Doomwatch (1972)

The waters surrounding an island become contaminated by chemical dumping, and people who eat fish caught in those waters become deformed and violent.

Director:

Peter Sasdy

Writers:

Kit Pedler (series "Doomwatch"), Gerry Davis (series "Doomwatch")

Stars:

Ian Bannen, Judy Geeson, John Paul

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ian Bannen	...	Dr. Del Shaw
Judy Geeson	...	Victoria Brown
John Paul	...	Dr. Quist
Simon Oates	...	Dr. John Ridge
Jean Trend	...	Dr. Fay Chantry
Joby Blanshard	...	Bradley
George Sanders	...	The Admiral - Sir Geoffrey
Percy Herbert	...	Constable Hartwell
Shelagh Fraser	...	Mrs. Betty Straker
Geoffrey Keen	...	Sir Henry Leyton
Joseph O'Conor	...	Vicar
Norman Bird	...	Brewer
Constance Chapman	...	Miss Johnson
Michael Brennan	...	Tom Straker
James Cosmo	...	Bob Gillette

Storyline

The waters surrounding an island become contaminated by chemical dumping, and people who eat fish caught in those waters become deformed and violent.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | man in a bed | man wears eyeglasses | crying woman | woman in a bed | 

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Taglines:

An ecological nightmare gone berserk!

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Genres:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Simon Oates was working elsewhere when the film was mooted, and originally turned it down. Tigon came back to him with a larger pay offer, and he agreed to feature. He was later dismissive of the film, feeling he had accepted more out of financial consideration than artistic merit.

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Connections

Followed by Doomwatch: Winter Angel (1999)

User Reviews

Goodwatch

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.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Island of the Ghouls

Filming Locations:

Coverack, Cornwall, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tigon British Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1