source: Hammerhead

Trailer—Hammerhead

Hammerhead

This has to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I watched it on television years ago, my wife and I have used it as a standard for the worst ever sense. It was so bad, I turned it off, thought maybe it would get better, turned it back on, three times. Even the music was terrible. HammmmmmmmmmmmmmerHead, still rings in my ears.

This spoof of spy film sinks like a lead balloon.It is more dated than a 1929 early talkie.The acting is truly appalling and the story is an incomprehensible mess.

Third rate Bond ripoff,with super villain,scantily clad women,etc.About the only moment I even really remember is *NOT A SPOILER* with about 10 minutes left, the wind from a helicopter blows Judy Geeson's skirt up, giving us a good 3-4 second look at her white briefs.That should tell you how memorable the entire movie is. To the first comment,at the bottom,the *SPOILER* ending you described,was to an equally awful film,from the year before, called "The Day the fish came out."

The other reviews are pretty spot-on in assessing this as utter drek, but oddly nobody has mentioned the ludicrous scene in which Judy Geeson - worst actress of 1968 without a doubt - suddenly bursts into song. After a good hour (which seems like a lifetime) of Geeson's high pitched, twelve year old schoolgirl voice, she appears in a nightclub 'singing', only her voice has been dubbed by a Madeline Bell soundalike (for those who aren't familiar with Miss Bell, she is a husky voiced jazz singer of the Shirley Bassey type). A more unsuitable voice double for Judy Geeson would be hard to imagine! The only plus in the entire film is the great Diana Dors, injecting interest and style into a project sadly lacking in both departments.

I'm another one who watched this film on UK television as part of a '60s season tying in with the release of Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD. Tarantino champions it, but I'm afraid I don't see what the fuss is about. This is a typical kind of Bond rip-off, mired in '60s excess and some very silly and dated moments. The mannequin-smashing opening sequence is so overbearing that you almost feel like turning off, and if you persevere you end up in a typical story about a secret agent versus a criminal mastermind. The film does have some solid action sequences to recommend it, but they're outweighed by endless sexy dance scenes and Judy Geeson being annoyingly girlish (why this was amusing in the '60s I have no idea). Vince Edwards made his mark in Kubrick's THE KILLING but he seems ill at ease here, although Peter Vaughan is good value as the villain of the piece.

While I have not seen the Hammerhead movie, I do have the soundtrack album. I ended up ordering it by mistake about 25 years ago, and when I got it, I opened it anyway as I collect soundtracks, and had never heard of the movie Hammerhead. There is a catchy theme song, and some cool chase music, as well as other tunes, and even a Hammerhead 'concerto' on the record. If this movie ever comes out on video, I would like to see it in order to associate the music with the scenes. The music is typical of the 60s and is very light-hearted and fun to listen to.

American agent Charles Hood needs to stop international criminal Hammerhead from stealing a secret report on nuclear defense. British production has cheeky asides and a bouncy score from David Whitaker--as well as a curious obsession with erotic art!--but is so mild it barely makes an impression. Adaptation of the spy novel by James Mayo (aka Stephen Coulter) opens with a garish hippie happening in London that is liable to scare away the film's target audience. In the lead, Vince Edwards seems a little sheepish; he fills the bill but lacks the punchy personality to make Hood a three-dimensional hero. *1/2 from ****