Day of the Assassin

Day of the Assassins is one of those cheesy low-budget action films where one vehicle bumping into another results in an instant explosion, and where a wooden shack marked 'Explosives' is guaranteed to go up in a ball of flames. The hero (or anti-hero in this case) is unflappable and irresistible to women (despite his advancing years), the location is exotic, and the bad guys couldn't shoot a barn door at ten paces. Directed by the usually reliable Brian Trenchard-Smith, the movie consists of a series of incompetently staged action scenes, with the flimsiest of plots to tie them all together: a group of mercenaries vie to get their hands on a list of great importance (contents unknown).

There's a few unintentional giggles to be had watching star Chuck Connors, in his late 50s at the time, struggling to keep his breath while running around, Glenn Ford and Henry Silva pop up for an easy paycheck, Richard Roundtree is wasted as a mute killer who is pushed over the edge of a quarry, Trenchard-Smith delivers a few juicy squib effects, and the gorgeous Susana Dosamantes provides some welcome eye candy (hunky Jorge Rivero doing the same for the ladies), but for the most part this is about as gripping as your average episode of The A-Team.

"Day of the Assassin" has an overall score of 4.4 on IMDB...which seems way too high! After all, the film is very cheaply made and it looks it! Even hiring some American actors who were way after their prime (Chuck Connors, Glenn Ford, Henry Silva, Richard Roundtree...who doesn't even talk in the film, as I assume they were paying him by the word) didn't help this one much...especially since Connors seemed way too old for such a macho role.

The plot involves some sunken treasure and mysterious documents from a Shah's boat and lots of different people are willing to kill to get it. And, throughout Mexico, they run about killing each other--some in completely ridiculous manners (the parasailing murders was beyond dumb).

The bottom line is that the film is pure cheese. The action bits are often poorly done, the edits seem as if they were done by a monkey, and the dialog is at times pretty awful. There really is very little to like about the film.

Shot in Mexico with an international cast, this is a routine action yarn with a threadbare plot that almost defies belief. That's because it's virtually non-existent. In essence, it's about an anti-hero and his efforts to steal a priceless piece of paper (yes, you heard me right) which apparently holds information that half of the world wants to get its hands on. What follows are a series of elaborately staged, low budget and often entertaining action set-pieces, usually involving big cars chasing each other, or ageing action heroes running about the rural roads in Mexico. Director Brian Trenchard-Smith went on to make the cult classic TURKEY SHOOT in Australia after this, and he proves to be a worthwhile gun-for-hire, delivering a film that balances on the line between class and cheese. Sure, the film is low budget, but it's hard to dislike.

Even if the movie was totally diabolical, it would still be worth watching for the cast alone. Headlining things is old-timer Glenn Ford, appearing in just three scenes as a millionaire whose desires set off the movie. He's on screen almost as little as Henry Silva, top-billed but appearing just twice – and one of those times he's on a TV set! The hero of the piece is ageing Western star Chuck Connors, strutting his athleticism in much the way that Kirk Douglas refused to give up his physicality as he got older. Connors, who I've not seen in a film before, is surprisingly charismatic with his old-fashioned tough guy persona and I enjoyed his performance a lot. Richard Roundtree pops up as one of the assassins, and he has a non-speaking part, although he takes part in much of the best action. Rounding things off are a couple of Mexican movie stars, Andres Garcia and Jorge Rivero, who lend rugged good lurks and charm, as well as plenty of muscle, to the proceedings. And if that's a little too much testosterone for you, there's at least one female beauty in the cast – Susana Dosamantes.

DAY OF THE ASSASSINS sure isn't a classic, but as a low budget thriller you could do a lot worse. The simple nature of the story, the sun-drenched surroundings and the old-fashioned stunts and fist-fights made it enjoyable for this viewer. If watching aged Hollywood stars slugging it out with each other is your idea of entertainment, hunt this one down...

This movie was filmed at the El Presidente Hotel at Las Palmas, in Xpata-Zihuatanejo, MX. A lot of the action takes place at and around the resort. There is a fire fight from a par-sailing bad guy. (I have para-sailed on that coast over shark infested waters). In the big car chase at the end they destroy a 1971 Mustang Mach-1 by driving it over a cliff. (I had a 1973 similar Mustang so it broke my heart to see this). Bad acting but a lot of action makes for a somewhat enjoyable movie.

It looks like a real nice luxury resort and I'm sure the inducement for being in this film was the American and Mexican stars got to stay there while shooting Day Of The Assassin.

A whole bunch of international adventure types are at this resort when an attack is made on the Shah of Iran's yacht sending it to the bottom of the bay. Reputed treasure is supposed to be there. But mysterious Greek tycoon type Glenn Ford type has hired Chuck Connors to get a list that went down with the boat.

Connors has lots of competition, some familiar faces from the spy game.

Glenn Ford is about as Greek as Barry Fitzgerald, hope his pay check cleared.

Richard Roundtree made out best, he plays a mute assassin and hence had no stupid dialog to recite.

Day Of The Assassin is a joint Mexican-American dud.