The Projected Man is a 1966 British science fiction film directed by Ian Curteis, written by Peter Bryan, John C. Cooper, and Frank Quattrocchi, and starring Bryant Haliday, Mary Peach, Norman Wooland, Ronald Allen, and Derek Farr.

After four weeks the finance ran out and producer John Croydon took over the direction, unpaid and meeting the remaining financial demands himself in order to complete the film.

The Projected Man was featured in a ninth season episode of comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, and has been released on DVD by Cinema Club.

Dr. Paul Steiner and Dr. Christopher Mitchell work on a projection device that enables them to transmit any object within a few miles of the machine.

Steiner, Mitchell, and Hill feel they are ready to present, but at the event, Blanchard places acid on the machine when everyone is unaware, causing an explosion.

Before leaving, Steiner sets Sheila's apartment on fire with her inside (unaware that she survives) and goes to hide at Blanchard's house.

Hill and Mitchell try to convince him to return to the laboratory so they can try reversing the projection, but Steiner rebuffs them and leaves toward a power plant.

[5] Ian Curteis was hired to direct The Projected Man,[5] which would be his first theatrical film, as all of his previous work had been in television.

"[10] The Projected Man was released in the United Kingdom by Compton-Cameo Films Ltd in the summer of 1966 with an X-certificate, then suitable for patrons aged over 16.

The idea of the double bill came to Richard Gordon when he ran Island of Terror for Universal Studios' executive in charge, Hi Martin.

"[12] As Gordon was not keen on the idea of Island of Terror being placed at the bottom of the bill with one of Universal's other features, which he described as "no good for [our production company] financially," he proposed adding a second film, noting that The Projected Man was nearing completion.

[10] When The Projected Man was shown in theatres in the United States, it was cut thirteen minutes shorter than the original British print, due to the fact that Universal felt the opening scene, which depicted a rehearsal for an experiment which came later in the film, was "repetitive."

They also did not want a double bill with a duration of over three hours, and did not want to edit Island of Terror, so The Projected Man was trimmed to provide an exact 180-minute running time.

[13] A review in entertainment industry magazine Variety praised The Projected Man, writing that the screenplay "is a mosaic compiled from other films but the pieces hang together fairly well."

"[14] Writing for Ottawa Citizen, Gordon Stoneham, reviewing the double bill of The Projected Man and Island of Terror, called The Projected Man "dreadful stuff," saying that the film was "badly written, woodenly acted, and abounding in the cliches of the horror film genre."

"[15] A TV Guide review wrote that the "characters are better portrayed than usual in films of this nature, keeping the actors from becoming mere stereotypes" and that "subtle artistic direction and first-quality special effects give this picture a strong visual presence."

[16] The anonymous reviewer for the British Kinematograph Weekly called the cast "competent" and noted that, while the "plot [was] at least as old as H. G. Wells", there was something about the film that would challenge the "hard-boiled child of today".

[4] In a 2000 interview with Video Watchdog, Richard Gordon stated "we weren't really influenced by The Fly"[18] and wrote in the 2006 book Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers that "Projected Man does have a very strong similarity to The Fly, but it came to us as a finished screenplay and seemed to be a perfectly logical film to make.

"[22] The episode also featured the debut of Castle Forrester where Pearl, Bobo, and Brain Guy stayed in for the remainder of the original series.

[24] The MST3K version of The Projected Man was included as part of the Mystery Science Theater 3000, Volume XXX DVD collection, released by Shout!