The Projected Man

The Projected Man is a 1966 British science fiction horror film starring Bryant Haliday, Norman Wooland, Mary Peach, and Ronald Allen. It was released in the United States by Universal, on a double bill with Island of Terror.

Discovered by Alex Gordon as an unproduced screenplay by Hollywood writer Frank Quattrocchi, The Projected Man was directed by Ian Curteis; it would be the first theatrical film that he would direct. However, due to his lack of experience, he ran into several problems during filming. As the film fell behind schedule and the budget kept increasing, he was fired during the film’s final stages. Producer John Croydon replaced him; however, Croydon remained uncredited as the producers did not wish to publicise the problems which had occurred on set.

Plot:

Dr. Paul Steiner (Bryant Haliday) and Dr. Christopher Mitchell (Ronald Allen) work on a projection device that enables them to transmit any object within a few miles of the machine. While they find the device works with inanimate objects, the living creatures they use it on always seem to die. When Dr. Patricia Hill (Mary Peach) arrives, she helps them fix the error, making Steiner think the problem has been solved. Meanwhile, Dr. Blanchard (Norman Wooland), Steiner’s boss and head of the institute he works for, is being blackmailed by Mr. Latham (Derrick De Marney), who wants credit for Steiner’s discovery. He forces Blanchard to demand Steiner to give a premature presentation to Professor Lembach (Gerard Heinz).

Steiner, Mitchell, and Hill feel they are ready to present, but at the event, Blanchard sneakily places acid on the machine, causing an explosion. The funding for Steiner’s project is ended instantly, however, Mitchell later discovers that the device has been tampered with. Steiner goes to Blanchard’s house. He presents the men with the evidence that his machine was deliberately tampered with, and Lembach allows him to have another chance…

Projected Man 1966 topless woman in morgue

Topless scene included at the insistence of Tony Tenser’s Compton Films

Reviews:

” … certain aspects of its story never quite get around to making much sense, but it’s much faster- paced and more tautly directed than most of the 50’s monster-rampage movies from which it takes its cues. The acting is well above the average for movies of this type, and the special effects are excellent, considering the constraints of The Projected Man’s obviously low budget. You could easily find a hundred worse Saturday matinee time-wasters than this one.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“British horror thriller with scientific overtones would have been more watchable with faster pacing and less superfluous material.” John Stanley, Creature Features Movie Guide

“The title monster is sufficiently different in appearance to anything I had seen before, the laboratory actually looks like a proper laboratory and equipment rather than the contents of someone’s garage. There’s some explosions at the end , a brief view of some bare breasts and more than a few unintentional laughs.” Tim Rogerson,

Publicity shots emphasized actress Tracey Crisp in her underwear

“Nearly the whole first half is spent on annoying arguments at the research center. The second half commences with a decent lab scene and then turns into a monster-on-the-loose story, like First Man into Space. But even this second half wastes itself with annoying people meandering around, trying to figure out what’s happening. The action quotient is tiny.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers: Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Film