Five Gates to Hell

Vietnam, 1950. A band of Vietnamese guerillas invade a French hospital camp and carry off the nurses and doctors to perform an operation on some old geezer who is gonna croak anyway. The nurses are subjected to various atrocities (the worst of which is being cast in this film) before the inevitable breakout. This is about as close to an exploitation film as you can get from a major studio (20th Century Fox) considering the time period. The movie was shot in Cinemascope, although the print I saw was cropped.

Neville Brand, as the guerilla leader, looks as Asian as Mantan Moreland. His slicked-down hair doesn't help, either. He speaks in broken English. He yells out commands in what I assume is supposed to be Vietnamese, although I suspect he was really saying "get my freaking agent!" Dolores Michaels plays a nurse that Brand has the hots for. Nancy Kulp plays an ugly nurse that no one has the hots for. Ken Scott plays a doctor. Shirley Knight plays a nun. Benson Fong plays an Asian. Audience plays with their cell phones.

The climax isn't half bad, nor is it half good. I am no military strategist, but I'm pretty sure if the enemy is firing at you, you don't stand out in the open. Also, there is another lesson to be learned here. Never let Nancy Kulp anywhere near a hand grenade.

The day I was watching this movie, I went into labour with my second son, who has now passed away., therefore this particular movie has stuck itself into my memory, and when a friend told me today of this website, I had to see if it was listed....and it was.

I never actually saw the entire movie, and would now love to purchase it if at all possible.

Thank you. Mary Anne Sibley

With that title, it sounds like a vincent price camp horror film, but it's actually an adventure film, with some history thrown in. At a red cross medical unit in vietnam, 1950, a doctor ( Ken Scott) and several nurses (led by Nancy Kulp, from Beverly Hillbillies !) are taken hostage by the locals. Neville Brand is Chen, who has them operate on the local war lord. the soldiers are barbaric, and the nurses start getting attacked. and because some of the nurses are nuns, there's discussion over how much of a fight they should put up when it happens. the group must escape. somehow. the second half is their escape. written and directed by Jim Clavell, who actually WAS a prisoner of war during WW II. wrote a lot of material on experiences in asia. he passed away in 1994, but they are still remaking his story Shogun! Five Gates is very well done! he squashes a lot of story into 98 minutes.

I saw this movie long ago and I remember being riveted to the story. I thought Neville Brand was a great bad guy and the Five Gates to Hell were where he ruled. It was a very different war theme. I would like to purchase this in video if I could find a copy. I have looked about everywhere on the internet.

I haven't seen this film since the early seventies, and I can remember it being a shocker to my teenage sensibilities. ( I think I had just been allowed to wear white lipstick, shades of Yardley!) But it held my attention, and I can remember seeing Nancy Culp (Yikes, Miss Jane, what are you doing with a grenade?) in a role 180 degrees from the office of the Commerce Bank and Mr. Drysdale. I remember the role of the nun being virtuous, but stoic in the face of war, and that Neville Brand was riveting as the main character.

I wish this were available on DVD. The writing and the story were gripping, and Clavell never disappoints...