THE STONE KILLER is a 1973 American action neo-noir thriller film produced and directed by Michael Winner & starring Charles Bronson.
The film is based on the novel A COMPLETE STATE OF DEATH (taking place in the UK), written in 1969 by an ex-Royal Marine commando and former Anglican priest, the British spy & thriller author John Edmund Gardner, writing under the name Derek Torry (he later wrote 16 James Bond novels, 2 of which were released as films).
THE COMPLETE STATE OF DEATH was adapted to a screenplay by the Canadian-born writer Gerald Wilson who collaborated closely in England with the director of THE STONE KILLER, the British writer, film-maker and director Robert Michael Winner (also known as Arnold Crust).
The movie was mainly produced by Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica (De Laurentiis International Manufacturing Company S.p.A.).
It was filmed entirely in New York, Los Angeles and several locations all over California (USA).
According to reviews, "The film is a virtual panoramic time capsule of Mid-70's L.A. and New York" and "The film concerns a Mafia don who wants to avenge a massacre of his associates committed forty years earlier by plotting to wipe out all those responsible, using hired Vietnam veterans as mercenary hit-men or stone killers".