Doomwatch (film)
Doomwatch | |
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File:Poster for film "Doomwatch" (1972).jpg | |
Directed by | Peter Sasdy |
Produced by | Tony Tenser |
Written by | Clive Exton Television series: Gerry Davis Kit Pedler |
Starring | Ian Bannen Judy Geeson John Paul Simon Oates Jean Trend Joby Blanshard |
Music by | John Scott |
Cinematography | Kenneth Talbot |
Edited by | Keith Palmer |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Tigon Film Distributors Embassy Pictures |
Release dates
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March 1972 |
Running time
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92 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Doomwatch (US title: Island of the Ghouls) is a 1972 science fiction/thriller film directed by Peter Sasdy. The film is based on the BBC series Doomwatch. The screenplay was written by Clive Exton.
Synopsis
The waters surrounding an island become contaminated by chemical dumping, and people who eat fish caught in those waters become deformed and violent.
Plot
An outsider visits a remote isolated village that has seemingly shunned the modern life. Doctor Del Shaw, an investigator from the British ecological watchdog group nicknamed Doomwatch, is sent to the island of Balfe, to file a report on the effects of a recent oil tanker spill. He becomes fascinated with the mysterious behavioural disorders of the locals who display rudeness and random aggression and a strange genetic prevalence of thick lips and sloping brows. Investigation shows that the villagers have been suffering over a prolonged period from hormonal disorders, which are being caused by leaking drums of growth stimulants that have been dumped offshore. The islanders have been eating contaminated fish and develop a disorder of excessive hormonal growth, which produces aggression and eventually madness, attributed to a form of acromegaly. Rather than seek help from the mainland they hide those who are deformed from any newcomers.
Cast
- Ian Bannen as Dr. Del Shaw
- Judy Geeson as Victoria Brown
- John Paul as Dr. Spencer Quist
- Simon Oates as Dr. John Ridge
- Jean Trend as Dr. Fay Chantry
- Joby Blanshard as Colin Bradley
- George Sanders as The Admiral
- Percy Herbert as PC Hartwell
- Shelagh Fraser as Mrs. Betty Straker
- Geoffrey Keen as Sir Henry Leyton
- Joseph O'Conor as Vicar
- Norman Bird as Brewer
- Constance Chapman as Miss Johnson
- Michael Brennan as Tom Straker
- James Cosmo as Bob Gillette
Filming locations
- Polkerris, Cornwall
- Battersea Heliport, London
References
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068498/news#ni0896573
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068498/news#ni0817467
External links
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068498/
- Doomwatch film locations www.reelstreets.com