StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Leofwine_draca A PLACE IN HELL is a fun-but-forgotten Italian WW2 flick set in the Pacific theatre for a change (most of these films seem to be desert-set productions in my experience). It's business as usual for the scriptwriter, who concocts a storyline about a group of soldiers who have to undertake a deadly mission to blow up a Japanese base on one of the Pacific islands before escaping to the docks to make their getaway.The film is surprisingly well made for its budget and genre, with atmospheric jungle locations and some top action to recommend it. The cast is merely average, with dependable leading man of Italian action cinema Guy Madison leading the way, but Giuseppe Vari's direction is better than average.There's an excellent set-piece at the climax involving a deserted beach and village which is the perfect exercise in setting up tension before letting loose with a rousing climax. There are some thoughtful reflections on the nature of warfare here, which you aren't expecting in the dubbed English dialogue, along with location photography in the Philippines which adds to the authenticity.

Peter L. Petersen (KnatLouie) I can see that most of the other reviewers here really like this movie, but I can't really understand why, because this movie is extremely slow-moving and full of clichés all the way through, and has a really unlikeable leading man, who just wants to drink and smoke all the time, and likes to "take charge" of his men, and doesn't even flinch when his men (or women) get killed because of him dragging them out into the field. Quite a lot of the scenes in this movie consists of people walking a lot. The final scene has a VERY lengthy sequence where a woman walks around an abandoned campsite for what seems like 10 minutes!! All she does is just walk around and look, run a bit, and stroll back and forth.. imagine that for at least 5 minutes near the climax of any movie! This movie is a total time-waster.Only good thing about this movie are the following: My VHS-tape is surprisingly in widescreen, which was a big plus.The two women (Esperanto and Betsy) are hot.Fabio Testi is in this movie, and he kicks ass as usual.Well, that's about it. This movie is so full of clichés, truly a horrible piece of war-glorifying trash - but without blood and gore, so you could actually see this with kids too, except that they'd probably be too bored to bother finish watching it.4/10 - one star for Testi, two for each of the women, and one for the widescreen format (and the fast-forward button on my remote).

SgtSlaughter "A Place in Hell" does something Italian war movies rarely do: it places reasonably-developed characters in an unconventional setting and then tells a straightforward story. This is an original, zesty little action movie and that alone gives it plenty of gas to run on until the final shots.A drunken war correspondent, a prostitute and happy-go-lucky Italian GI barely escape a bombing of Manila, only to realize that the island they land on has been captured by the Japanese. They hook up with a band of Allied survivors and attempt to escape. There's a twist, though: the US forces had been using the island to house an experimental radar base. The Japanese have captured the base, and are going to use it to guide their fleet in the coming invasion of the Philippines.Guy Madison, who was to become THE leading man in Italian war movies over the next few years, is the perfect leading man. He plays a war correspondent who's forced into leading the men simply because he has an honorary rank of major. His reactions to every situation are complex and believable. Sometimes he knows what to do, sometimes he doesn't; the moral conflicts of what actions are necessary and what should be avoided seem to come naturally. He plays a slightly toned-down version of the character Tom Hanks would play in "Saving Private Ryan", a civilian forced to lead men in battle - something he never prepared for.The supporting cast is full of familiar faces from other war films of the period. Maurizio Tocchi, Maurice Poli and Fabio Testi all bring parts of American soldiers to life, as they must deal with being stranded on an enemy-occupied island. When they must choose whether or not to escape or engage the enemy, the choice doesn't come easily.The script is a little formulaic, but director Giuseppe Vari keeps the pace moving, filling his story with quick, violent encounters between roving Japanese patrols and the American guerrillas. These action scenes are actually the low-point of the movie, as they don't involve much except a lot of Japanese soldiers running into the path of oncoming American fire and falling down dead. The juicy characters manage to keep the audience engrossed during the quieter moments, because there is always something signifigant going on.As far as camera-work goes, Vari's work is pretty standard, too, but definitely not dull. He uses lots of hand-held shots, some high angles, and rapid editing in the action sequences to make this one high-energy movie. The jungle scenery looks fresh and often foreboding, though occasionally beautiful. The chaos of war set against the beauty of the lush jungles is stressed in some final anti-war comments by Madison's character."A Place in Hell" is an engaging, well-shot and well-told story about men fighting against the odds. It's unique and enjoyable pulp, with a well-developed but never over-stated message behind it about the violence and pointlessness of war. A very good movie, and that's all there is to it.

Sorsimus A decent pacific war action film. The story is familiar, a small random group of survivors from a Japanese attack have to undertake an "impossible" mission. Much is saved by crisp characters and rugged acting, though masterpiece this one is not.An unusual feature for a film of this kind is the camerawork. Not only does the camera move a lot, already lifting this film above some of its peers, there are also a couple of visually ambitious sequences.Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.