Life is full of little mysteries and tiny surprises. In my case, the little mystery came in the shape of an old and unmarked VHS in my film collection. On the label stood "The Man who would not Die" (note the difference between "would not" and "wouldn't"), and I remember looking it up on IMDb a long time ago, but not finding it. The tiny surprise came when I finally decided to watch it, because it turned out an extremely rare and obscure film, without a single user-comment submitted here on the site. Now, if you review movies around here, you might agree with me that being the first person to leave a user-comment is quite a unique event.
The million-dollar question that logically follows is, of course: why is "The Man who would not Die" so unknown? Especially because there are a few famous and respectable players involved (Keenan Wynn, Dorothy Malone, Aldo Ray...) and because the production values are decent, or at least not cheaper or more amateurish than many other mid-70s cult/adventure movies. For starters, the title is unoriginal and not quite "correct" when you watch the film. Look up "The Man who wouldn't Die" and you get nearly ten hits. If they had used, say, "The Man who died Three Times", it would have been a USP. And that title is more meaningful, too.
This really isn't a bad film, mind you, but it takes an awful long time before the "puzzle" - which pretty much covers the entire plot - starts making a little bit of sense. The script, based on a novel by Charles Williams who also wrote "Dead Calm", unravels its enigmas terribly slow, and it doesn't seem as if they want the viewers to guess along for what's happening. Worse, even, the film almost automatically assumes that the viewer constantly knows who's who and what's going on. Very frustrating. Only when we're over halfway already, the puzzle pieces fall into place and "The Man who would not Die" turns into a compelling and tense adventure. Now that I'm listing positive aspects, the exotic filming locations, boat decors and coastal mansions are also exquisite. And, since it was commercial in 1975, there's even a shark in the finale (albeit not a very menacing one).
The most memorable and astounding scene of the film is at the very beginning, when a normally build, middle-aged man beats up one of the biggest and most muscular black guy I've ever seen. It's a perplexing moment, for sure.
