OSS 117: MISSION FOR A KILLER (1965)
aka Furia a Bahia pour OSS 117
Article 3698 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-14-2011
Posting Date: 9-29-2011
Directed by Andre Hunebelle
Featuring Frederick Stafford, Mylene Demongeot, Raymond Pellegrin
Country: France / Italy
What it is: Eurospy

OSS 117 is sent on a mission to Brazil to defeat revolutionaries who are using mind control drugs to turn people into suicidal killers.

For a while I thought this was going to be some more Spyghetti, but it looks like it’s more French than Italian. This may explain why the flavor of this James Bond imitation is a little different. The movie is peppered with some interesting fight scenes, Frederick Stafford makes a decent faux Bond in some ways, and the location footage is nice to look at. It’s also surprisingly easy to follow. It’s main problem is that it’s rather dull; it’s directed without flair or style, and there’s a few too many dull stretches that cause your attention to wander. Add to that a musical score that is often far too easy going for this genre and the fact that the villains are a pallid lot, there’s just not a whole lot of fun to be had with this one. The fantastic content is the use of the mind control drug and hypnotism, but within the movie itself, these are used a bit too sparingly for my taste.