The Projected Man (1967)

Sadly Over-hyped

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Bryant Haliday plays a research scientist named Paul Steiner, who's hard at work on a "projection" experiment: he hopes to be able to transmit matter from one place to another. His process works on inanimate objects, but not on living things. Despondent when it looks like the plug will be pulled on his entire operation, he uses himself as the first human guinea pig. As you can expect, this has disastrous consequences. When he regains human form, he's horribly disfigured, and has gained the "touch of death". (When he lays his mutilated hand on someone, they are electrocuted.) And, of course, he's now insane.This British sci-fi / horror effort does owe a fair bit to "The Fly", putting just enough of a spin on the premise to not come off as a carbon copy. It's not a great story, but it does entertain quite capably nevertheless. It's paced reasonably well by directors Ian Curteis and John Croydon, clocking in at a painless 78 minutes. A great deal of what effectiveness it possesses comes from the performances of an excellent cast. Haliday is an earnest, sympathetic lead turned deliciously crazed antagonist, and ultimately tragic character. Ronald Allen and Mary Peach, as his worried colleagues, figure into a romantic subplot that doesn't waste too much of the running time. Norman Wooland and Derrick De Marney are superb at playing sneaky, nefarious types trying to discredit / ruin the experiment. Gorgeous Tracey Crisp is appealing as the helpful secretary, and Derek Farr has a solid, reliable presence as the obligatory inspector who picks up Steiners' trail. Legendary stuntman Alf Joint plays the security guard. The makeup by Eric Carter is pretty good for the time this was made, Kenneth V. Jones' music is good, and the widescreen photography helps to keep things visually interesting.While the tale it's spinning is definitely on the routine side, this still makes for an enjoyable movie watching evening for fans of the science-fiction and horror genres.Seven out of 10.

Maybe it caught me at the right moment, but watching the MST3K version of this movie made me laugh more then any other of that show's episodes I think I've ever seen! As far as the film goes a lot of people are comparing it to The Fly, I think it's a lot closer to The 4 D Man. BTW, I liked the 4D Man, and if I was watching this on it's own I might like this also depending if I was really bored and nothing else was on to watch. If you have not seen 4 D Man, and like late 50's sci fi, check it out it's a good watch. Back to MST3K version of Projector man, usually I tend to think that episodes after Joel left are not as funny, this one (and as I watch more later episodes) is top tier for being among the shows best. An example is the part with the passed out receptionist in her unusual picnic tablecloth underwear (Mike says, "her underwear is from the Ellie Mae Secrets Collection"). As bad as this film is on it's own, it's great as a MST3K episode, I'm giving it an 8 out of 10.

The only reason I don't give this movie fewer than 3 stars is because it isn't quite on par with a movie like Manos: The Hands of Fate. This movie's greatest crime is the fact that it is head-meltingly boring & terribly, unforgivably British. The premise of this movie sounds potentially promising, the whole teleporting concept, but the direction they went with it was completely uninteresting. It was more a movie about research funding and bowties than projecting lasers. The actors were wooden, unemotional, and aloof. As was the love affair between the two scientists-- which was anything but intriguing. I never was able to tell what the attraction was between them as the chemistry was non-existent. Nor did I really understand why the melty-faced main guy decided to slaughter everyone he met. At least now I know that I should always give someone a fair hearing before I cut off their research grants, else they go rampaging about, killing wantonly with goofy hand gestures.

The MST3K version with Mike and the bots is hilarious!!! Crow: "No more tedious carrying rats across the room" This movie is like "The Fly" Bryant Haliday was in another MSTied movie "Devil Doll" mutant monster wearing a diaper on half his face