copy and see for yourself - don't be put off by these other 'critics'.Mark

performance is given by Malcom McDowel as the Nazi officer who is the epitome of pure evil and bloodthirsty perversion. He is nothing less than superb in the most intense role he has ever played. He personifies the Nazi mindset and lust for violence as no other actor ever has. It is truly one of the most memorably disturbing characters ever written for the screen and McDowel is stunning.

given trailers that tell the whole story so it must have been word of mouth that doomed the film. Mason and Quinn should have been a sellout, but perhaps more was wanted from the audiences in 1979.

including a frail old wife and two children, youths by all means, but nonetheless totally inexperienced both to war and to mountain passages. Christopher Lee makes a brief intermission as the leader of a Gipsy group helping them on and getting paid for it by the wrong gang. There are a lot of scenes of violence, you learn to hate Malcom McDowell from the beginning, a hatred wich constantly will increase throughout the film, as he relishes in developing it. He boasted that this was his best film, well, I never saw him in a decent character on film, which would have been wished for a change.John Lee Thompson was a specialist on spectacular adventure films, and this is no exception - he never disappointed his audience. There is nothing to object against in this film, except, perhaps that the whole story in its extreme dramatization lacks all credibility.