An
actor named John (Ted Prior, acting in yet another one of his brother David’s
many low budget actioners) is mistaken for a hitman while waiting outside of
his acting class. He’s forced into a car by some goons and a gunfight ensues.
He gets arrested and goes to jail, but a shady government agent (Robert
Davi) shows up and coerces him to continue posing as the hitman in order to
catch a political assassin. John
eventually realizes he’s being set up as a patsy and fights back to clear his
name and stop another assassination.
This
cheap, but watchable AIP picture at least has the benefit a pretty great cast. Davi is fun to watch as the agent who may or
may not be trustworthy. Charlene Tilton
does a fine job as Prior’s love interest too.
I also liked seeing Bo Hopkins turning up as the district attorney, Charles
Napier in one scene as a killer, and Tony Curtis (!) as a heavily connected
friend of Tilton’s. No matter what you
may think of the rest of the picture, there is a sort of perverse pleasure to
be had from seeing someone of Curtis’ stature reduced to slumming in a Ted
Prior movie.
Center
of the Web is straightforward and predictable.
It hits all its marks, but it stops just short of being compelling or entertaining. The ending is somewhat enjoyable though,
mostly for the wrong reasons. The third
act contains one semi-predictable plot twist, one incredibly obviously one, and
a silly school bus chase finale that’s appropriately cheesy. However, Center of the Web really needed more
of these go-for-broke flashes of silliness in order to hit a bullseye.
AKA: Undercover Assassin.
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