Released in the UK under the name Trip to Kill, this Tom Stern action film was conceived by the director as an attempt to launch his career to new heights and achieve fame, something he ultimately failed to do. In it, we see Stern portray Joe Ryan, ex-soldier and ex-cop—now a full-blown hippie. He spends his days having fun with various women and enjoying all the benefits of living the life of a flower child. That is until a shady agent under the name of Redford (played by Telly Savalas) appears and motivates Ryan to go undercover and destroy a drug-dealing gang consisting of former soldiers, led by the infamous and fashionably challenged Neilsen.
Robert Vaughn plays the gang leader and he obviously has fun with the role, turning his antagonist into the most memorable part of the film. Telly Savalas does a good job with Redford, by being the right amount of formidable and unscrupulous needed to pass as an agent of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Tom Stern directed the movie alongside Emmy winner Lane Slate, who allegedly left the project while filming, which resulted in Clay Pigeon adhering almost entirely to Stern's vision, a collage of violence and nudity, made for a lot less money than was required, and yet somehow succeeding in staying memorable.
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