Mister Deathman (1983) User Reviews (6)

1970's Schlock Not for Everyone!

[mikhail080 · 4/10 · 2 September 2010]

Filmed on the cheap in South Africa, this low-budget affair at least features a likable Black actor in the lead role of Geoffrey Graves. The actor David Broadnax didn't have much of a career, but this is his show, and he even wrote the story it's based on. He's fit and thin, and sports some skintight jeans and groovy shirts throughout.

The confusing plot has dozens of minor characters either banding together or double-crossing one another or poor Graves, who seems to be caught up in a maelstrom of international intrigue. The unintentional humor abounds in the primitively staged fight scenes, third-rate acting, and ridiculous dialog. There's a hilarious scene set in a huge "computer control room," that has a bunch of beautiful models working some phone bank under the strict supervision of Stella Stevens, who exhibits a few lesbian tendencies. Soon explosions fill the screen, leaving the audience scratching their heads in wonderment.

Amusing for the wrong reasons

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 13 August 2008]

Ex secret agent is pulled back into service to find a missing aerospace engineer who has been kidnapped. The trail leads to South Africa where he runs up against the organization of Mr Z. Really badly written film has some good action but dialog and a plot that makes you stare at the screen in incredulity. You watch the film because you can't believe what its doing or what people are actually saying. The result is a well made movie that you chuckle at instead of with. The version in the Grindhouse Experience 2 box set runs under 90 minutes and shows signs of being not only trimmed from its full 100+ running time but also further cut up and rearranged with scenes from the end of the film appearing at the start. Worth looking at with a some popcorn, some friends and some drinks of choice.

Black James Bond gets a 004 (out of 010)

[gridoon2024 · 4/10 · 13 November 2010]

The title and the music score may make you think for a while that "Mister Deathman" is a late entry into the 1970's blaxploitation cycle, but the film is actually closer to a James Bond copy - from the hero's long array of gadgets (knife inside his belt, exploding cigar, etc.) to the ridiculously elaborate and dubiously effective traps that his enemies devise to put an end to his bothersome existence, instead of simply shooting him when they have the chance (which they do have, repeatedly). You can't accuse this film of lack of effort (despite its obviously low budget, it has some spectacular explosions at the end), but it's too often boring. The lead, despite his amateurishness (it was his first film appearance) is not bad, but second-billed Stella Sevens is underused: she only appears after 43 minutes (!), and although she gets at least one great line ("Make sure he's a corpse. Bring me his head, or at least an ear!"), her clearly teased lesbian tendencies (she likes to surround herself with pretty girls who are quite affectionate towards her) should have been expanded upon! *1/2 out of 4.

A waste of Stella's talents SPOILER

[jimbo97-1 · 2/10 · 20 May 2009]

If you searched out MISTER DEATHMAN hoping for a reprise of Stella Stevens again playing an evil "lipstick lesbian" dope queen (as she did admirably in CLEOPATRA JONES AND THE CASINO OF GOLD), battling black good guys, you will be disappointed.

Yes, she does play that kind of character ("Liz"... read "lez") but the extent of her sapphic scenes consists of nothing more than walking away with her arm around the waist of one of her girls in ONE scene! No nudity, no kissy-face lesbian scene. :-( Indeed, she wears the SAME costume thru the whole movie. It's a foxy riding habit with boots, but after the many costume changes in the Cleo Jones movie you would expect more.

Her violent action scenes are missing here too. When Stella finally gets her just desserts... blown to Hades while hiding behind a truck that is hit by a missile fired by the black hero... there is nothing left of her shown, except for her riding crop. Like I said... what a waste of a beautiful actress.

South African-shot blaxploitation

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 21 February 2018]

MISTER DEATHMAN is a blaxploitation thriller shot in South Africa, oddly enough. This gives a suitably exotic backdrop for the usual Bond-style shenanigans to play out. The hero is a secret agent tasked with rescuing a kidnapped scientist from an evil corporation. David Broadnax is the unknown lead but he's pretty likeable in the part; a shame the movie itself is so cheap and sloppy, however. I'm sure in one car-off-a-cliff stunt it looks like the car was built out of balsa wood. Stella Stevens has an unusual role as the villainess but for once her sexuality is played down. MISTER DEATHMAN's heart is in the right place but in the end this is simply too cheap to be that entertaining.

While this isn't exactly essential viewing, it may appeal to those who enjoy undiscovered spy thrillers.

[tarbosh22000 · 4/10 · 19 March 2020]

Geoffrey Graves (Broadnax) is an international superspy, or secret agent, or something along those lines. After a run-in with two low-level mobsters, Graves somehow gets embroiled in a complex web of kidnapping, murder, and Stella Stevens. He has all the tricks up his sleeve that a James Bond-esque dude might have, which will come in handy as he fights his way towards the mysterious Mr. Czee. This entails a lot of intrigue in South Africa, which comes to a head in a very perplexing computer room. Who exactly is MISTER DEATHMAN? Is it Graves or is it someone else? Perhaps it's now up for debate...



A movie that ends as abruptly as it begins (or at least that's the case with the version we saw), Mister Deathman is more of a spy adventure than a pure action film, but it does have some action moments and blow-ups. It certainly follows in the footsteps of other South African outings like Cobra Force (1988) and Vengeance Cops (1971). Maybe we're just watching the wrong South African movies, but it seems like the one common denominator to all of them is that they're afraid to go full-out action. They all seem to pull their punches to a certain degree. Whether that's down to censorship or some other reason, we have no way of knowing.





While we enjoyed David Broadnax as Graves, and there are some bright spots peppered throughout the movie, probably our favorite thing about it was the score. Unfortunately we don't know the name of the composer as of now, but they did a fantastic job and it almost single-handedly keeps the movie afloat, especially in its slower moments (and there are plenty of those). Broadnax should have done more in his career. While the only other feature film he appeared in is Zombie Island Massacre (1984), he does get a "based on an original story by" credit here. Of course, he plays the lead as well. What ever happened to Broadnax?

Mister Deathman isn't in any way bad, it just loses steam at a certain point and should have been more of a straight-ahead action movie. While it has a cool title, it doesn't really live up to it, unfortunately. Low-budget, foreign-made variations on James Bond featuring a one-time lead actor are a tough sell for just about any potential viewers.

Perhaps that's why it never received a wide release, including the U.S. It should be noted as a point of interest that director Michael Moore (and no, it's not the Michael Moore that we unfortunately know today, but a Canadian gentleman who passed away in 2013) was the second unit director on Never Say Never Again (1983). Maybe he felt that qualified him to make his own Bond with Broadnax.

In the end, while this isn't exactly essential viewing, it may appeal to those who enjoy undiscovered spy thrillers.