La patrouille du diable

Here's one film where the low budget really helped. The anonymity of the cast lends a realistic touch and the lack of frills, plus the desert locations (presumably Southern California) all add up to a minor but enjoyable war flick. Apparently this was supposed to make a star of Wally Campo, and judging from his performance he should have had more work than the dozen or so genre flicks he ended up in.

The main cast performed brilliantly in this low-budget no frills movie. But how can anyone overlook the resounding performance of Curtis Loser in his first (and last) major film role. The role of 'German radio operator in an American Uniform' took hours of taxing work and it was a demanding role. But Loser pulls it off wonderfully. A masterpiece on Loser's part.

It's another of those short features produced in the late 1950s about WWII dog tired dog soldiers slogging along (here, notionally Tunisia), facing boredom and danger and the occasional German Master Race officer. Burt Topper, who wrote as well as directed, clearly had something in the back of his head that he could get into the script, because there are some moments of clear tension, despite my annoyance at the dead cliches and the blaring and obvious score.

Perhaps it was a matter of the performers being better than the material. As is usual fr an AIP production, the cast is populated by people whose name no one would recognize at the time, people who could be hired for little money. Usually I recognize a name or three, but here they were all strangers to me, most of them performers who have three credits and then silence. Perhaps they went back to the theater and made a living. Perhaps they gave up and went home to run the family business. Hollywood is a magnet that attracts far more good actors than it can use.

A lot better than expected for an ultra-cheap war movie that was filmed on weekends by writer-producer-director Burt Topper. Wally Compo has the key role as a private in a small troop of soldiers separated from their unit whose numbers seem to grow smaller with every sand dune that they pass. Hell Squad has all the things low budget movies usually lack - decent script, passable acting and some tense situations.

Possibly inspired by 'Fear and Desire'. This psychological war movie seemingly shot entirely on location comprises an impressive writing-producing-directing debut by Burt Topper.

Topper was plainly no Kubrick - who was? - but does a sound job wearing all three of his hats; and gets good performances out of all his cast, led by bearded Wally Campo (also given an 'introducing' credit).