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Doomwatch (film)

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Doomwatch
Directed byPeter Sasdy
Written byClive Exton
Television series:
Gerry Davis
Kit Pedler
Produced byTony Tenser
StarringIan Bannen
Judy Geeson
John Paul
Simon Oates
Jean Trend
Joby Blanshard
CinematographyKenneth Talbot
Edited byKeith Palmer
Music byJohn Scott
Production
company
Distributed byTigon Film Distributors
Embassy Pictures
Release date
March 1972
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Doomwatch (US title: Island of the Ghouls) is a 1972 science fiction/thriller film directed by Peter Sasdy. The film is based on the BBC series Doomwatch. The screenplay was written by Clive Exton.

Synopsis

The waters surrounding an island become contaminated by chemical dumping, and people who eat fish caught in those waters become deformed and violent.

Plot

An outsider visits a remote isolated village that has seemingly shunned the modern life. Doctor Del Shaw, an investigator from the British ecological watchdog group nicknamed Doomwatch, is sent to the island of Balfe, to file a report on the effects of a recent oil tanker spill. He becomes fascinated with the mysterious behavioural disorders of the locals who display rudeness and random aggression and a strange genetic prevalence of thick lips and sloping brows. Investigation shows that the villagers have been suffering over a prolonged period from hormonal disorders, which are being caused by leaking drums of growth stimulants that have been dumped offshore. The islanders have been eating contaminated fish and develop a disorder of excessive hormonal growth, which produces aggression and eventually madness, attributed to a form of acromegaly. Rather than seek help from the mainland they hide those who are deformed from any newcomers.

Cast

Filming locations

References