Deadhunter

John Pope (Tom Ormeny) is a former CIA operative whose past haunts him in this weakly-written work created by its producer, Louis Pastore, who also co-scripts and plays a principal part. Pope was involved in a Government conspiracy to assassinate Frank Matera (Pastore), a Mafia chieftain but, unknown to John the hit did not happen, being a ruse allowing Matera to disappear from public view by moving to Sicily. He and CIA supervisor of field operations Neil Kirkpatrick (Clifford David) had an established liaison whereby the Mob kills selected political figures that the intelligence agency wants cancelled in exchange for the laundering of Mafia moneys. Matera, wearying of his exile, has returned to the United States where he and his cohorts begin to eliminate all who know of his relationship with the CIA, to include Kirkpatrick and Pope, a situation that the latter naturally attempts to avoid. Pope, utilized as a patsy by the spy agency, is later released from its employ, and is working as an insurance investigator tormented by lack of knowledge relative to his being fired. His concerns are soon refocussed upon survival and he essays provisional connections with others who were duped for the same bogus assignment. Domination by logic seems to be not a concern of the writers who supply a peck of vague subplots in a movie manifestly affected by intemperate cutting for its release print. Although some of the story is set in Hungary, pine barrens in New Jersey are its proxy, with sectors of the Garden State and of Brooklyn hosting most of the shooting that makes good use of a snowy season. David always projects well and his performance stands out, and more could not be asked from other capable players who are effective in supporting roles, including Matt Craven, Al Mancini and Becky Ann Baker (as Becky Gelke). Heading the film's failings is a trite script, full of incongruity and cliche. Unfortunately, the director is answerable for the scenario as co-author. An electronic score, mired in one key, is irksome and obtrusive. The best for last: the camerawork from cinematographer Eric Kollmar, of the highest standard throughout the work, constitutes the only compelling reason for watching it. With deft use of long and deep focus shots, in addition to his excellent setup and lighting skills, Kollmar somewhat diffuses the staleness of this affair, with so many creatively interesting shots that viewing this film without sound is a valid aesthetic experience.

My review was written in May 1986 after a screening at UA Twin theater in Manhattan.

Take an uninteresting story, executed on the cheap in perfunctory fashion and you have the non-thriller "Agent on Ice", shot in New York and New Jersey with such alternate titles as "And Then You Die" and "Silent Partners". With a no-name cast, pic will have trouble getting attention in international markets.

Tom Ormenny (who looks like an uncle to actor John Ericson) toplines as John Pope, an ex-CIA agent now on the skids as a slovenly insurance adjustor. A Mafiosos he supposedly killed, Frank Matera (Louis Pastore), is back in New York after hiding out in Sicily, and orders Pope and other CIA agents to be killed.

Pope's ex-bosses at the CIA are corruptly in cahoots with the Mafia, so everyone wants him dead. It takes six boring reels and a bulletproof vest for Pope to wipe out everybody and have the obligatory final scene letting the government know what it can do with its jobs and perks.

Acting is lousy in a film which cries out for an international cast of character actors. Shot in winter (with New Jersey unconvincingly filling in for a prologue supposedly set in Hungary), the film has consistently ugly locations and dreary colors. With producer Louis Pastore doubling as the Mafia villain, movie is closer to a vanity production than the tough guy, B-picture it strives to be.

I found this on a low-quality, budget VHS tape in a thrift store in 2024. I knew it was going to be a b-movie, but I was shocked to see how few people had logged it in on IMDB, so I had to check it out.

I gave this the rating I did because of all the things this film got right. First of all, the performers are all pretty strong. The lead (his only film lead role in IMDB, I think) who sadly has recently passed on, was best known as an acting instructor. The cast is all pretty capable. The is some interesting back-story between many characters, and this is revealed very nicely over the action without big chunks of clunky exposition.

The locations are used pretty well - this is something that is hard for small films, especially 40 years ago. They make good use of it (I think New Jersey stands in for Hungary at one point, but they did a good job of covering for this). The cinematography is very well done. It's a good looking film, shot really well. It's worth seeing just for this.

Now here's the unfortunate part: While the story is reasonably well-structured (though it relies heavily on genre tropes), the dialogue isn't great, which puts the performers in a tough spot. Worst, though, the direction is really poor. The actors are left in scenes talking to each other as though in a stage production. They seem lost and disconnected from scene to scene.

The lead gangster (played by one of the co-writers) is one of the weaker aspects. He is so murderous it becomes laughable. He kills people with such abandon you have to wonder, how does anyone want to work with this guy?

In any case, this is not a very good movie. I bumped up the rating because I thought it showed heart in the filmmaking. I am surprised it has remained so far under the radar, even in this age of cheap/free straming content.