The Projected Man
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The Projected Man

The Projected Man is a 1966 British science fiction film directed by Ian Curteis, written by Peter Bryan, John C. Cooper, and Frank Quattrocchi, and starring Bryant Haliday, Mary Peach, Norman Wooland, Ronald Allen, and Derek Farr.

It was released in the United States by Universal Studios, as a double bill with Island of Terror. The plot revolves around a scientist, Dr. Paul Steiner, experimenting with matter teleportation by means of a laser device. However, after a failed attempt at projecting himself, he becomes a disfigured monster who embarks on a murderous rampage.

Discovered by Alex Gordon as an unproduced screenplay by Hollywood writer Frank Quattrocchi, The Projected Man was directed by Ian Curteis, who had been approached following the BBC's transmission of a television film he had directed. He took the job despite reservations about a rigidly tight four-week shooting contract and an inadequate budget. After four weeks the finance ran out and producer John Croydon took over the direction, unpaid and meeting the remaining financial demands himself in order to complete the film. However, Croydon remained uncredited as the producers did not wish to publicise the problems which had occurred on set.

The Projected Man has received mixed reviews. Several sources were critical of the film's resemblance to other science fiction films, with The Fly and 4D Man being singled out by critics and moviegoers alike as possible inspirations, although the film's executive producer Richard Gordon has denied this. The Projected Man was featured in a ninth-season episode of comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, and has been released on DVD by Cinema Club.

Dr. Paul Steiner and Dr. Christopher Mitchell work on a projection device that enables them to transmit any object within a few miles of the machine. While they find the device works with inanimate objects, the living creatures they use it on always seem to die. When Dr. Patricia Hill arrives, she helps them fix the error, making Steiner think the problem has been solved. Meanwhile, Dr. Blanchard, Steiner's boss and head of the institute for which he works, is being blackmailed by Mr. Latham, who wants credit for Steiner's discovery. He forces Blanchard to demand Steiner to give a premature presentation to Professor Lembach.

Steiner, Mitchell, and Hill feel they are ready to present, but at the event, Blanchard places acid on the machine when everyone is unaware, causing an explosion. The funding for Steiner's project is ended instantly; however, Mitchell later discovers that the device has been tampered with. Steiner goes to Blanchard's house, where Lembach and Latham are having dinner. He presents the men with the evidence that his machine was deliberately tampered with, and Lembach allows him to have another chance. Steiner decides to try to project himself to Lembach's house, and, with help from his secretary, Sheila, he begins the procedure. However, right then, Mitchell and Hill return to the laboratory.

The two try to convince Sheila to stop the projection, but as she is inexperienced with the device, she instead ends up projecting Steiner to somewhere else. He ends up at a construction site, the hideout of a band of thieves who are attempting to break into a bank. It is learned that an error in the projection has given Steiner the ability to kill people by touching them, and has mutilated one half of his body. Steiner kills the criminals, and then enters a store, where he steals a pair of rubber gloves and a coat. He then breaks into the institute, where he finds Latham and kills him. He also destroys the building's power supply, alerting Hill and Mitchell that something is wrong. By this time, Inspector Davis has discovered the bodies of the criminals and is determined to stop Steiner.

Sheila is kidnapped by Steiner, who interrogates her in her apartment. She reveals that Blanchard and Latham planned against him, angering Steiner. Before leaving, Steiner sets Sheila's apartment on fire with her inside (unaware that she survives) and goes to hide at Blanchard's house. When Blanchard returns home, he is killed by Steiner. Meanwhile, Davis has examined Latham's body and realizes that the electric marks left on Latham were the same as the criminals. Steiner shows up at Hill's house, where he finds her and Mitchell. Steiner demands that they tell him where he can find more electricity, since after the projection he needs energy to survive. Hill and Mitchell try to convince him to return to the laboratory so they can try reversing the projection, but Steiner rebuffs them and leaves toward a power plant.

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