Doomwatch (1972)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Walter M

  
  Doomwatch, a government agency tasked to monitor threats to the environment, sends Dr. Del Shaw(Ian Bannen) to a remote island to look into a recent oil spill. He finds the villagers little help in his inquiries as the only person who is willing to talk to him is Victoria(Judy… More
  Doomwatch, a government agency tasked to monitor threats to the environment, sends Dr. Del Shaw(Ian Bannen) to a remote island to look into a recent oil spill. He finds the villagers little help in his inquiries as the only person who is willing to talk to him is Victoria(Judy Geeson), the young schoolteacher who has been there all of two years. Despite this, he discovers enough to continue his investigation past the first day. It's a good thing, too, because that's when the body turns up under a watchful eye. Created by Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler, "Doomwatch" is a decidedly uneven thriller with a good mystery. There are some very suspenseful moments but the movie gets sidetracked when it focuses too much on the scientists and away from the island. Overall, I applaud the movie for its subtlety in not revealing too much at first. This kind of approach never goes out of style while the movie's warning concerning the environment and against ignorance are still as necessary as when the movie was made which can also be seen as something of a tragedy, I suppose.