Doomwatch

In 1972 we were beginning to get an ecological conscience and of course the movies noticed. "Doomwatch" feels like a pilot for a tv show but being British I don't know. They are more inclined to one off productions than we are. The story is simple, Doomwatch is an organization of ecological sleuths who suss out who's dumping what and where. In this case, what has been done to a small island to deform and make violent some of its inhabitants. Our eager gang is not helped by the islanders who are stone cold paranoid of anyone outside the island.

Despite how it all sounds it is played pretty cool. There isn't a moustache twisting villain for example. We have a respectable company that made a mistake and then gave it reputable disposal firm, for the lowest bid of course. The firm didn't think it did anything wrong since they dumped it in an old navy dump. What could go wrong dumping in a dump? The navy was completely mystified that people went to its off limits dump (no guards and fences or anything) and misused their property that was just a place to dump nuclear waste. Reputable, respectable people who were blind lead to a disaster.

If Doomwatch was made today it would have be jazzed up considerably. People wouldn't pay attention today without folks growing a second heads and at least ten explosions. Doomwatch is a good earnest film, but its not the most exciting thing. I dug it cause I love British films of this period.