THE KILL FACTOR (1978) **

 

Death Dimension is yet another Al Adamson movie I watched and reviewed years ago.  As with I Spit on Your Corpse!, I saw it under a re-release title.  Because of that, I will be referring to it as The Kill Factor, the title I originally watched. 

This was the second film Adamson made with Jim Kelly.  It’s lacking the fun of their first collaboration, Black Samurai, but it definitely has its moments.  Whereas that film shamelessly ripped off James Bond, Adamson was actually able to get James Bond himself, George Lazenby in the movie.  Not only that, but we also have Harold “Odd Job” Sakata as well.

Oh, and remember when Kelly famously shared the screen with the one and only Bruce Lee in the immortal Enter the Dragon?  Well, this time out, he partners up with the one and only MYRON Bruce Lee.  Yes, there was only one Myron Bruce Lee, and when you watch The Kill Factor, you’ll know why. 

The plot, such as it is, revolves around Odd Job getting his hands on a freeze bomb.  When it ignites, a bunch of fake snow blows around and causes people to turn blue and freeze to death.  Naturally, it’s up to Kelly and Lee to stop him before he turns the world into a winter wonderland. 

Like Black Samurai, the film is a hodgepodge of James Bond and Kung Fu, but it’s nowhere near as successful.  Just to keep everyone on their toes though, Adamson will toss out a random Psycho-inspired shower scene or some completely gratuitous T & A.  The action sequences are better than you’d expect, but overall, the whole thing moves at a snail’s pace.

At first glance, the movie is low on the sleaze you’d expect from Al Adamson (and producer Dick Randall, for that matter).  However, if you are patient, you will be rewarded with a demented scene where Odd Job threatens to turn a snapping turtle loose on a woman’s tit.  This scene really cooks, but highlights these are unfortunately few and far between

Kelly does what he can, but he’s missing the charisma he brought to Black Samurai.  The supporting cast is solid though.  We get the vastly underrated Bob Minor as Odd Job’s ruthless henchmen, Aldo Ray (in his second Adamson movie) as Odd Job’s grouchy business partner, and Mighty Joe Young’s Terry Moore (who was the first woman I remember seeing naked in Playboy) as a madam.  While they don’t exactly save the movie, it’s nice to see them turning up.

Here’s my original review from over a decade ago: 

 

ARCHIVE REVIEW:  THE KILL FACTOR  (1978)  ** (ORIGINALLY POSTED:  MARCH 26^TH, 2010)

Director Al Adamson is not quite known for making good movies but on occasion, he’s been able to make a few so-bad-they’re-good movies (like Dracula vs. Frankenstein).  The Kill Factor isn’t one of those movies.  It’s actually Jim (Enter the Dragon) Kelly’s second Adamson flick.  It’s no Black Samurai, but then again, what could be, right?

Kelly plays a cop who is told by his captain (George Fucking Lazenby) to bring down Harold “Odd Job” Sakata.  You see, old Odd Job has created a “Freeze Bomb”, a bomb that uh… freezes people.  (So yeah, does this sound stupid enough for ya folks?)  Kelly teams up with a guy named Myron Bruce Lee (no, I am not making this up, his name is MYRON Bruce Lee) and they Kung Fu a lot of guys and stop Sakata.

The plot is ludicrous (a fucking FREEZE BOMB?), the acting is shitty (just watching Sakata try to string together several sentences in English is pretty painful), but the dialogue is priceless.  Kelly gets a mess of funny lines like “The name of the game is save your ass!” and “This is malt liquor; the black man’s beer!”, but my favorite exchange came when Sakata asked the scientist why he betrayed him.  The doctor replies, “A twinge of conscience”.  To which Sakata remarks, “An unfortunate twinge!”

Yes, a lot of this movie is bad, but it does have some jaw-dropping moments of pure unadulterated HUH?!?  Like the scene where Sakata threatens to chop a girl’s boobs off with a snapping turtle.  You don’t see that sort of weirdness in films nowadays, do you?

Look, I know I’m making The Kill Factor sound like it’s a straight-up laugh riot, but I didn’t really laugh much during it.  In fact, you’ll probably laugh more at my review than you will throughout the whole movie.  The thing that really prevents the film from busting loose and becoming a cult classic is that Adamson is almost borderline competent when it comes to handling the action.  He films the fight scenes flatly, yet the choreography isn’t too bad.  (The usually reliable stuntman/co-star Bob Minor was the stunt coordinator.)  There is even an expensive looking boat chase that sorta makes you yearn for the bargain basement aesthetic of Black Samurai.

And you have to kinda feel for Lazenby.  One decade you’re whispering to Diana Rigg that you have all the time in the world and the next you’re telling Jim Kelly about a Freeze Bomb.  While Roger Moore was off fighting Jaws, poor George was trading punches with Myron Bruce Lee.  Yeah, I know George shot his own career in the foot but he didn’t deserve this.  I mean MYRON BRUCE LEE?

AKA:  Death Dimension.  AKA:  Black Eliminator.  AKA:  Dead Dimension.  AKA:  Freeze Bomb.  AKA:  Icy Death.