Doomwatch

Firstly, this is NOT a horror movie (And who thought up the cannibalistic islanders?). The film is about the devastation that comes from the pollution of one the islands beaches with synthetic hormones.

The islanders, having been made to suspect that the physical and mental deformities they're suffering from are caused by generations of inbreeding, regard the coming of an environmentalist as a threat to their community. They hide the sick and try to make sure that nothing 'wrong' is found. The movie is about the struggle of an environmentalist to find out what's the matter with the island, and then the struggle to educate the population about the cause and possible solutions for the problems.

All in all not a bad environmental drama, reminds me a bit of the Minimata disaster in Japan. I give it a 7 out of 10, mainly for the atmosphere on the island and the balls it must have taken to make this film in '72.

In this big screen adaptation of the popular BBC TV series of the same name created by Gerry Davis and Kit Pedlar (the brains behind Dr Who's iconic Cybermen), Ian Bannen stars as an investigator working for the British ecological watchdog group nicknamed Doomwatch. He discovers that locals living on a remote Cornish island are becoming violent and hostile towards outsiders, as well as showing signs of physical deformity, after eating fish contaminated by drums of growth stimulants that have been dumped offshore by a shadowy government agency. Despite being released by Tigon Films (the people who brought us Witchfinder General and The Blood Beast Terror), and directed by Peter Sasdy fresh from completing work on Hammers 'Hands of the Ripper,' Doomwatch isn't really a horror movie at all, and genre fans may be put off by the talkative script and lack of action set pieces in this eco thriller which still seems strangely relevant in these modern times. It was released in the States as Island of the Ghouls.

I was about 11 when the popular BBC TV series of the day "Doomwatch" aired and vaguely remember watching it at the time. Back then, if a TV show took off it would often be stretched into a film (it still happens today of course, witness "The X Files" or "Sex and the City"), although it was usually comedy shows which got the movie treatment then ("Porridge", "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads", " Steptoe and Son" etc) rather than dramas.

So watching this was like reliving a little of my childhood, but it did live up to my expectations in engaging and entertaining, if not exactly thrilling me. Ian Bannen and Judy Geeson (plus the ever-smooth George Sanders as a Navy bigwig) are added to the normal cast to give a little star-power to proceedings and both acquit themselves well, although the former does look a little silly at times in his chic white skip-cap!

The plot is reminiscent of the "Damned" pictures of the 60's but also anticipates "The Wicker Man" in its depiction of an establishment figure exploring a mystery in a closed island community, although the latter of course, played up the horror content and came up with a much more dramatic climax. The direction is satisfactory although I found some of the night scenes to be poorly lit and almost impossible to make out clearly.

The ecological message at the heart of the show, sorry film comes through loud and clear, but I guess my unintentional slip there confirms the contention that it rarely breaks out of small-screen mode to really pass muster as a cinematic experience.

One for the living room and not the theatre.

An environmentalist group ( a la early 70s ) somewhat sensationally named "Doomwatch" takes an interest in some peculiar goings-on on a small island near the UK. As a disclaimer, we never saw the BBC series so we don't have any previous notions to compare this film against but, having said that, the film is an enjoyable, cautionary tale about pollution and official stonewalling. Some people have lamented over the film's obviously modest - read: small - budget, but in our opinion this does not handicap the effort. If anything, it serves to highlight what can be achieved by the use of good writing, good acting, and good directing. Though not a horror film per se, its moody atmosphere and imaginative makeup does blur the line between suspense and horror quite effectively, and does actually manage to make you care about the people in it, most notably the character of Dr. Shaw. It's been pointed out that this film does bear a certain resemblance to "The Wicker Man", but in our opinion this has been overstated; yes, in both films an investigating official is stranded on a small island with lots of local strangeness, but that's about the only common ground between the two. Both are enjoyable, but for totally different reasons. Bottom line: while "Doomwatch" may not be a great film, it is a pretty good one. Try it.

Sent to take some routine measurements and samples from a small island Dr. Del Shaw (a clunker of a name) finds himself surrounded by the stock British movie type locals who mutter lines like: "We Don't take too kindly to strangers pokin' their noses in other people's affairs in these parts" before going off to mutter ominously in small groups.

The Villagers obviously Have Something To Hide. And, after a lot of shouting down the island's only telephone, and trips to London to offend stiff military types, Doctor Del and the Doomwatch team discover the seas around the island are teaming with huge fish stuffed to the gills with illegally dumped human Pituitary growth hormone which is causing the island's population to develop an unpronounceable disease.

Medical help is sent to the island and (potentialy) destroys the very community it went there to help.

The plot of this film is full of holes. No more so, maybe, than any other film. But because of the total lack of tension and interest developed in what should be a terrible and horrifying situation they stand out like sore thumbs.

Are we expected to believe for instance that Geeson's character (the school mistress) hasn't noticed one of her pupils has vanished? What the hell kind of spooky radiation "makes gas" in sealed containers of growth hormone. Would Human hormones make zooplankton grow to unusually large size - I doubt it; I can buy it having an affect on mammals but not microscopic plankton. Why does the fisherman from the mainland only sell his fish to the islanders? etc. etc. I know these sound like little nit-picky questions but when you are trying to make a intelligent piece, like the makers of this film obviously tried to do, you need to fill these logical gaps. When the screen is full of Naked Flesh eating Vanpire Lesbian Zombies riding Harleys you can let the odd solecism go by but when you are watching one driven man trying to solve a scientific mystery you've got to expect the audience to be more critical.

The ending of this film should have been heartbreaking as the islanders pack up and leave for the mainland, their way of life destroyed by uncaring corporations, and then by the people who try to clean up the mess. But it isn't. The fault lies I suspect with the direction. The script is not good - structurally it's a mess, with the 'mystery' solved half way through, the story has nowhere else to go and just flops about as Bannon tries to organise a town meeting.

Ian Bannen is a useful actor but here he just gives a very one note performance alternating, for the most part, between 'Angry' and 'Very Angry'. Again I suspect shoddy direction.