Battle of Blood Island (1960)

Director:

Joel Rapp

Writers:

Joel Rapp
Philip Roth (story)

Release Date:

8 April 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

10,000 men attack--only two got through!

Plot:

Two American GIs are the only survivors of a unit wiped out in a battle with Japanese troops on an isolated island. The two, who don't like each other, find try to put aside their differences in order to evade the Japanese and survive. |

Plot Keywords:

Japanese | Island | Survival | World War Two | Landing

Cast

Richard Devon	...	Moe
Ron Gans	...	Ken (as Ron Kennedy)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roger Corman	...	Soldier on Hilltop (uncredited)

Directed by
Joel Rapp		(as Joel M. Rapp)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Joel Rapp		(as Joel M. Rapp)
Philip Roth		story "Expect the Vandals"

Produced by
Stanley Bickman	....	producer (as Stanley R. Bickman)
Roger Corman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Fred Katz

Cinematography by
Jacques R. Marquette		(as Jack Marquette)

Film Editing by
Carlo Lodato

Makeup Department
Esteban Diaz	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Bohrer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Tomas Vigue	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Charles Hannawalt	....	key grip
Juan Pizarro	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Herbie Marin	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Margaret Royce	....	music editor

Other crew
Lucy Bolivar	....	script supervisor
Raul Penagaricano	....	assistant to producer

Production Companies

• Bickman/Rapp Productions
• San Juan Productions

Distributors

• Filmgroup, The (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2004) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• St. Clair Vision (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Puerto Rico

Company:

Bickman/Rapp Productions

Trivia:

The film is based on Philip Roth's short story "Expect the Vandals", published in Esquire Magazine, December 1958.

not what you might expect, but not bad

I definitely liked this film more than the other reviewers. Yeah, the battle at the beginning was badly staged and kind of goofy. If the marines fought anything like those guys we would have never won any war period. Afterwards though I really enjoyed what essentially became a tale of survival on a deserted island. Think Castaway here. One of the soldiers is badly injured and depends on the other for almost every single thing he needs. This puts a lot of stress on Moe who is pretty darn high strung anyhow. Basically you have one physically incomplete person and one mentally incomplete person somehow struggling through all their issues while wondering if they're ever gonna see civilization again or simply die in the middle of nowhere.

This is more of a psychological film as opposed to the typical war film. Yeah, there is lots of fighting and killing but what happens internally to the two stranded GIs is what the movie is all about. I found that it kept my interest very well indeed and wish I could have given it a 7 and a half. The actor playing Moe was really good and his face is pretty recognizable. He played lots of heavies and gangsters back in the sixties.