Don't expect much but an environmental lecture in this overly talkie movie that rambles on and on about dumping in waters off of England and really reveals nothing the audience didn't already know. It's a 90 minute finger wag that could have been taken care of as a 20 minute segment from a news magazine show rather than wasting the talents of British actors like Ian Bannen and George Sanders. It deals with how eating contaminates fish makes the consumers sick and does nothing but set off a bunch of silly conspiracy theories and arguments with the federal government and those deemed responsible. While admirably filmed, it is overly dramatic throughout with a ridiculously booming musical score and painfully slow paving. Watching paint dry is more interesting like this.

Heavyweight casting and an intelligent script do nothing to dispel the atmosphere of lethargy surrounding this production, which often threatens to be stodgy and dull but somehow retains interest despite this. An adaptation of a popular BBC TV series at the time, this follows the typical plot of having an outsider arrive at a mysterious village where the villagers are rude, unwelcoming, and hide an unwholesome secret. Except this time the plot is grounded in scientific realism and the 'monsters' aren't really monsters at all – just unfortunate townsfolk who have become diseased by some toxic fish off the bay.

The film has generally good production values all round, and handling the directorial chores is the steady and solid Peter Sasdy. The script is literate and the mystery unfolds at just the right pace. It's just a shame that all the building menace never has a pay-off; there is little or no action in this movie, unless you count a man having a fight with a dog at one point. Ian Bannen makes for a campaigning, slightly stuffy lead, whilst Judy Geeson has nothing to do except tag along on some scenes; a Scully to Bannen's Mulder she is not. The cast is packed out with interesting British character actors, ranging from Percy Herbert to Shelagh Fraser, as well as John Paul and there are two big-name cameos from a tired George Sanders and also Geoffrey Keen as a couple of bigwigs. DOOMWATCH isn't bad, just a bit bland; UK viewers may have fun spotting the familiar faces and second-guessing the plotting, but it doesn't add up to that much in the end.

In a far-flung island called Balfe just off the Cornish coast arrives a doctor (Ian Bannen) tasked by a government agency to investigate strange events , as he has to study the after effects of a recent oil tanker spill , as the waters surrounding become contaminated by chemical dumping . Once there the locals are very cold towards him and rather disturbingly they reject him .Along the way he finds a corpse in some local forests and he is also hitten by a deformed man in a barn . There he meets a beautiful children teacher (Judy Geeson) who helps him figure out the causes that create rare results on local people . An ecological nightmare gone berserk! Now on the big screen - Doomwatch means terror . A new terror!

This is a nice chiller , though a little bit boring and slow-moving, being based on a British famous notorious TV series which made star Robert Powell before his role was killed off . In fact in this story results to be one of 13 titles included in Avco Embassy's Nightmare Theater package syndicated for television in 1975 , series regulars Simon Oates , John Trend , John Paul take a back seat appearing as secondaries , while the real protagonists Ian Bannen and Judy Geeson provide decent interpretations . Doomwatch refers to the name of a Government environmental that assigns underling scientist Dr. Del Shaw , Ian Bannen , on an allegedly routine mission . As Ian Bannen gives an acceptable acting as a scientist who discovers a chemical company is dumping poison into local waters causing horrible consequences when the villagers eat the catch of the day , while Judy Geeson is pretty good as the local schoolteacher, who aids him on Balfe . Other prestigious secondaries showing up are as follows : Percy Herbert , Norman Bird , the veteran classic actor George Sanders as a Minister , Geoffrey Keen habitual support in James Bond films and a young James Cosmo.

It contains a splendid and atmospheric musical score by the prolific John Scott . As well as Kenneth Talbot's rich cinematography full of colour and with varying shades of red. The motion picture titled Doomwatch or Island of the Ghouls (United States) Holocausto radiactivo (Spain) was professionally directed by Peter Sasdy with some flaws and gaps , as it has some scenes that result to be of variable quality . Sasdy was a fine craftsman who directed a lot of fims with penchant for terror, Adventure and thriller such as : Taste the blood of Dracula, Countess Dracula , Hands of the Ripper, Nothing but the night, Doomwatch, Young warlord, King Arthur the young warlord, I don't want to be born, The devil' undead, 13 Reunion, Rude awakening, The two faces of evil, The lonely lady, among others . Rating 6/10. Acceptable and passable. The picture will appeal to British chiller aficionados.