Rent The Blockhouse (1973)
3.2 of 5 from 63 ratings
1h 32min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
In 1944, a group of POW's are working to build trenches along the French coast in preparation from the impending D-Day attacks. But when an unexpected aerial attack arrives, they are forced to seek shelter deep inside a Blockhouse - a giant underground storage facility packed with frontline supplies and hidden Nazi treasures. When the heavy bombardment causes the entrance walls to collapse, the seven men are trapped within and forced deeper into the vast underground chamber. The prisoners are at first buoyed by their discovery of almost limitless wine, candles and rations. But when it becomes clear there is no hope of escape, their physical comfort begins to gives way to a risk of mental disintegration that will provide these hardened soldiers with their toughest test of the war so far. - Actors:
- Peter Sellers, Charles Aznavour, Jeremy Kemp, Per Oscarsson, Peter Vaughan, Nicholas Jones, Leon Lissek, John Levene, Alfred Lynch
- Directors:
- Clive Rees
- Producers:
- Edgar Bronfman Jr., Antony Rufus-Isaacs
- Writers:
- Jean-Paul Clébert, John Gould, Clive Rees
- Studio:
- Slam Dunk Media
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 17/01/2022
- Run Time:
- 92 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Two feature presentations: the distributor version (92 mins); and the director's version (92 mins) featuring revised and extended opening and closing captions
- Shots in the Dark (2022, 6 mins): co-star Leon Lissek remembers the highs and lows of filming on the Channel Islands
- Out of the Darkness (2022, 13 mins): Fred Rees and Gilda Rees, director Clive Rees' son and widow, recall the film's turbulent production history
- Underground Filmmaking (2022, 19 mins): producer Kent Walwin on the many challenges of making a low-budget war film
- Down to Earth (2022, 12 mins): production manager Matthew Raymond recalls procuring a Spitfire for the opening battle
- When Lights Go Low (2022, 10 mins): electrician Peter Bloor on the perils of powering a shoot deep underground
- The Channel Islands 1940-1945 (1945, 17 mins): short film produced by the Crown Film Unit which sees Channel Islanders re-enact incidents from the German occupation during World War II
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
- World premiere on Blu-ray
More like The Blockhouse
Found in these customers lists
323 films by spfilms
Reviews (1) of The Blockhouse
Probably can give it a 3* - The Blockhouse review by AW
POW/WWII theme, might be your bag but frankly I have to be in the mood. When the disc arrived I couldn't even remember having it on my CP list,
let alone in the top 10 choices. Possibly I was looking for a hitherto unknown Sellars vehicle, but this had no comedy at all. Peter was in a straight & serious role as it was several yrs before the Pink Panther franchise and its fame but one realises he'd been "on the go" in films like I'm Alright Jack, Casino Royale and After the Fox from 1959.
This film's from 1973 but you can't tell the age due to the theme. Sadly it's filmed yet again in the dark (aargh) with a muddy, fuzzy background, making it hard to see the characters in every frame & even more difficult because of grubby faces, long hair and plenty of face fuzz.
The lads endure weeks underground - waiting for rescue? - umn, dunno - because by then, frankly, I'd "switched off" my attention tho' I left the disc running in the background, lest I find, as I sometimes do, a more interesting part to prompt me to rewind and play back.
That's the ultimate joy of DVDs.
Familiar faces, Vaughan, Kemp & Lissek but I barely recognised Jones and Lynch until I saw the cast list. Aznavour is angular Aznavour - he made a lot of serious films and he's fine.
It's probably ultimately a pretty good film and well made but that week I'd have preferred something more uplifting or amusing - that's the problem at times with CP. What you fancy one week isn't what you fancy the next but you don't wanna waste the rental slot, so sometimes it takes a while to view and return and give it a chance .
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.