Another thrill ride from Andrew & Virginia Stone that with the aid of veteran cameraman William Clothier provides a triple feast for the eyes in the form of the lush verdant hills of Oregon, foxy beat girl Joyce Taylor and a final conflagration that makes the burning of Atlanta in 'Gone with the Wind' look like a rehearsal. Miss Taylor in her skinny jeans, long-life lipstick, permanent wave and a white blouse that remains spotless almost until the very end is supposed to be underage (she was actually in her late twenties) but exudes a mischievous knowingness worthy of Louise Brooks; and she and David Janssen bring a humour as dry as the local brush to their scenes together as she decides she digs him more than the two punks with whom she's previously been wasting her time. As I write this fire fighters are ironically still struggling to keep under control some of the worst wildfires in living memory now ravaging Saddleworth Moor in North West England, so keep watching what you do with those discarded cigarette ends.

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.

Just caught this little gem and I must say, I was quite surprised... and entertained. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a great or even good movie, but what it lacks in acting and direction it more than makes up in well, ingenuity and effort. The basic plot is fine and the story plausible until the protagonists emerge from the forest and all hell breaks loose. There's a forest fire of massive proportions, an evacuation of equally massive proportions and disaster upon disaster. The bad guys buy it the good ones survive the good townspeople get away. What was amazing though is how many people crowded that little Rocky Mountain town. And the cars, they must have each owned a dozen. During the evacuation people kept running around, cars kept honking, and they all kept coming at you, scene after scene, with no letup. It also seemed like other than the three teenage protagonists and our hero, the town was populated by the middle aged and senior citizens. Quite spry I must admit, but where did the younger people go? It looked to me like the producers made the conscious decision to hire older actors. And then there was the forest fire. It was massive, awful, mesmerizing, utterly gigantic in scope. This must have been actual footage of a forest fire. I witnessed an unstoppable force of nature in all its awesome finality.As for the actors, the three principals were quite good delivering their cornball lines, especially Frank Gorshen and Joyce Taylor. David Janssen was well, David Janssen. Straight faced all the way, little emotion, the picture of composure in the face of utter despair. Gorshen was fun to watch but his character was too one dimensional. Joyce Taylor on the other hand was worth the price of admission. Saucy all the way, dangerously sexy and with more than enough complexity to make her character an interesting standout. And what a fox. I was sorry to discover that her career was quite limited. Nonetheless she impressed me and I'll be looking out for more films with her.So there you have it. Another bad film that's actually quite fun.

This movie has always been special to me; The town scenes were shot in Oregon in Vernonia, but the rest around Shelton, WA in Mason County and Grays Harbor County. The Sheriff's dept depicted, and all the personnel - wear Mason County Sheriff's Uniforms and patches - complete with Christmas tree logo and 'Mason County' prominently displayed. I have one of these patches in my collection. The Mason County Sheriff played by Ron Myron was actually a real Mason County Deputy at the time. The State Trooper who is nearly killed in the telephone booth in Matlock (which has hardly changed at all by the way - and last time I passed through still had a telephone booth in the same spot!) was a real trooper from the shelton detatchment and was a fellow road trooper at the time with my Dad in Shelton. The best part however, is my uncle plays an extra in the 'posse' sent to hunt down the kidnappers. It's always great fun to point him out whenever it is on. The annual forest festival in shelton sometimes plays this movie during their celebration. I recall my parents, and relatives pointing out many more familiar faces in this movie. I have been to the site where the bridge was burned and the trains dropped - you can make out the train cars but I couldn't see the engine; Apparently it is very difficult to make out but it's not hard to find but VERY dangerous to try to actually go down to look at. FYI - this movie used to play fairly regularly on TNT network. I have taped this movie and copied it onto a DVD. I would love to see this film released on a commercial DVD and in wide-screen if it was shot that way, which I believe it was. I invite anyone else - particularly those involved with this production at the time to leave comments as well. For small town folk - even those like me who weren't born yet, it is still an incredibly interesting piece of local history.