John Hackett stars as Frank, an American veteran who returns to the Philippines twenty years after being the lone survivor of a devastating military battle. His buddy Joe (Conrad Parham) gives him a tour of the battlefield which has since become a national monument. While Frank takes in the desolate scenery, he tries to reconcile his wartime trauma. Once he forgives himself for not being able to save his fellow soldiers, he starts trying to live again. Soon after, he meets a sexy fisherwoman (Anakorita) and takes her back to the site to show her around. It's here where he begins to suspect something sinister is awaiting him on the island.
Fortress of the Dead is a low key, bleak, and sporadically effective combination of WWII drama and ghost story. While it mostly plays like an overlong episode of The Twilight Zone, it definitely has its moments, especially if you are a patient viewer. Writer/director Ferde (The Day of the Wolves) Grofe Jr. gets a lot of mileage out of the war-torn locations as the hollowed-out structures and rusting military weaponry lends the film a unique sense of atmosphere. It’s a slow burner to be sure, and nothing really supernatural happens until the closing minutes, but I must admit, I was relatively entertained throughout.
It's well-acted too, which certainly helps keep you invested when the plot is spinning its wheels. Hackett, who resembles a mash-up of John Astin and Lee J. Cobb, doesn’t do anything showy in the lead role, but he hits his marks effectively, and gets the job done. Anakorita also injects the movie with a lot of vivacious personality once her character enters the story. She’s sexy and playful and looks terrific (especially in her wet T-shirt). They have a lot of chemistry together, and their combined efforts help make the third act play a little better than expected.
AKA: Soul of a Fortress.
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