Tobeshadow

All the elements to make this an exciting thriller are there. It's a superb cast with great costumes, lighting and set design. The camera never seems happier than when capturing the wondrfully craggy lines of Ian Mckellen's face and he gleefully devours every bit of scenery available.

Mark Strong is dependably excellent as always, with perfect facial micro expressions leading his performance and Gemma Arterton is also on form as the struggling theatre starlet..

Yet somehow the overall film falls a little flat, particularly in the ending. It never quite establishes enough stakes to put you on the edge of your seat and many of the plot points feel too easily telegraphed for the audience, meaning no sense of mystery or tension is gained.

Certainly worthy of a watch but by no means a classic.

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.

A great example of Hammer's ability to try new things, Cash on Demand is a small budget bank heist caper. Peter Cushing is perfect as a stiff bank manager who treats his employees harshly and Andre Morell is also great fun as the man who arrives to make Cushing's life very difficult that day!

Like Hammer's war films, this takes the principle of 'less is more' when it comes to genre. All shot on a few sparse sets, this feels very like a stage play and is led mainly by the fine performances from the two leads rather than by action scenes. Nevertheless, it keeps a good sense of tension right to the end and the black and white photography lends a nice touch of film noir to proceedings.

While it's not up there in the A-tier of Hammer it makes a perfect lazy Sunday film and is well worth a viewing.