Rich359

Bleak and in no way heroic war film that trivializes the soldiers plight to free Europe of the evils of Nazism. None of the characters is likable with the exception of Eli Wallach, as an old school type of sergeant. Confusing narrative with huge continuity problems which the film tries to hide with endless and unnecessary inserts of newsreel footage that distracts you from the narrative, which is flawed and that was an easy way to hide it. The film reeks of the style of the all-star cast films of the 60s, with its contrived and unbelievable vignettes, especially with the soldiers' romances. Also amazing that a film that stives for realism has all the actors looking like they just stepped out of a movie trailers, clean shaven and perfectly manicured. This is a "war a hell film" from a Hollywood production office.

Starts off well, but soon degrades to a foolish one note soap opera with extremely unpleasant characters. Just what were the filmmakers aiming for is anyone's guess. Christopher Lee was a little too obnoxious for me, Peter Cushing was much more likeable and sympathetic, but everyone else was forgettable. There is a unbelievable and distracting soapy love triangle that was one of the most annoying ever filmed. Effects were sub-par even for a low budget film. The creatures were a poor copy of the Blob, with the Blob being much better. The film has absolutely no charm or humor, most likely due to Christopher Lee's performance. Its an ugly film.

Everything is wrong with this film. First it should not have been shot in widescreen. There is not enough action or interest in the frame to justify its use. It just come off as being static. Second, it was a mistake to film in such vivid color. It only works in the films few outdoor scenes. In the films "dollhouse" the set design and color and lighting is flat and headache inducing where you are so annoyed and distracted by the cluttered but boring set that you are not paying enough attention to the actors. There is no visual complexity to the lighting. It's one big bright light. It looks like a TV show set. This should not happen with a former world class cinematographer like Freddy Franics. Third the performances. The wheelchair bound mother is just so shrill and overwrought that it makes the scenes with her excruciating. She overpowers in a negative way the scenes with her son so much that it becomes difficult to follow the dialogue of the son. Like nails on a chalkboard. Fourth, Patrick Wymark cannot carry the film as the police inspector. He just doesn't appear sharp or interested enough for the audience to follow a convoluted plot A Jack Warner type actor would have been perfect. Now don't let me get into the conclusion. It's absurd. Who discovered the injured police detective and what happened to the son? I think Freddy Francis was all wrong for this film as a director. He poorly directed the actors, allowed poor color choices and set design, framing and lighting, can't capture any inner emotion and complexity of the characters, and with exception of a few scenes, allows the film to move at a talky snail's pace.