Rating: ***
Review Date: 12/2/18
Writer: Yvette Mimieux
Cast: Yvette Mimieux, Joseph Campanella, Clu Gulager, Dack Rambo,
Keenan Wynn
A "made for TV" movie written by and starring Yvette Mimieux as a contract killer named Angela de Vries. Angela excels at her job and is in high demand, but has grown tired of the killing and wants out. Her handler promises to let her go after one last job, which seals her fate. Her latest mark is a political assassination that needs to look like an accident, and when the job turns bad, she heads to Mexico to hide out. Unfortunately, as is often the case with movie assassins, love and sentimentality lead to her undoing.
Given the format, it's a fairly tame outing, but the notion of a high-end female assassin must have been pretty radical at the time. Angela is a master manipulator, and eager men let down their guard and fall for her charms without a second thought. Yvette Mimieux is wonderful as the cold and calculating Angela, who can love a man just as easily as killing him. Her presentation is very straight forward and matter of fact, which I appreciate. There's very little action, but the script does a good job of creating a constant sense of tension and dread. The dramatic music score swells with romance and sorrow, which nicely complements Angela's conflicting emotions. It's short, simple, and overly predictable, but solidly entertaining for fans of the genre.