Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

The Blockhouse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 10, 2022

Clive Rees' "The Blockhouse" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new interviews with actor Leon Lissek, producer Kent Walwin, production manager Matthew Raymond, and electrician Peter Bloor; vintage promotional materials; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The camp

Human beings can endure incredible misery while trying to survive and there are many films that document such efforts. One of my all-time favorites is Hardy Martins’ As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me, which is based on Josef Martin Bauer’s outstanding book about a German soldier’s astonishing journey to freedom. In 1944, Clemens Forrell, whose real name was apparently Cornelius Rost, was captured by the Soviets and dispatched to Camp Dezhnev, a massive death camp in the Far East of Siberia, which was part of the notorious GULAG system. In 1949, Forrell managed to escape from Camp Dezhnev and for the next three years survived Mother Nature’s harshest tests and KGB’s best assassins. In 1952, having walked more than 10,000 kilometers alone, Forrell finally reached the Iranian border and from there was transported back to Berlin. Martins’ film, which was actually produced after a very successful TV series, does a very good job of recreating the true story that is described in Bauer’s book.

Clive Rees’ The Blockhouse is inspired by another incredible true story from the same period that is described in Jean-Paul Clevert’s book “Le Blockhaus”. During D-Day, at a remote prison camp several men became trapped in a collapsed blockhouse, where they spend the next couple of years waiting to be freed. Because there was a large food supply there -- mostly canned meet, cheese and alcohol -- and many boxes of candles, for a while the men were in good spirits, but then gradually it dawned on them that they have been buried alive.

There are a coupe of notable discrepancies between the film and the book. In the film, there are seven men that are trapped in the blockhouse -- Grabinski (Jeremy Camp), Rouquet (Peter Sellers), Lund (Per Oscarsson), Visconti (Charles Aznavour), Kramer (Nicholas Jones), Khozek (Leon Lissek), and Aufret (Peter Vaughan) -- and they are all prisoners. In the book, the men inside the blockhouse are German soldiers that had attempted to take shelter there during an air raid. In 1951, when workers began clearing up the prison camp and finally opened up the blockhouse, two men walked out and one of them immediately died from a light shock. The other lived long enough to describe their astonishing ordeal. Apparently, they had spent nearly seven years in the blockhouse, four of them in complete darkness. The film provides only some of these important details.

While it is quite unfortunate that Rees and the producers of The Blockhouse felt the need to alter the identity of the trapped men, it is impossible to imagine that their misery could have been recreated in a more convincing manner. Indeed, once the blockhouse collapses, the sense of hopelessness that emerges in the darkness becomes so overwhelming that in a way the men’s misery becomes part of the viewing experience. There is minimal lighting, the sound is frequently hollow, and the camera movement is very basic. Is this the only way The Blockhouse could have been made? I think so. How else should have Rees filmed seven men buried alive in what is essentially an oversized underground tomb? There really isn’t a conventional story to tell, is there? What the men might have said to each other before giving up on life is irrelevant. What they did in the darkness is utterly meaningless. How five of them died before the lucky two eventually walked out is unimportant as well. They were all doomed to die at the very moment they became trapped, even the ‘survivors’, so their story was just a long wait for the Grim Reaper to appear.

The big-name actors do not compete with the lesser-known actors. They are equally good, or perhaps it is better to write miserable, but in their own ways.

The appropriately somber soundtrack was composed by Stanley Myers, who a few years later would go on to score Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter.

The Blockhouse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Blockhouse arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.

The release is sourced from an excellent exclusive new 4K master that was struck from the original camera negative. On my system the entire film looked great, though obviously given the nature of the underground footage there are a few areas with notable density fluctuations. The most obvious ones are in places where the light becomes restricted in unique ways and impacts grain exposure. There are a few areas where the thick darkness can produce some rather odd shadow patterns as well. Colors are stable and natural but usually quite drab. Image stability is very good. I did not encounter any traces of problematic digital corrections. The entire film look very, very healthy as well. All in all, I think that this release offers a very solid presentation of this quite unusual film. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Blockhouse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio can be quite 'thin' and 'boxy' at times. However, I have to speculate that the recording equipment that was used in the underground area where virtually the entire film was shot did the best job possible. Why? Well, because it seems pretty obvious that the acoustics were challenging, to say the least. I had the volume turned up quite a bit, but some of the whispering was rather difficult to understand, so a few times I turned on the English subtitles. There are no audio dropouts, distortions, or other similar anomalies to report.

The Blockhouse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Leon Lissek: Shots in the Dark - in this new video interview, actor Leon Lissek (Khozek) recalls his interactions with the rest of the cast members during the shooting of The Blockhouse. There are some quite interesting comments about the large amounts of mold that were in the underground area where the crew went to work. In English, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Fred Rees and Gilda Rees: Out of the Darkness - in this new program, Fred Rees, son of Clive Rees, and Gilda Reeds, the late director's widow, discuss the conception and production of The Blockhouse. Also, they share some quite hilarious stories about the director's working methods as well as his relationship with Peter Sellers during the shooting process. In English, not subtitled. (13 min).

• Kent Walwin: Underground Filmmaking - in this new video interview, producer Kent Walwin explains how the idea for The Blockhouse came to exist, and discusses the original story that is described in Jean-Paul Clevert's book "Le Blockhaus" as well as the casting process. There are some quite interesting observations about Peter Sellers' French accent in the film as well. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

• Matthew Raymond: Down to Earth - in this new video interview, production manager Matthew Raymond recalls his professional relationship with Clive Rees and collaboration on The Blockhouse. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Peter Bloor: When Lights Go Low - in this new video interview, electrician Peter Bloor discusses his professional relationship with Clive Rees and recalls how the underground footage in The Blockhouse was lit and some of the challenges the filming crew had to overcome. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).

• Image Gallery - a collection of original promotional materials for The Blockhouse.

• The Channel Islands 1940-1945 - in this short film directed by Gerry Bryant in 1945, incidents dealing with the German occupation are reenacted by the Channel Islanders themselves. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles. (17 min)

• Booklet - a limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Kieran Foster, contemporary news reports on the event that inspired the film, archival interviews with star Peter Sellers and director Clive Rees, an overview of contemporary critical responses, new writing on The Channel Islands 1940–1945, and film credits.

The Blockhouse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Blockhouse is an incredible film. I can see how some viewers can walk away from it overwhelmed by the misery that is chronicled in it, but this is precisely why it is so good. The only way in which it could have turned out better is if it was done with German actors playing the men that were trapped in the blockhouse. Indicator/Powerhouse Films are bringing The Blockhouse to Blu-ray in the United Kingdom and the United States at the same time. (The U.S. release is listed here). It has been fully restored in 4K and looks terrific in high-definition. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.