Intramuros

In the early '60s, Filipino producers decided to tap the American appetite for war stories with a series of lurid, low budget black-and-white battle flicks that depicted various events from the Second World War. THE WALLS OF HELL (original title: INTRAMUROS) tackles a true-life tale in which 10,000 fanatical Japanese troops, walled up within Manila, refuse to give up in the face of overwhelming odds.

Despite the exciting premise, THE WALLS OF HELL turns out to be a disappointing movie and that's down to the indifferent direction and the lack of a real storyline. The film offers plenty of action, including a final third which is an all-out and incessant assault on the enemy, but too much of it is repetitive and undistinguished. The lack of real characters hurts it too; the imported American star is one-time Tarzan Jock Mahoney and Filipino film regular Fernando Poe Jr. shows up, but they're given little to do other than appear for face value alone.

I can't help but feel that directors Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero worked better when they went for all-out exploitation fare instead, such as the BLOOD ISLAND films. The results might have been equally shoddy, but at least they were more memorable than this bland and generic piece of filmmaking.