BootDigest
Such a frustrating disappointment
Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
Baseshment
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
bkoganbing
I remember in that multi flashback film Passage To Marseilles, Humphrey Bogart led a group of Devil's Island convicts with the clear purpose of escaping to fight for France even after the Nazis have taken it over. No such unity of purpose exists among four convicts who escape in 1916 to the mainland of French Guiana in I Escaped From Devil's Island. No talk here about going home to fight for France among the four who make it out. Perhaps they'd gotten word about Verdun.The four in this film are Jim Brown, Christopher George, Rick Ely, and James Luisi. Other than Devil's Island isn't exactly a tropical paradise they all have different reasons for wanting to leave. George in fact is a political prisoner, an anti-war pacifist and he wants to continue to do his political thing. In a place as brutal as Devil's Island he learns that pacifism sometimes just doesn't cut it.Ely's character is an interesting one, he's a gay man and in the all male Devil's Island he and his fellow gay prisoners are quite a premium, they're known as 'fancy boys' and command a lot for their services to relieve sexual tension among the prisoners. Still all that demand all that service leave Ely a bit on edge.The brothers Corman did this film and befitting the locale and the subject there's a lot of erotic sadism. I Escaped From Devil's Island is trashy and exploitive, but still somewhat fun to watch.
Woodyanders
Nothing quite oozes pure undiluted machismo like a down'n'dirty low-budget guys in prison picture. Jim Brown hits it out of the ballpark with his resolutely rugged portrayal of the tough and determined Le Bras, who concocts a desperate plan to escape from the hellish penal colony Devil's Island. Christopher George likewise registers strongly as outspoken pacifist inmate Davert. Director William Whitney and writer Richard DeLong Adams bring an admittedly crude, yet undeniably effective and entertaining kitchen sink pulpy trash sensibility to the gripping premise: Besides the graphic and unflinching depiction of the brutal conditions of life in prison, we also have lots of rough'n'ready violence, a satisfying serving of tasty bare female skin, and more than enough deliciously cheap thrills that include sharks, lepers, a run-in with a tribe of savage natives (Brown even gets it on with a hot native gal!), and relentless pursuit from the police led by the vicious Major Marteau (a nicely slimy turn by Paul Richards). Richard Rust makes for a perfectly hateful villain as sadistic guard Sergeant Zamora while Richard Ely amuses as fey gay thief Jo-Jo. Rosalio Solano's proficient cinematography vividly captures the beautiful scenery. Les Baxter's robust score does the rousing trick. Sure, it's pretty raw and anything but subtle, yet it covers all the pleasingly scrappy dimestore drive-in cinema bases just the same.
thinker1691
There are many stories arising from the infamous and nightmarish prison on French Guiana. This film, " I escaped From Devil's Island " is one of them. If one is not too critical, which is easy, then the movie is good entertainment as it's got several ingredients of a plausible and brutal prison scenario. It has harsh treatment, unconscionable deaths and the social turmoil of a savage structure gone wild. Still, it endeavors to please. The star of the film is acclaimed athlete Jim Brown who plays Labras, which is strange as he is listed on the IMDb board as a minor player. He and Christopher George, Richard Ely and James Luisi execute an escape which is desperate and clumsy at best. With Major Marteau (Paul Richards) chasing them from the island to the mainland, makes for exciting pursuit. In addition the pretty sexy local distractions they meet along the way, proves that brief nudity might make up for a lackluster script. As a result and despite the convoluted story which lacks necessary elements, the movie ends up becoming a poor-man's Papillon. Nevertheless, I think it tries hard to entertain and I would give it an 'A' for effort. ***
kool-j
Not a totally wretched film, as I had expected, but pretty boring nonetheless. Should actually be "We escaped..." since its Jim Brown, Christopher George, and a couple others that do escape [no spoiler, it happens, without incident in the first 30 minutes]. And what I really mean by that is that its difficult to tell [until the bitter end] who the focal character was. Has some interesting Marxist/Communist subplot, that gets buried under the rug after they escape. Let's see...you also get a really disappointing Shark attack, a leper colony cameo, Jim Brown falls in love[!] and an exotica Les Baxter score! Looks like it was filmed in Mexico by the Cormans.So basically, the title gives it all away. Interestingly enough, check out director William Witney's career! Geez! and Darktown Stutters!!! Well, why couldnt he have made this that fun?? I escaped from Colonel Sander's Chicken Fryer?!?!
