Scientist, Dr. Del Shaw is sent to a remote Cornish island to investigate the effects of a tanker spill on the local wildlife. On arrival on the island, he is immediately struck by the strangeness of its inhabitants, they are dismissive and suspicious of him, they seem wary of outsiders and he struggles to find a room for the one night of his stay. As he goes about his business collecting marine samples, he is aware that he is being followed, he begins to feel he may be in danger, some odd nocturnal goings on make him even ,ore suspicious that there is something amiss on the island and when he finds the shallow grave of a child he knows for sure there is. The set up is excellent, both in mood and atmosphere, one is left with the distinct impression that a Wicker Man type plot is imminent, but sadly the film never lives up to those lofty heights and instead turns out to be more of an ecological drama, interesting but never as compelling as it could have been.

Don't expect much but an environmental lecture in this overly talkie movie that rambles on and on about dumping in waters off of England and really reveals nothing the audience didn't already know. It's a 90 minute finger wag that could have been taken care of as a 20 minute segment from a news magazine show rather than wasting the talents of British actors like Ian Bannen and George Sanders. It deals with how eating contaminates fish makes the consumers sick and does nothing but set off a bunch of silly conspiracy theories and arguments with the federal government and those deemed responsible. While admirably filmed, it is overly dramatic throughout with a ridiculously booming musical score and painfully slow paving. Watching paint dry is more interesting like this.