Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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.

I was very surprised by this film. While it is supposed to be a Bulldog Drummond movie, it's really a James Bond type picture...and a pretty good one. While the plot doesn't always make sense, I have to remind myself that plot holes and ridiculously overly complicated murders are also found in just about all the Bond films! So, when in the opening scene a woman plants an exploding cigar on someone and after he's dead she activates a bomb, your brain says 'why didn't they just plant the bomb?'. The same goes for a few other scenes such as having a judo class only a foot away from a balcony ledge? Just turn off your brain and go with it!!So what does the film have going for it? Well, Dick Johnson (nice manly name, huh?) is very good in the lead--reasonably handsome but also quite physical and a decent actor. Also, the plot isn't as insanely BIG as many Bond films as the killings are for profit and the baddie isn't quite a Blofeld in his sensibilities. Overall, well done and well worth seeing.By the way, the version I saw had the German working title 'Heisse Katzen'--literally 'Hot Cats'--most likely a reference to the beautiful women (including Elke Sommer) who are the assassins.

"Deadlier Than Male" of 1967 is a stylish and highly amusing spy/adventure flick that was clearly inspired by the popularity of the 60s James Bond films. None other than Quentin Tarantino is reported to love this film, and if that rumor is true, I can see why. My personal main-reason to watch the film was the ravishing Elke Sommer, of whom I've been a fan ever since I saw her in Mario Bava's brilliant Gothic flicks "Lisa And The Devil" and "Baron Blood". And while Elke Sommer, and fellow eye-candy Silvia Koschina ("Lisa And The Devil", "La Mala Ordina",...) as well as the rest of the sexy female cast are not the only reason to see this film, they are definitely the most convincing one. Bikini-clad babes, Bondish villains and a great, macabre sense of humor - this is what "Deadlier Tan Male" is all about. A promising premise, in my opinion. While this film is clearly a Bond-knockoff it re-invented a detective character of earlier decades. The character of Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond was popularized in the 20s and 30s and a kind of English pendant to the private eyes in American hard-boiled detective novels and films. I have not seen any of the old Bulldog Drummond films so far, but I sure am going to. The Bulldog Drummond in this film is a very James Bond-ish rich playboy and spy. He is played by Richard Johnson, who was once intended to play the role of Bond in "Dr. No". After several people are killed by sexy female assassins, and by rather unusual methods, Drummond investigates in order to find the one who pulls the strings behind these murders. The film's most ravishing quality are Elke Sommer and Sylva Koschina, who play the constantly quarreling duo of sexy female assassins Irma (Sommer) and Penelope (Koschina). The cast furthermore includes Nigel Green ("The Masque Of The Red Death", "The Face Of Fu Manchu",...), and Milton Reid ("Dr Phibes Rises Again"). The relationship between Bulldog Drummond and his slightly annoying nephew is only remotely funny, but the constant dark humor, especially when people are being assassinated, is hilarious. Overall "Deadlier Than Male" is no must-see, but definitely a highly amusing flick that cult-cinema fans should enjoy.

MASTER PLAN: expand a corporate empire via simple assassinations. Capt. Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond, a gentleman who indulged in detective work, was conceived in the 1920's in a series of novels and was in quite a few films in the 1930's and 40's. The last one before this was a 1951 potboiler "Calling Bulldog Drummond," with Walter Pidgeon. This late-in-the-game restart of sorts has Mr. Drummond (not referred to as 'Bulldog' here) as little more than an insurance investigator. However, the character and plot borrow heavily from the popular James Bond formula of the sixties and results in the closest approximation to the actual Bond films during this period, more so than the 'Flint' duo of films and the Matt Helm series of films, which featured American spies. The actor Johnson, as Drummond, even resembles Sean Connery in some shots, with a similar virile approach, a slight grim smirk & tough demeanor, and Johnson is a fine actor, so this isn't just some silly parody; yet, it does capture that same vicious streak of gallows humor. So, yes, the wicked humor is there - I mean, really wicked. The two main femme fatales (played by Sommer & Koscina) are curvaceous assassins and they're outrageously effective (hence, the film's title). They are completely amoral, enjoying their work and behaving as if they're shopping in some high-end store rather than killing people. Some of their scenes, the terminations, actually made me wince a little, probably because I'm not used to seeing such cruelty and callousness on film from females, even if it is comedic in nature and tone. Ironically, the lethal ladies would be copied by the Bond films in "Diamonds Are Forever," where the assassins were gay males rather than female.The plot tends to be fiendishly funny, if you like that dark satire take on things: the head villain is an out-of-control capitalist, moving through the corporate world with a new set of rules and simplistic ruthlessness. If, for example, members of a board vote on a corporate resolution and it's tied 5 to 5, he simply disposes of the member whom he feels is holding up the vote, to change it in his favor. Drummond catches on to this, of course, and becomes the latest target. The best and most intense scene, straight out of the Bond movies and about an hour in, is the requisite 'villain and henchpeople have a last supper with the hero as planned victim' scenario. But, Drummond taunts the villain and provokes the henchman (a burly poor man's Oddjob) into some bad moves. Drummond proves to be fearless - he's surrounded by characters we now know to be very dangerous and ends up mocking them all - it's one of the best Bond scenes and it's not in a Bond movie. Drummond then defies expectations by refusing to partake in the also-requisite 'hero & femme fatale seduction scene,' much to the lady's surprise and anger. And, even though the budget is understandably lower than a typical Bonder (while we're in London in the 1st half, there's barely any spectacle), the filmmakers do manage to throw in that wild, weird chess board later, outdoing many of the grander set-pieces in the Bond films. Since Johnson plays it straight, even straighter than Connery some might say, much of this resembles "Dr.No" and "From Russia With Love," the Bonders which relied mostly on pure espionage. Sommer and actor Nigel Green would reunite in the Matt Helm Bond-spoof "The Wrecking Crew," playing similar characters. Drummond and Johnson would return one more time in "Some Girls Do." Hero:8 Villain:8 Femme Fatales:9 Henchmen:6 Fights:7 Stunts/Chases:6 Gadgets:6 Auto:6 Locations:7 Pace:8 overall:7

Perhaps the best of the escapist superspy movies spawned by the James Bond phenomenon,"Deadlier than the male" benefits by taking itself more seriously than the leering and campy approach found in,for example,the "Matt Helm" series and the 2 "Derek Flint" films.Richard Johnson-who could well have played James Bond,and would have brought more humanity to the role than any of the actors who played 007 managed,is excellent as Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond(a character featured in a series of books in the 20s and 30s and a number of "b" movies,reborn here as a secret agent for the swinging 60s).Nigel Green is also perfect,as a suave and very dangerous master criminal.The female assassins,played by 60s stunners Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina,are allowed to be despicably evil,and without any redeeming features(they are as keen to sadistically torture people as they are to kill them),and the sight of the murderous pair in bikinis emerging from the ocean with harpoon guns,should be as iconic as the "Ursula Andress hits the beach" moment in "Dr No".Unfortunately the sequel to this movie,"Some girls do"(1969),though not without interest,adopted the over the top camp "Deadlier than the male" avoided,and ended the franchise.