Had this actually had a budget more than just a couple of bucks, I might have ranked this a 5/10. But tinny sound, grainy photography and long periods of no sound other than the winter winds makes this drive-in programmer barely passable even though the story is intriguing. While a haunting and nearly deranged version of "Silent Night" plays in the background, a group of American soldiers on skis spend Christmas trying to blow up a German bridge. B action star Michael Forest heads the cast (with a Sinatra cousin named Richard in the supporting cast), and the snowy lost horizon mountain photography adds a nice look to the action.
I'd be curious to learn how this was filmed because the icy mountains do look rather realistic. There's a good sequence where the Americans invade the mountain cabins of a German woman left alone, dealing with her quickly after she tries to poison them. There's plenty of action and intrigue, but I had a hard time getting into this until Sheila Noonan briefly came into the film. The cheapness of this film made this an obvious one time viewing, and had it been a better film technically, I could have seen myself going back to see it again. But the cheapness prevents that from being impossible because I could tolerate cheap looking film, but not sound recording that made me think my ears were clogged.
I'd be curious to learn how this was filmed because the icy mountains do look rather realistic. There's a good sequence where the Americans invade the mountain cabins of a German woman left alone, dealing with her quickly after she tries to poison them. There's plenty of action and intrigue, but I had a hard time getting into this until Sheila Noonan briefly came into the film. The cheapness of this film made this an obvious one time viewing, and had it been a better film technically, I could have seen myself going back to see it again. But the cheapness prevents that from being impossible because I could tolerate cheap looking film, but not sound recording that made me think my ears were clogged.