a political/conspiracy sort of thriller, transcended into a basic on-the-run, cat-and-mouse format between a psycho (whose brother just happens to be a senator up for re-election) and young photographer (whose older brother just recently died taking some discriminating photos). It becomes a battle of wills between the two as Ironside toys around with John Pyper-Ferguson's out-on-his feet character; blackmail, murder and a lot photos. We are thrown right into it, but the narrative while taut and quick moving is quite hazy and unfocused on the details. Things just seem to happen with little insight and can be unbelievably ludicrous. There's no question though, it's as mundane as you can get but David Winning's sharp workman-like handling impulsively engages and so does Ironside's deviously menacing turn as a brother living in the shadows of older brother. Pyper-Ferguson is modest across from him and Krista Errickson is reasonably good as a lady who gets up in it all. Also starring was another well-known face; M. Emmet Walsh adequately holds his own in the small moments he's in.

"You killed my happy ending"! "To hell with your happy ending"!

After taking incriminating snaps of adulterous senator John Kane (M. Emmet Walsh) getting frisky with his unlikely bit on the side, photographer Ric Oliver (Paul Austin) witnesses the murder of the poor woman at the hands of Kane's uncontrollable brother Luther (Michael Ironside). Ric's subsequent actions makes one wonder how someone so dumb could even operate a camera: instead of immediately going to the police with the evidence, the lens-man unwisely follows the killer as he dumps the body into a reservoir (in broad daylight!), but is spotted while taking more pictures. Realising that he has been seen, Ric gets onto his motorbike, but rather than speed off in the opposite direction, he races towards the gun-toting murderer, thereby sealing his own fate.

This level of idiocy seems to run in the family, for Ric's brother Max displays a similar lack of common sense in most matters, and soon finds himself being blackmailed by Luther, who is keen to get his hands on the late brother's incriminating roll of film (which he had the foresight to hide in his motorbike's fuel tank before getting himself killed). After repeatedly being manipulated with ease by loathsome Luther, who even tricks him into riding a roller-coaster with a dead hooker, Max comes up with an incredibly crap plan to foil the killer. And this being an incredibly crap film, the incredibly crap plan works!

3/10 for being so unintentionally moronic that it is occasionally funny; however, not even the presence of the usually brilliant Ironside (who hams it up a treat on this occasion) can make me rate this movie any higher.