Landslide

LANDSLIDE is a murder mystery set in and around a natural disaster - a landslide which seals actors inside a Welsh theatre. Not only must the trapped survivors contend with the usual clichés of the disaster genre: a lack of oxygen, dwindling supplies, no hope of rescue - but there's also a murderer on the prowl, and he's one of their own.

Everything about LANDSLIDE screams quota quickie filler. It seems to have been written in a hurry with no real attention to facts or realism, and the repeated attempts at humour don't really play out very well. It's also rather obviously a low budget production, but I was surprised at the effectiveness of the landslide scenes, which are well staged.

The murder mystery stuff is less effective given that the identity of the murderer is obvious from the very early scenes. There's also a lot of over the top acting on display here, with various characters displaying larger than life mannerisms and others given over to hysterical laughter. Still, the film is notable for featuring the double pairing of the young Jimmy Hanley and Dinah Sheridan, two actors who would go on to marry five years later.