Harlin Garrett (Wincott) has been coasting on his enviable name for too long. Formerly a hit man, a mysterious man named Green (Ironside) kidnaps him and forces him to do assassination jobs for his organization. While unsure of his future, he obeys Green until a romance develops with one of his potential targets, Dr. Ann Kendall (Hawkes). When a conspiracy involving the U.S. government starts to spiral out of control, Garrett must hold on to what he knows and survive the onslaught. Can he do it? While we're not entirely sure what a "killing man" is exactly (is it anything like a Japanese Karate Man?) - what we do know is that this movie is certainly below the talents of the normally-capable Jeff Wincott. Of course, low budgets never bothered us, but the rock-bottom financial situation is painfully evident here. The budget must have been so low, they couldn't afford backgrounds. BACKGROUNDS! Many scenes take place with a totally black backdrop. Either this is the weirdest episode of The Charlie Rose show yet filmed, or Wincott and the gang are floating in some sort of existential nowhere-land. Even when scenes take place in an actual room, there is no set design whatsoever. Is this a kind of avant-garde theatre production that no one ever goes to see? Regardless, the dark, dingy, bleak, depressing, Canadian vibe permeates the movie. It would all be tolerable if there were many competently-shot action scenes to mitigate the grime. Unfortunately, this does not happen either.A handful of dumb, stupidly-filmed beat-em-ups, again, below Wincott's standards, don't help matters. But we do get more than one scene of him walking in slow motion. And his hair, sunglasses and jacket combo make him look oddly like Andrew Dice Clay. You feel that at any moment he's going to break into a rousing rendition of "hickory dickory dock..." Aggravatingly, the movie as a whole does not play to Wincott's strengths, like Mission of Justice (1993) did, for example. He's an able and powerful Martial Artist, with a big likable streak. NONE of those attributes are effectively communicated in The Killing Man. Yes, there is an amateurish alleyway fight, and some type of romance, but the movie's limitations prevent it from really taking flight.But one thing we did learn is that if you ever send someone a severed head in the mail, make sure you use styrofoam packing peanuts. You wouldn't want it to get damaged in transit and look bad. Also it made us re-discover the fact that standing on the edge of a building roof is so '90s. It seems like every star, from Richard Gere to John Travolta to Jeff Wincott took the elevator all the way up there and stood up and looked out into the distance. For extra dramatic effect, you could also extend your arms in a Jesus-like pose. Just ask Mr. Jones (1993), Michael (1996), or Phenomenon (1996). If you have any other examples, feel free to leave a comment.One thing we as audiences should demand is that our movies have actual backgrounds. Is this too much to ask? Lighting issues be damned, we want to see where you are. Of course, The Killing Man has nil production values, but director Mitchell should really know better. We've seen a surprising amount of his work: Thunderground (1989), Mask of Death (1996), Last to Surrender (1999) and UKM (2006) - but we have yet to see him do anything exceptional or noteworthy.Featuring the typically-90's rock song "Drying Well" by Gangland, don't be fooled by the cool box art. This particular Killing Man needs more testosterone.

While the plot is nothing new (government contract killer falls for one of his assignments), this Canadian-lensed action drama is a cut above the rest. The amazing, intense Jeff Wincott plays the contract killer, and the fetching, vulnerable Terri Hawkes is the assignment he falls for. The always dependable Michael Ironside is Wincott's shadowy boss, a government official of sorts who is told who to kill, if not always why. This low-budget actioner was filmed and produced with the care and attention to detail of many A-level productions. And Wincott is thoroughly believable as a killing machine who develops a conscience. The fight scenes are extremely well staged, and they are frequent. Some decent nudity and a couple of detailed sex scenes keep the attention from flagging between fights and shootouts. Kudos to the director/writer, who clearly knew how to get the most for his money.

Director David Mitchell has created a gem in The Killing Machine.Starring Jeff Wincott who has also been in other classic flicks, Last Man Standing 1996, Martial Outlaw 1993, Mission of Justice 1992 and Martial Law II: Undercover 1992.Also starring Michael Ironside who has also been in other classic flicks, The Butcher 2009, Terminator Salvation 2009, Surveillance 2008, Starship Troopers 1997, Total Recall 1990, Nowhere to Hide 1987, Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II 1987, Forced to Kill 1994 and Scanners 1981.Also starring Terri Hawkes who has also been in other classic flicks, Sabotage 1996 and Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II with Michael Ironside.I enjoyed the fight scenes and the shootouts.If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic hit-man flicks, The Fifth Commandment 2008, Icarus 2010, Leon: The Professional 1994, The Marker 2008, The Replacement Killers 1998, Crank 2006, The Long Kiss Goodnight 1996, Smokin' Aces 2006, Kill Bill: Vol.1 2003, Kill Bill: Vol 2 2004, Road to Perdition 2002, Pulp Fiction 1994, The Bourne Ultimatum 2007, Nikita 1990, The Boondock Saints 1999, Hit-man 2007, Killing Them Softly 2012, One in the Chamber 2012, Bullet to the Head 2012, Interview with a Hit-man 2012, American Ultra 2015, Hit-man: Agent 47 2015, Sicarivs: the Night and the Silence 2015, Accident Man 2018, A Hit-man in London 2015 and Wanted 2008.

This is a warning for everyone to stay away from this piece of garbage. The plot is simple. Jeff Wincott was once a hit-man, and after he died he was brought back to life to do killing for the government. This plot has lots of potential, but unfortunately it is totally wasted here. It just keeps getting worse and worse, and in the end I was supporting the bad guys, even though they weren't exactly the most charismatic bunch of people I've witnessed. Wincott delivered some great fighting and action in movies like "Martial Law 2", "Mission of Justice", "Deadly Bet" and even "Martial Outlaw", and that means that I got really disappointed when it turned out that this film sucked to the extreme on that level. Very bad fight scenes, nearly no action, and it sucks big time. I advise everyone to just pretend that this movie doesn't exist at all.