Die gelbe Hölle

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.