Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

"Doomwatch" is a great environmental disaster film. It is on a par with "Prophecy," which dealt with a paper mill that was poisoning an Indian village with mercury. In "Doomwatch," an environmental watch group begins investing the effects that an oil spill may have had on nearby aquatic life. Soon they discover that fish near the island of Balfe have grown very large. Some of the villagers have gone insane, some have been hidden away by relatives, and some have died. What terrible secret are the villagers hiding? What illegal substance is being dumped in the forbidden zone on the other side of the island.

Directed by Peter Sasdy ("Hands of the Ripper"), this film is very dark and atmospheric. From the moment scientist Del Shaw (Ian Bannen of Walt Disney`s "Watcher in the Woods") steps on the island, you know that something sinister is amiss. The villagers remain aloof and secretive. The only one who will help Shaw is the pretty young school teacher Victoria Brown (Judy Geeson of Hammer Film Production's "Fear in the Night"). Shaw's life appears to be in constant danger. One night, he is attacked by a mutant creature in the barn; he is nearly clobbered to death.

"Doomwatch" presents us with some highly plausible scientific theories dealing with pollution. The special effects and make up are quite good for that time period. The acting is superb. The extras do a great job of pretending to be superstitious villagers. One can't help but feel sorry for their plight.

I only wish the disaster could've endangered the lives of all those in Great Britain and not just those living on Balfe. The fear of a widespread contamination would have added a great deal of suspense and drama. A higher body count would've also helped.

With the daily concern of global warming and the contamination of our rivers and oceans, I feel that "Doomwatch" is very relevant for today. It is highly recommended for fans of environmental disaster films and science fiction horror.

Could they act more suspicious? It would've been a 20 min film of nothing if they had been friendly and the scientist had collected his water samples and just left...

Tame dog attack. Has anyone seen a real vicious dog attack in ER? Not a scratch on the guy. Shallow grave too- folks, if you must bury someone, let it be 6 feet deep at least. I've seen bigger holes planting flowers.