Two cops take two bad guys (delinquent types) and a girl into custody in the backwoods of Washington state. However, the tables are soon turned, leading to a risky trek across a wooded wilderness and a killer forest fire.
Good thing there's a second half, because the first is a yawner. That's surprising considering the first half is two cops and three outlaws holding one another captive as they clamber through a lush forest. Trouble is the trek is treated more like a walk in the woods than anything tension building. Then too, the cast has got Frank Gorshin as chief bad guy, which you would think would generate a ton of sneering tension. But everybody underplays including Gorshin and especially an emotionless David Janssen. I suspect an already over- burdened Andrew Stone (producer-director-writer) found these sequences difficult to direct. But whatever the reason, what should be a real pressure cooker of life and death turns into a Sierra Club hike in the scenic woods. Too bad.
The second half, however, amounts to a real barn burner. The woods catch fire causing the near-by town to evacuate as sky high flames close in. The effects are great, including real forest fire footage. Of course, the Stones, husband and wife, specialized in just such realism and it's on great display here. Looks also like the entire town was recruited into the evacuation and escape scenes. Then too, that halting train trip across the burning trestle is a real white-knuckler. Anyway, as long as the screen's filled with fiery effects instead of dialog, the production's a memorable one. All in all, the result amounts to half of a good movie.
Good thing there's a second half, because the first is a yawner. That's surprising considering the first half is two cops and three outlaws holding one another captive as they clamber through a lush forest. Trouble is the trek is treated more like a walk in the woods than anything tension building. Then too, the cast has got Frank Gorshin as chief bad guy, which you would think would generate a ton of sneering tension. But everybody underplays including Gorshin and especially an emotionless David Janssen. I suspect an already over- burdened Andrew Stone (producer-director-writer) found these sequences difficult to direct. But whatever the reason, what should be a real pressure cooker of life and death turns into a Sierra Club hike in the scenic woods. Too bad.
The second half, however, amounts to a real barn burner. The woods catch fire causing the near-by town to evacuate as sky high flames close in. The effects are great, including real forest fire footage. Of course, the Stones, husband and wife, specialized in just such realism and it's on great display here. Looks also like the entire town was recruited into the evacuation and escape scenes. Then too, that halting train trip across the burning trestle is a real white-knuckler. Anyway, as long as the screen's filled with fiery effects instead of dialog, the production's a memorable one. All in all, the result amounts to half of a good movie.
