Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Michael Ledo ***SPOILERS***The movie starts out with our killing machine, Edward Glenn (Dolph) in a no-win situation, then flashes back. He is now in bed with a gold digging blond asking him for a new car while they make love because her current car is "so last year." (Brief nudity) He gets a call from his wife (or ex-wife) about attending his daughter's play. Dolph seems cold and heartless. Later we find out he is an ex-KGB assassin working for the Russian mob. He has a real day job as an investment broker. He goes to Hong Kong on an assignment. He murders his target and a bunch of other people, but allows a witness (being tortured by his target) to live. He returns home and is questioned if he left any witnesses. He answers in the negative and gets another assignment. He has to go to Miami ASAP and take out a man that weekend. However, it is his turn to have his daughter that weekend as mom goes frolics with her boyfriend. Edward leaves the girl with his floozy girlfriend and drives off to the airport. The floozy doesn't want to take care of the kid so she palms her off on the housekeeper. Meanwhile Edward is on his way to the airport on the phone with his wife, convincing her he just had supper with Taylor(daughter) and she had just gone to bed. He is just out getting a few items for breakfast, he claims. Then BAM! He is sent on a detour, which turns out to be a trap. People attempt to kill him as he has been set up. He manages to escape and get his daughter to safety then goes to save his wife. After they met up, there is a gun battle with people in police uniforms and her boyfriend gets killed. They end up hiding out together and she asks, "Are you doing something illegal?" DUH! He doesn't answer her until after she puts out. Odd. When I get a woman's boyfriend killed, it is rare that they have sex with me the same freaking night.While I gave away half the movie, the rest is trying to figure out who set him up and the payback. As it turns out our cold heartless killer left his family so they wouldn't get caught up in his world and get killed. A little like OJ, "so if I left you and made love to a blond girl half your age, that would mean I love you."

juneebuggy Well this wasn't a great movie by any means, very low budget and from what I understand straight to DVD which makes sense. Dolph gives a decent performance though in his role as a former KGB agent and sleeper spy, trying to break from his dark past and go straight. He's forced back into the killing game when his cover and career as a hit man is blown and he and his family (and girlfriend) targeted.It is what it is, a low budget, B action flick. There are some OK fight scenes and shootouts, zero special effects though which limits things. And while I appreciated that this was in filmed in Vancouver and actually took place in Vancouver it was also fairly obvious that when Icarus/Eddie was supposed to be in Russia or China he was still in Vancouver.Dolph does do a decent job with his role -he's better than anyone else in the movie which unfortunately isn't saying much and he's (still) very nice to look at. 1/13/16

Comeuppance Reviews Edward Genn (Lundgren) is a family man and loving husband and father - but he's also a secret assassin trained in the former Soviet Union and working for the Russian Mob. His code name is Icarus. After certain events go sideways, all manner of bad guys - goons, hired killers, Russian mob, other mobs, etc. are after him. All Genn wants to do is protect his family. But he'll have to face the demons of his past first, personified by the evil gangster Vadim (Svenson). Will his double life come crashing down? It's very cool to see Dolph as a hit-man and he looks quite dapper in his suits and ties here. As seems to be the trend of late, some scenes are underlit and too dark to see, but what we did see, we liked very much. Except for the film quality and the soundtrack, this film could have been made in the 80's, which is definitely a good thing in our book. Dolph, as star and director, obviously knows what his fans want, and he delivers yet again. It helps that the writer, Raul Inglis, is also the uncredited writer on White Tiger (1996) as well as the writer of Breach of Trust (1995).There's plenty of action, good violence, and Bo Svenson as well. He doesn't show up until the very last portion of the film, but it was cool to see Dolph and Bo together, especially in a showdown as mortal enemies. Interestingly, the plot of "guy was a hit-man and now has a wife and daughter who are now in danger because of his past life and he now must use his violent training to protect them" was also used for Hit-man's Run (1999). Thankfully, neither Esteban Powell, nor any other annoying sidekick is on display. As said earlier, Dolph knows what his fans want. Annoying sidekicks are not one of them.So thanks to the action, violence, presence of two of our favorite stars (Dolph and Bo) and the undemanding running time of 88 minutes, not to mention the 80's throwback feel and Dolph's direction, The Killing Machine is a solid winner.For more insanity, check out: comeuppancereviews.com

lovecraft231 It makes sense for somebody whose a veteran actor of a specific genre to eventually be a producer, writer or director for said movie. Many a genre stalwart-Angela Bettis, Robert Englund, and Bruce Campbell have all taken a part of directing films, for better or for worse. So for someone like Dolph Lungren, it makes sense, as he's been a veteran of macho action films for a long time, and has already directed some titles in said genre. Which leads to this film, "The Killing Machine." Dolph stars as Edward Genn, a divorced father and investment broker, whose living a double life. You see, he also used to be a dangerous KGB assassin known as "Icarus." Well, the past comes back to haunt him in the Russian mob, and when they go after his family, it's time to strike back.As you can tell, "The Killing Machine" is pretty much your meat and potatoes style action/revenge movie. Thankfully, said meal isn't unappetizing, though it's certainly not spectacular. This comes from Anchor Bay, who at least seem to have an eye when it comes to direct to DVD action fair, in that said movies have good production values. It's also got enough bloody violence to satiate fans of mindless action fare, and it's all done with relish without feeling like overkill. Lundgren himself does a fine job as the former assassin, doing what he can with the rather basic material (though I had to turn on the subtitles whenever he delivered a monologue), and it's always fun to see Bo Svenson, here acting with a very unconvincing Russian accent. That's just fine though, as it adds to the escapist tone of the whole thing.If there are any problems, it's the direction and a few other performances. Sure, Lundgren will always be a convincing bad ass, but as a director, there isn't a whole lot about his style that sticks out (though it's nice to see someone not resort to hyperactive editing choices), as it's all done straightforward to the point of feeling a bit vanilla. Also, Stefanie Von Pfetten and Lindsay Maxwell deliver performances that could only be described as "unsatisfactory at best." They're really bad here, and kinda drag thing down whenever they show up, though they are pretty attractive.As a whole, "The Killing Machine" isn't bad for a weekend afternoon action movie. It's serviceable enough, though it's more passable than it is exciting to be honest.