Battle of Blood Island (1960)

Battle of Blood Island (1960) ** 1/2 (out of 4)American GI's Moe (Richard Devon) and Ken (Ron Gans) are the only survivors of their platoon and they wash up on an island held by the Japanese. Ken has been left crippled so it's up to Moe to do everything from finding food and shelter to making sure the bad guys don't hear them. As the two stay on the island long their anger towards each other grows.BATTLE OF BLOOD ISLAND had Roger Corman as Executive Producer so that should tell you what to expect. The film was obviously working on a very low-budget and it was meant to be the second of a double feature with of course the first movie being of a bigger budget. With all of that in mind, I found the film to be entertaining for what it was but there are no questions that it did feature some flaws.I think the best thing for the film was the story by Joel M. Rapp, which he adapted from a short story by Philip Roth. I thought Rapp was very smart with the screenplay since he was working with very little money. This meant you couldn't stage large action scenes but instead everything had to be done on a small scale. I liked the way the story developed and I'd argue that the character development was good as well. Both Devon and Gans were good in their role and this added to the entertainment value as well.This here was one of a number of films that Corman shot in Puerto Rico and the locations certainly helped the film. With the low-budget that means there aren't any large action scenes or anything like that so one shouldn't go into this expecting anything like that. The film ran a short 63-minutes and even at that there were some moments that dragged. With that said, BATTLE OF BLOOD ISLAND was a decent little picture.

Two soldiers are stranded on a pacific island with the Japanese all around them.Talky war film will either strike you as great drama or bore you to tears. I kind of like it but I also can find it s a chore to get through. I have this as a double feature tape from Sinister Cinema where its paired with Ski Troop Attack. Depending on my mood after the first film the lack of activity in this film has been known to put me to sleep. Other times I'm fine. I know that's not a sterling recommendation but it's the best I can do.Your mileage will probably vary as well.

Before you balk at a 7 of 10 rating I'm giving this, it is in proportion to the films budget which is mid 60's drive in movie, indi production, very low money. It is on the 50 Movie Pack Combat Classics collection through Amazon, I highly recommend it for the price of what one or two movies alone go for. If your a Roger Corman fan you will enjoy this movie. I'm not a big fan of Corman's stuff but I keep watching it. I like hopeless situation movies usually post atomic war stuff, and this has a bit of that taste. I found it at first fun to watch seeing the dramatized invasion (you have to use suspension of belief in this movie which I did), but then the situation of two GI's (one wounded and para-pelagic) on an island abandoned with a squad of Japanese was something I never saw before so I got into it. It then turned into a drama of men going insane and of course what would a war movie be without a little racial bigotry thrown in for even more easy drama. I was hoping the ending would turn out different in a bad way, it would have been a very Cormanesque twist like he did in that cave man movie I think titled teenage caveman. Anyway for a really low budget forgotten drive in war flick it's a good one to catch, 7 of 10. It does seem a lot longer then 68 minutes though. Corman is uncredited as a soldier in this one as well so you see some versions packaged with his face on the cover but as far as I can tell on IMDb he is an uncredited actor only, maybe he made this under a different name?

A couple of soldiers are stranded on an island in the Pacific during WW II. Richard Devon plays Moe, who in civilian life is a happily married accountant. Ron Kennedy plays Ken who is a pitching prospect for the Yankees in civilian life. At first Moe and Ken must survive hiding in a cave as the island is occupied by the Japanese. They periodically kill off a Japanese soldier here and there, and eventually the Japanese soldiers figure there is no way to get out of the movie other than to kill themselves. Moe and Ken then have the island and the movie entirely to themselves. Ken is kind of a whiner (like most Yankee players and fans) and he gets on Moe's nerves. At one point Moe says to Ken, "Why you, I oughta..." For a low budget "war film" the movie is actually more thoughtful than action oriented. I'm guessing this stems from the Philip Roth story on which it is based. The fighting sequences aren't staged particularly well, but I did find myself engrossed in the plight of the two main characters.