In 1972 the world is falling apart. Man has polluted the Earth so badly it starts to fall apart. A virus infects all the grass, all the water and people are dying left and right. In England the Custance family leave town in a hurry to get to his brothers place far away in the moors. They end having to fight and kill to get there.
**SPOILERS AHEAD** This is strong stuff. It doesn't pull back and (for a 1970 film) it's pretty brutal. There is a double rape which is almost impossible to watch, a gruesome childbirth (with the baby born dead no less) and tons of shootings and killings. END SPOILERS
It's also well-written and acted making it even harder to shake off. But it has some serious issues too. There are ENDLESS shots of polluted streams, polluted air and dead animals. We get the point early on--it doesn't have to be shoved in our faces. The family runs into a huge bunch of people also struggling for survival and they ask them along! Why? There's not enough room or food for them! There are confusing flash forwards which ruins some of the suspense and do we really need a title song? Even dumber they have hottie John Hammill in the cast (who was most well known for his good looks and great body) and keep him fully clothed. He loved stripping down to his underwear (or less) in most of his movies but not here. Also there are plenty of ham-fisted attempts at irony which are so obvious that I felt like laughing a few times. There's no real ending either.
Still, it was well-done, it does have an important message and the acting is great. So it's worthwhile but unpleasant. I give it a 6.
**SPOILERS AHEAD** This is strong stuff. It doesn't pull back and (for a 1970 film) it's pretty brutal. There is a double rape which is almost impossible to watch, a gruesome childbirth (with the baby born dead no less) and tons of shootings and killings. END SPOILERS
It's also well-written and acted making it even harder to shake off. But it has some serious issues too. There are ENDLESS shots of polluted streams, polluted air and dead animals. We get the point early on--it doesn't have to be shoved in our faces. The family runs into a huge bunch of people also struggling for survival and they ask them along! Why? There's not enough room or food for them! There are confusing flash forwards which ruins some of the suspense and do we really need a title song? Even dumber they have hottie John Hammill in the cast (who was most well known for his good looks and great body) and keep him fully clothed. He loved stripping down to his underwear (or less) in most of his movies but not here. Also there are plenty of ham-fisted attempts at irony which are so obvious that I felt like laughing a few times. There's no real ending either.
Still, it was well-done, it does have an important message and the acting is great. So it's worthwhile but unpleasant. I give it a 6.