Wow! Such a good movie.

Too much of everything

Fantastic!

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Doomwatch is directed by Peter Sasdy and adapted to screenplay by Clive Exton from the TV series written by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis. Ian Bannen, Judy Geeson, John Paul, Simon Oates, Jean Trend, Joby Blanshard, George Sanders, Percy Herbert, Shelagh Fraser and Geoffrey Keen. Music is by John Scott and cinematography by Kenneth Talbot. An environmental research agency known as "Doomwatch" sends Dr. Dell Shaw (Bannen) to the Cornish Island of Balfe to research the effects of an oil spill. Once there Dell finds the villagers on the island are hostile and secretive and it soon becomes apparent that something is very amiss on the island.Inbreeding and Immorality?Doomwatch has its problems, with some average acting and logic holes the size of the Moon, but its highlights far outweigh the flaws. Mixing environmental concerns with sci-fi horrors, even though Doomwatch is not a horror film as such, it's a film that boasts a credible script and high interest value with its mystery.Essentially the narrative is split into two parts. The first part of the film is suitably eerie. Once Dr. Shaw arrives on the island there's a sense of doom enveloping the place. The inhabitants act oddly suspicious and the makers introduce distorted angles to emphasise the fact that something is badly wrong here. John Scott's music is perfectly off- kilter and foreboding and with the pace of the story purposely sedate, this allows Sasdy to fill the sense of place with paranoia and creeping unease.The picture then shifts at the mid-point when the mystery of the island is brought to the surface. We then find ourselves in the middle of a science fiction story wrapped around a heart breaking revelation brought about by corporate idiocy and ecological negligence. Into the mix comes ignorance, be it from the islanders, the church or the mainland authorities. It builds up a head of steam in the last quarter, where passions run high and the final act leaves an impression that's hard to shake off. Add some lovely location photography around real Cornish locations, and some skillful underwater shots as well, and this definitely has much to recommend. Yes it's dated in that 1970s British independently budgeted way, this is a Tigon production after all! But give it a chance by not expecting a Mutant Wicker Man type horror movie and you may just enjoy it more than you expected. 7.5/10

The television series that predated the film was for its time one of the first to use ecological awareness as the driver for a series. It stated baldly that the misuse of science and technology is rotting the foundations of life; the air we breathe, the land we walk on, the sea that surrounds us. The first series particularly was gripping and shocking.For the film the Doomwatch team of the television series take a lesser part and Ian Bannen becomes the 'star' of the movie. At first it appears to be going towards a zombie film but the director Peter Sasdy keeps a restraining hand on the narrative so it exerts a firm but steady hold on the viewer. It becomes instead a domestic drama which shows the human cost of environmental spoliation. Ian Bannen gives a fine performance as he seeks answers on the unwelcoming and dour island. There is good acting all around, though the George Sanders role is not worthy of his talents, and modest but effective make up effects.The scene near the end where Bannen is confronted by the 'monsters' is sad and moving. This is not a monsters amok scene but one filled with bewilderment, pain and despair. The end of the film is bleak but appropriately so. There are no easy answers. Early on in the film there seemed a possible romance between Bannen and Judy Geeson but that is nullified by the greater drama around them. A low budget film but more unsettling than other megabuck films on the same theme.

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.

Why is this movie regarded an horror movie anyway? It doesn't have any real monsters in it and there aren't any scares.The movie relies on the mystery and the atmosphere with as a result that some things are not always happening fast enough. The atmosphere itself is actually quite good and for some reason it reminded me of "Sleepy Hollow". The way the villagers behave towards the main character are almost identical at times.At times the movie gets a very realistic feeling but there are too many dumb and uninteresting things in the movie to be regarded as a completely realistic one (especially towards the ending of the movie).Not a bad movie but too uninteresting and it has too many missed opportunities.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/