Destructor

Hired to Kill (1990)

** (out of 4)

A government man (George Kennedy) hires mercenary Frank Ryan (Brian Thompson) to sneak into a South American location and take out a ruthless leader (Oliver Reed) who is holding an important man (Jose Ferrer) hostage. Frank goes undercover as a gay photographer and his "models" are actually trained agents.

HIRED TO KILL comes from director Nico Mastorakis who is best remembered for his notorious film ISLAND OF DEATH. This action picture certainly isn't in the same league but if you enjoy these low-rent action movies then you should get some kicks out of this one. Obviously there's nothing ground-breaking here but there are enough campy moments to keep you entertained. Plus, viewing this film twenty-five plus years after it was made, you can't help but smile thinking back on these types of movies that were made with such famous cast members.

The entire plot to this thing is pretty stupid but in many ways you have to think parts of the screenplay are a spoof on the genre. A gay photographer? The film manages to be at its most fun during the finale when various explosion and gun fights are happening. The stunts are all well done and the explosions are great, although sadly a stuntman did lose his life. The biggest problem with the film is that there's just not too much that happens for the first hour. There are way too many dialogue scenes and not enough action.

With that said, the cast is great or at least greatly entertaining. Thompson certainly wasn't a great actor but I thought he fit this role just perfectly. Reed, I'm sure drunk, is fun to watch as is both Kennedy and Ferrer in their small roles. The woman all look good and play up the sexuality, which is never a bad thing.

This is a movie with cult potential.Brian Thompson(in a rare leading role.)is the misogynistic soldier of fortune called on to lead an army of seven beautiful fashion models/ mercenaries to rescue an imprisoned leader from a despotic regime.Good supporting cast in the shape of the late Oliver Reed and Jose Ferrar.It also features a gay kiss scene(of sorts) between Reed and Thompson!The dialogue is cliched, but the action is good.The girls look as if they escaped from a Robert Palmer video.Good voyeuristic fun!

Hired to Kill is like if Andy Sidaris made The Expendables but with none of his usual energy. It boasts performances bad enough to make even Arnie wince, forgettable action and comedy that is completely unintentional. Yet, it's a pitch-perfect encapsulation of 90s direct-to-video shlock with a fairly meaty budget given all the explosions and globe-trotting location work, with fan favourite Brian Thompson getting to play the hero for once and bolstered by relatively memorable supporting roles by frigging Oliver Reed and George Kennedy. There's no real style to the direction but it's all done with competency and earnestness which shine through the film's otherwise weaker aspects while Jerry Grant's score feels like it was constructed from the outtakes he had left over from his work on Magnum P. I. and The A-Team. While it's a little dull at points, Hired to Kill is still an entertaining and pacey little B-movie, if a bit bloodless.

I love these old action movies with bad actors and all the cliches, they're simply just so funny. If you liked showdown in little tokyo or any of Arnolds action movies, then you'll like this :) Too bad this one wasn't shown in cinemas and I had to rent the DVD. So if you have a good sounds system and a thing for old action movies, then GET THIS ONE!!!

A fashion photographer (Brian Thompson) and seven models travel to a South American island fortress, ostensibly to do a fashion shoot. In reality, the photographer is a mercenary and their job is to free an imprisoned rebel leader. The director describes it as "Magnificent Seven" with women.

This is really the height of 1990s cheese. It has the sensibility of a 1980s action film, and that is not surprisingly since it was probably filmed in 1989. All the excess and over-the-top things you expect. Brian Thompson may not be Stallone or Schwarzenegger, but he knows what to do in this sort of role. Is he a cheesy actor? Very much... his delivery of lines is pretty rough. Apparently, he was the director's son-in-law at the time, possibly explaining his casting.

Oliver Reed appears, and it has been a few years since he was the big star of "The Brood" or "Curse of the Werewolf" (among his many other achievements). The most notable thing about his role in this film is a very big mustache that makes him almost unrecognizable. The director freely describes him as a "hostile drunk" who abused his wife; he was gentle when sober, but he was rarely sober. Thompson concurs saying, "I never saw Oliver Reed sober."

Besides the excellent 2K restoration, the Arrow Video release includes audio commentary with editor Barry Zetlin (who has a very impressive resume of horror and cult films and talks at length about his career), and brand new interviews with director Nico Mastorakis and star Brian Thompson.