The Camp on Blood Island Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

The Camp on Blood Island Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 1, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of Hammer Volume Three: Blood & Terror.

Ask even the most casual film fan what comes to mind when they hear the name Hammer Studios (and/or Hammer Film Productions, Ltd., as it is officially known), and my hunch is very few if any of them would answer “war movies”, since (as is probably obvious) Hammer has long been known for its Gothic horror output. But Hammer did make some war movies, albeit not necessarily always with the same focus that some of the major Hollywood studios did through the years. Powerhouse Films’ Indicator series has been bringing out rather interesting aggregations of Hammer properties, including Hammer Volume One: Fear Warning!, Hammer Volume Two: Criminal Intent and the recently reviewed Hammer Volume Four: Faces of Fear (Hammer Volume Five: Death & Deceit is coming out just as this review is going live). This third volume is an unusual assortment of Hammer films that all feature some kind of war as at least a tangential element, with two of the films offering plots that are putatively connected to World War II, and two others reaching further back into the mists of history to detail other kinds of battles and/or skirmishes.

As some of the excellent supplementary material included on this disc gets into, The Camp on Blood Island was strategically marketed as a war film, but in many ways it's as horrific as any Hammer outing featuring a famous monster from days of yore. The Camp on Blood Island managed to "sneak in under the wire" of increased scrutiny by the British Board of Film Classification that occurred after the BBFC started to really pay attention to Hammer's output, and as such it has some pretty graphic violence, albeit with none of the vaunted "Hammer red" blood, as this is a black and white feature (one element that actually may have helped it with the censors, apparently). There were evidently some requests made by various censors before the film launched into its actual shoot which were agreed to, but final approval didn't come until director Val Guest had already started actual filming (again, according to the supplements on this disc). One way or the other The Camp on Blood Island purports to offer audiences the "true story" about crimes at a Japanese prisoner of war camp, a "true story" that several talking heads in bonus features here state unequivocally never happened, or at least never happened this way and all at one camp.

The supposed moral depravity of the Japanese is documented from the get go in the film, as a British prisoner is forced to dig his own grave and then is executed summarily as other prisoners watch. While the reasons aren’t completely clear, it becomes evident that there are tensions between the perceived leader of the prisoners, Colonel Lambert (André Morrell) and some of the others at the camp. Interestingly, Morrell is also in The Bridge on the River Kwai which evidently wrapped shortly before he started shooting this film, and in some ways his character of Colonel Lambert is passingly similar to Alec Guinness’ character of Colonel Nicholson in the legendary David Lean film. Both characters are kind of “rah rah” commanders, neither suffer fools (or assumed cowards) gladly, and both are perhaps on the obsessive side. One major difference is that Lambert indeed knows what’s going on (for the most part, anyway), which doesn’t stop the climax from this film being about as deadly as in the Lean film.

In terms of what is going on, the rather intriguing premise of The Camp on Blood Island is that hostilities with Japan have just ceased, though only some of the prisoners have found out about it, courtesy of a secret shortwave radio. The nefarious camp commandant Yamamitsu (Ronald Radd, just one of several Caucasians tasked with playing Japanese characters) has already told Lambert he will slaughter all of the prisoners if Japan surrenders, and so panicked plans are undertaken to keep the prisoner population safe until the Allies arrive.

The aforementioned questionable decision to have (not very well made up) Caucasians playing Japanese characters is discussed at some length in some of the supplements included on this release, and that decision is just one that may cause modern day viewers to hesitate about watching this film. But perhaps even more potentially disturbing is the nonstop array of violent, inhumane behaviors the supposed "Japanese" are shown to regularly engage in. That does give some emotional heft to several scenes where carnage or at least torture comes into play, but it also tends to give the film a kind of cartoonish ambience that might strike some as more than a bit smarmy.

The Camp on Blood Island Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Camp on Blood Island is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Powerhouse Films' Indicator imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Powerhouse's insert booklet contains only the following pretty generic verbiage about the transfer:

Sony's HD remaster was the source of this Indicator edition. The film's original mono audio was remastered at the same time.

There are a few noticeable variances on display here with regard to clarity, detail levels and grain resolution between some of the outdoor location work and interior sequences (which I'm assuming were done in a studio), but other than those minor ebbs and flows, this is a winning presentation. The interior camp scenes probably look the sharpest, with commendable detail levels throughout the wide frame (which is often used in midrange compositions). Close-ups afford even better fine detail levels for the most part. Some of the outdoor material can look just slightly grittier (see screenshot 2), with arguably less fine detail, though even these scenes offer generally good contrast and general detail levels. Despite a few moments of increased "chunkiness", grain resolves naturally throughout this presentation.

The Camp on Blood Island Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Camp on Blood Island features an LPCM Mono track which offers capable support for the film's dialogue, and occasional effects like the gunfire and explosions that break out during the film's intense climax. Gerard Schurmann's score can sound just a trifle brash in its upper register at times, but the bulk of the film offers generally good fidelity.

The Camp on Blood Island Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Barbara Shelley and Stephen Laws


• The Brutal Truth: Inside The Camp on Blood Island (1080p; 25:51) is another in this series' excellent "inside" features, this one helmed by Marcus Hearn and featuring Alan Barnes and Jonathan Rigby. There's a frank assessment of some of this film's more dubious choices.


• Hammer's Women: Mary Merrall (1080p; 10:22) features Kat Ellinger discussing the actress.


• From Light to Dark (1080p; 17:42) features Steve Chibnall discussing Val Guest and The Camp on Blood Island.


• Return to Blood Island (1080p; 3:28) features script supervisor Renee Glynne and her little dog.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:10)


• Image Gallery (1080p)

Additionally, a really nicely done insert booklet is included, which offers cast and crew information, essays on the film, an interview with Val Guest, and excerpts from the novelization, along with exploitation material and contemporary reviews. Brief technical information is also offered.

The Camp on Blood Island Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Camp on Blood Island siimply can't quite escape its obviously exploitation leanings, and my hunch is some modern day viewers will find various portrayals problematic. That said, the film's premise of prisoners trying to get out alive after hostilities have supposedly ended is interesting, even if it's played here in some questionable ways. Technical merits are solid and the supplementary package excellent for those considering a purchase.