User reviews

In austere black & white 'scope Hammer Films demonstrated how much nastier than the most lurid horror film in colour a realistic war film could be. Despite the presence of familiar faces like Marne Maitland, Ronald Radd and Lee Montague under heavy 'Japanese' makeup that renders it slightly comical sixty years later, it nevertheless still packs a punch wholly lacking in 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'. (The plot device that the news of Japan's surrender has to be kept from the commandant or he will kill all the prisoners is an ingenious one; although one would have thought that channels existed through which the news would have reached him other than just one defective radio receiver.)

In place of Sessue Hayakawa's noble commandant in Lean's film, the Japanese are here portrayed as utter, brutalised sadists (with their own men as well as the prisoners), which caused controversy when this film originally came out but didn't hurt it at the box office.

Excellent war movie.Is this film available on video/DVD? Again it is one of those films that appears to have disappeared Into cinema history. Being made in black and white seems to give the film more authenticity. Carl Mohner is excellent as the leader of the prisoners.It is difficult to say anything negative about this movie. The plot is straightforward,but riveting.The Japanese do not know the war is over.The prisoners have found out and are fearful of what will happen to them once the sadistic camp commander acquires this knowledge. The allies are getting closer and the tension mounts.Don't miss this one if it comes to the small screen.Althougth perhaps not in the same league has "the Bridge over the River Kawi" or "The Great Escape" it is still nevertheless an excellent P.O.W. movie in its own right.So why isn't it on DVD?

The links with "Bridge on the River Kwai" go further than just the Japanese prison-camp setting and the presence of Andre Morell; there is the same theme of the commanding officer whose behaviour seems increasingly unreasonable in the face of the prisoners' privations, the lone American contrasted with the starved Commonwealth soldiers, and a morally ambiguous ending. In some ways this Hammer production suffers less from political compromise, not being required to introduce an American leading actor for the benefit of the US box office, but it has to be said that whatever flaws may exist in David Lean's film, "The Camp on Blood Island" is ultimately no competition. It's a decent and sometimes brave picture (even the women are shown hounding the suspected collaborator in their midst) but it doesn't hold the same seeds of greatness.

There is some fine acting on display, both from the actors playing the Japanese, who convey a sense of alien culture without becoming ridiculous, and those portraying the physically drained and starving prisoners: the opening shots of the young man struggling to dig his own grave are actively disturbing, both for his apparent emaciation and for his dragging movements of utter collapse. Andre Morell, of course, dominates the film as the obstinate and authoritarian Colonel Lambert, and in a sense the plot structure consists of gradually justifying his seemingly unreasonable behaviour -- but it is not that simplistic, and the revelation of the final consequences of his decisions (was it, ultimately, all unnecessary?) leaves a note of deliberate ambiguity.

The prisoners in the women's camp are, perhaps inevitably, shown as rather more glamorous than their male counterparts, with their fetching dishevelment a token gesture towards the starvation and illness stated in the script. Barbara Shelley, playing Kate, does appear rather too healthy in her close-ups for the degree of weakness and collapse she is supposed to portray during her escape. But unsurprisingly this is a male-dominated film, and all the really intriguing characters are male. Lambert himself, and the fretful diplomat Beattie, chafing under what he sees as the military mishandling of their situation. Father Paul, jeopardising his life and his cloth to pass messages via the medium of the funeral Mass. The former planter Van Elst, driven to repeated risky sabotage.

For a film that was condemned on release for its 'orgy of atrocities', "The Camp on Blood Island" is actually quite restrained in what is implied, let alone shown on screen: the horrors and Japanese 'bestiality' are as much psychological, based on petty humiliation and anticipation, as anything else. This is not torture porn -- the worst that we see is machine-gunning, plus one clean beheading. ("Bridge on the River Kwai" actually goes further in this respect.) But there is never any doubt that the prisoners' situation is horrific, and that ultimately they are prepared to throw lives away in a desperate attempt at group survival.

Thrilling and stirring film about the prisoners of a Japanese Concentration Camp in which they are submitted to severe tortures , punishments and grisly executions by beheading. It is set in August 1945 , taking place at a concentration camp located in Blood Island. The war has ended.. now the slaughter begins !

A strong film about the prolific sub-genre of Concentration Camps with usual ingredients as sadistic commandant , ominous wardens , heinous soldiers carrying out barbaric orders and inmates suffering savage punishments . A cruel film dealing with the ruthless , brutal truth about the most barbaric prison camp in the annals of warfare . Being allegedly based on facts , authenticated by the very few who survived the massacre in this terrible camp .Although in the opening credits explains : all characters and the names used are fictitious . The film boasts of a good plethora of Britsh actors , Hammer's regular , giving decent acting as Andrew Keir as Colonel Lambert who commands the group of prisoners , Michael Goodliffe as the Camp's Chaplain , Michael Gwynn as Shields, Carl Mohner as Dutchman Van Elst , Philip Brown as pilot Bellamy and a known Hammer Screen Girl : Barbara Shelley .

The motion picture was well directed by Val Guest . He was a prolific and uneven craftsman , and outstanding in Science Fiction and Fanfasy films as The Quatermass Experiment, Quatermass II, The Abominable Snowman , The Day the Earth Caught Fire and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth , Hammer's failure follow up to One Million Years B. C. Rating : 6.5/10 acceptable and passable .

Watching this now it is difficult to believe that it was given an X certificate.The violence is mainly kept on screen.The main plot point being whether Andre Morell as chief camp officer should tell the sadistic Japanese camp commandant that the war had ended,since the commandant had said that in such eventuality he would kill all the prisoners.Everyone is sweating buckets despite the fact that it was probably filmed in the local woods.Obviously Japanese actors were a bit thin on the ground so they roped in Michael Ripper,obviously not being chased by a Hammer monster on the day. Nevert he less not a bad effort even if it is no classic.

While not as good as the one poster comments, it is by no means as bad as the other reviewer says. Yes, there is some shoddy make-up of the Japanese guards, but if you can ignore that you will find the story itself is good enough to carry the film. A group of Allied p.o.w.s are in a camp controlled by a less than friendly commander. He shoots prisoners for sport and works the rest to death in a local mine. He has also let it be known that if Japan loses the war he will kill all the prisoners. The p.o.w.s find out the war has ended and stage a revolt with homemade weapons and some grenades they had hidden at the bottom of a latrine. Not a world winner but an OK time-waster.

G.G.

Another film watched for the "House of Hammer" Podcast was "The Camp on Blood Island" which despite it's name is not a horror film, but another in small sequence of war pictures that the studio produced here, though the horror hits had started to come. Despite several elements that you'd consider racist both then, and especially now, the film was a financial success.

The leader of a group of British prisoners in a Japanese Prisoner-of-War camp, Colonel Lambert (Andre Morell)) asks his men to continue to disrupt operations at the camp, despite his knowledge that Emperor Hirohito has surrendered, and the War is over. Whilst they face brutal reprisals for these actions, Commandant Yamamitsu (Ronald Radd) has told Lambert that if Japan loses the war, then he'll execute everyone at the camp, and at a nearby camp where their women and children are being kept. Lambert has successfully kept this information from him so far.

Whilst "Camp on Blood Island" doesn't claim to be a true story, it is based on alleged true events and is perhaps the most brutal film that Hammer had yet produced, with implied beheadings and British soldiers forced to dig their own graves before they were executed. It's a relatively simple story, with Lambert trying to keep a lid on the fact the war is over for as long as he can, even from his own men to avoid them telling the captures. Then a bloody fight for liberation. In that sense, the film isn't bad. I lost track a bit towards the end, on who was who during the escape, but until then I was ... enjoying it is perhaps the wrong word, given how dark it is, but I appreciated it.

Whilst the portrayal of the Japanese actions in the film were objectionable at the time, literally, in the form of the chairman of the Japanese Motion Pictures Producers Association objecting to them, what is unacceptable now is that the key Japanese soldiers are portrayed by non-Japanese actors in offensive make up.

It's reasonably well made and has an interesting story idea, shorn of the sensationalist elements it wouldn't be anything like as impactful. One of the better films I've watched for the podcast, but I can't imagine ever needing to watch it again.

After The Abominable Snowman and two succesful Quatermass films, director Val Guest turned his hand to making a war film for Hammer. The Camp on Blood Island features the charismatic Andre Morell as the British officer in charge of his men in a Japanese POW camp.

You can't help but make instant comparisons to Bridge On The River Kwai. Given some of the shot setups and dialogue it's obvious this is a huge influence, but despite being a fraction the budget of Lean's epic masterpiece, Guest does a great job of telling the story within the constricted setup. The black and white photography helps hide the fact that the outdoor set is a large sandpit in Surrey but eagle eyes will spot the very British shrubs and trees once in a while.

Unlike Kwai or Guest's later Hammer, Yesterday's Enemy, this one doesn't present a Japanese perspective. They are portrayed as ruthlessly savage and little more. Worth remembering that this came out less than 15 years after the end of the war so sentiment will still have been somewhat high. There is some questionable casting and makeup by modern standards but nothing that spoils the tone or message of the film.

For the time, it's still a violent film with Hammer pushing as far as they could with death scenes in order to shock and bring in the audience. It also has one of those no-nonsense gut punch endings, typical of Hammer in this era.

A perfect double-bill film to watch with Yesterday's Enemy and a worthy addition to the British War Film genre.

I saw this movie when I was fairly young and the scenes never left my memory. I could not get over the way the actors looked as if they had just been rescued from real Japanese POW camps. How could they get actors so skinny to play the parts? I thought they were real prisoners.

Although shot in black and white the realism is terrifying and not for the faint hearted.

It was so intense it's no wonder the politically correct brigade buried it but it was a true story and true to life in it's portrayal.

I doubt it could be remade as good but it would be good if they could. One of the most moving movies I have ever seen. Can anyone get me a copy?

Val Guest was one of the most prominent directors to worked for Hammer Films, only surpassed by Terence Fisher, although his visionary and most outstanding work, «The Day the Earth Caught Fire», was made outside that production company.

It was Guest who, with his international hit «The Quatermass Xperiment» (1955), pointed Hammer on the profitable path of "cinéma fantastique." However, apart from this film and its sequel «Quatermass 2,» Guest did not return to horror, not even when he made «The Abominable Snowman,» a good drama that he kept on a more philosophical and mystical plane, away from frights.

Before finding a more viable breakthrough to mainstream cinema with «Expresso Bongo» (1959), produced by his own company, Guest made for Hammer psychological dramas, thrillers and the war diptych consisting of «The Camp on Bloody Island» (1958) and «Yesterday's Enemy» (1959), a kind of war claim made to Japan, through cinema.

«The Camp on Bloody Island» was a box office success that consolidated the distribution of Hammer products through the American company Columbia Pictures; which addressed, 13 years after the end of World War II, the mistreatment received by British prisoners of war in a Japanese prison, located in the fictional Blood Island, on the former British colony of Malaysia. By then Columbia was preparing the release of a movie with a similar theme, «The Bridge on the River Kwai» by David Lean, which garnered attention and awards, but this did not prevent the Hammer production, despite devastating criticism, from being a hit. «The Camp on Bloody Island» was bolstered by the best-selling novelization of the script by John Manchip White and Guest.

Inspired by real events, the film of course took the "Hammer-style" way, with scenes of violence and sensational effects to impress the audience, and a little bit of eroticism. Of both films, this is the most dynamic, with the action taking place in two main locations, a prison for British soldiers and a diplomat, and another for women; but from the dramatic point of view, it is the weakest. The script delineates the characters with a few strokes and all the credibility falls on the actors' backs.

In the case of the British, the balance is fortunate, in particular, with the work of André Morell, as the leader of the prisoners, who tries to hide information from the Japanese, boycotting their communication system, to stay alive. However, for the Japanese roles... Hammer did whatever it took to achieve its purpose, including casting the magnificent Indian character actor Marne Maitland as a Japanese villain. Of course, Maitland, as always, is the most wicked villain, with a squeaky little voice, which makes him meaner. I could not help but smile at the sight of dear old Marne, who I have seen in so many movies, squinting his eyes!

These two small, low-budget and effective films, in addition to the remarkable films that I knew and mentioned at the beginning of these notes, have increased the esteem that I already had for Val Guest's work.

Having waited years to see this film I was astounded just how bad it is, a Hammer production that has pure cockneys playing Japanese guards!, the acting verges on the utterly bad to utterly impossible!,take for instance long time Hammer fave Michael Ripper who as a Japanese guard bursts out laughing every time he is in a scene, the head guard who is clearly of Indian origin is another badly cast member, the commander of the camp is also another British actor hamming it up, I thought they had wandered off set from an Alladin pantomime!, the premise for all the controversy that it was brutal beyond belief had me scratching my head, i've seen worse in a Tom & Jerry cartoon.

I will put this movie between BRIDGES OVER THE KAWAI RIVER and KING RAT. This one is of course less spectacular and known than the David Lean's movie but it is so powerful, especially for the opening scene, with this skeleton human being - a prisoner - cold bloody shot by Japanese guards after this poor man has dug his own grave. The tone was then done. And I would have never expected to see a so skinny actor playing in a movie, as if he was really a real starved Japanese camp POW. However the other actors - except Andre Morell - seem a bit too good fed for me. British movie industry provided such good films between late fifties and early sixties about war in the Far East: THE LONG, THE SHORT AND THE TALL, YESTERDAY'S ENEMY - from the same Val Guest, by the way.