Doomwatch - Isle of Terror
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Doomwatch - Isle of Terror |
| Original title | Doomwatch |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1972 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Peter Sasdy |
| script | Clive Exton |
| production | Tony Tenser for Tigon British Film Productions |
| music | John Scott |
| camera | Kenneth Talbot |
| cut | Keith Palmer |
| occupation | |
| |
Doomwatch - Insel des Schreckens (Original title: Doomwatch ) is a British television film in the genre of science fiction films from 1972. It was created as a spin-off of the television series of the same name , which was broadcast from 1970 to 1972. The production is also classified as a horror film , although the plot has no supernatural elements.
action
The ( fictional ) island of Belf and its waters on the south-western tip of Cornwall are to be routinely examined by the British state environmental protection agency Doomwatch (abbreviation for Department for the Observation and Measurement of Scientific Work). Doomwatch employee Dr. Dell Shaw travels to Belf by ferry . On the approach, the ferryman makes it clear to him that he cannot expect a friendly reception, as the islanders are very closed. However, since Shaw has only planned an overnight stay for his investigations, he does not worry about the hints. He wants to take water samples the next day and take the ferry back the same day.
In fact, the reception from the islanders is more than cool. The landlady refuses him accommodation in the only inn. Even the vicar and the local police refuse to accept him. In the end he managed to find a place to stay in a small guesthouse in which the local teacher Victoria Brown stayed as the only guest. While talking in Victoria's room, Shaw looks out the window and observes how several islanders apparently forcibly evacuate an elderly man outside the village. Victoria reacts to his question what is going on there, angry and dismissive.
The next morning, Shaw takes water samples and collects seagull eggs as planned . On the beach he is watched by a stranger carrying a rifle . Shaw pursues the man into a forest, where he finds a newly buried child's body . When he reports the find to the local police officer, he does not believe him. Nevertheless, he goes to the site with Shaw, but the body has disappeared without a trace.
Shaw then decides, contrary to his original assignment, not to return to London immediately, but to find out on his own what the missing corpse and the strange behavior of the villagers is all about. The results of his samples from London unexpectedly meet him: the fish he has sent in have extremely high levels of growth hormone , which Doomwatch considers to be extremely explosive.
Shaw examined to a Doomwatch- divers before Belf a restricted area of the Royal Navy . The diver will find marked barrels with radioactive waste on the one hand, but also undeclared barrels of unknown origin on the other, some of which are open so that their unknown contents can escape into the waters around Belf.
Doomwatch approaches the admiral . He admits that barrels of nuclear waste were dumped off Belf, but they do not pose a threat. The other barrels are unknown to him. Apparently they were deposited there illegally . Doomwatch investigations lead to a chemical factory that used to produce growth hormone . The director admits that production ceased because the compound was generating uncontrollable growth. The remaining stocks were handed over to a waste disposal company for disposal. Doomwatch convicts the waste disposal contractor of illegally dumping the chemical. As it turns out, seawater pollution is caused by the combination of the storage of radioactive waste and the growth of hormones: The radiation from the nuclear waste barrels heats the chemical barrels and bursts, so that the hormones get into the water and are ingested by marine animals. The hormones can also be taken up by humans through the food chain .
Shaw has since been investigating on Belf. While pursuing one of the "disappeared" he is knocked down in a barn by a misshapen man and passed out. When he wakes up, Victoria and other islanders try to convince him that he passed out on the beach. However, he manages to convince Victoria of his mission. Shaw learns that the islanders' deformity of their parishioners can be traced back to centuries of inbreeding on the remote island. In fact, the malformations are caused by eating contaminated fish. Initially, the islanders refused to accept government aid, but eventually, thanks to Shaw's educational work, they were ready to have their sick relatives treated in hospitals in Cornwall. The child's body found by Shaw had been secretly buried by the dead girl's parents to prevent investigations into the disease, which was believed to be a result of inbreeding. Shaw had been watched when the body was discovered. While he was calling the police, the body was excavated.
Production notes
The external filming took place on the coast of Cornwall, in particular in the village of Polkerris , a district of Fowey , as well as on the London Heliport .
criticism
"A routine thriller, staged with routine."
Lore
The film was released on VHS in West Germany in 1987 . A DVD edition, also in German, was released in 2006. On October 3, 2008, 36 years after its creation, the film was broadcast for the first time on German television on ARTE .
literature
- Ronald M. Hahn / Volker Jansen: Lexicon of Science Fiction Films. 2000 films from 1902 to today , 2 volumes, 7th edition Munich (Wilhelm Heyne Verlag) 1997, volume 1, p. 221. ISBN 3-453-11860-X
Web links
- Doomwatch - Island of Secrets in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Trailer on YouTube