646f9e108c Malaya, September 1944: Many British soldiers have been captured by the Japanese, when they were cut off from their troops. On her way to Kuala Lumpur, the British secret agent Elaine's plane is shot down near such a prison camp. The men hide her among them, but when the Japanese threaten them with torture, their morale weakens. Considering this film is 50 years old you'd expect it to have more than 50 votes and one comment . It's a film I've never seen broadcast on telly and Mike insinuates it's only been shown once late at night in the 1970s . After just watched the film I'm not surprised it's obscure<br/><br/>A major problem with it is the entirely ridiculous premise - " Female agent gets shot down in Malaya 1944 and in POW camp " . Yeah it's stupid but perhaps if the story had been developed more and was more thought out it wouldn't seem so ridiculous . . True people can hide in plain sight but as it stands here it's a ridiculous idea <br/><br/>There's other annoying aspects to the story . For example the lazy plotting where the Japanese commanding officer proclaims that at least one of the prisoners knows about this female agent . Now he knows that a female agent is in he area because she's been spotted by villagers but there's no way he'd know that she's made contact with one of the prisoners . This type of lazy plotting grates<br/><br/>It should also be pointed out that despite using Oriental actors as Japanese guards the two main characters are played by British actors Patrick Wymark and Michael Ripper both of whom are absolutely laughable . In fact you often think you're watching some pantomime version of ALLADIN . Considering Japanese war crimes were on a par with the Nazis and would easily be remembered when this film was made you're left with a feeling that can best be described as tasteless THE SECRET OF BLOOD ISLAND is one of the rarest Hammer Films out there, at least at this moment in time; it was released on VHS but so far hasn't appeared on DVD or Blu-ray. It's a serviceable WW2 thriller, set in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in the jungle and populated by British soldiers. The story has Barbara Shelley as the spy heroine of the hour, whose plane is shot down in the vicinity. She has a hair cut and masquerades as a soldier in the camp, trying to evade the cruelties of the Japanese captors, played by Michael Ripper and Patrick Wymark (wonderfully hissable in yellow face). The film, if I'm truthful, is a little staid and drawn out, with the pace flagging regularly despite the suspense of the premise. It does have a decent cast with the likes of Jack Hedley, Charles Tingwell, Bill Owen, Lee Montague and Glyn Houston all doing their best 'stiff upper lip' performances. Director Quentin Lawrence was best known for his TV work, although he also shot Hammer's CASH ON DEMAND. It's not one of Hammer's best movies, nor is it one of their best war movies, but it has its moments and is better than I was expecting.
Exappelos Admin replied
295 weeks ago