Jack Williams was the best friend of Vietnam veteran and detective Mike Hammer. When Jack is murdered, Mike makes it his business to solve the crime. He is helped by his secretary Velda, and partly helped, partly hindered by the Chief of Police, Pat Chambers. On the trail of the killer, Mike discovers government conspiracies, and plots used by the CIA and the Mafia.
Acting
Assante's absurdly committed growl-and-glower performance.
Costume
Hammer's inexplicable all-denim fits and trench coat swagger.
Director
Richard T. Heffron
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was meant to launch a Mike Hammer franchise; it absolutely did not. Assante later called it 'a paycheck and a mistake.'
The film's sex therapy clinic plot weirdly mirrors actual 1980s CIA MKUltra-adjacent research scandals that wouldn't be fully public until years later.
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