Can anyone tell me what in this picture relates to Papillion?
I suppose it should be mentioned first that I consider the original Papillion with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman to be the greatest prison movie ever made, second only to Cool Hand Luke. So, I'm probably going to be even more critical towards a Roger Corman version, especially one starring Jim Brown, the worst of the blaxploitation big name actors. (He's no Fred Williamson.)
A clunky stitch of scenes, Devils Island replicates just about every trope from the original - the officer, the guillotine, the jungle, lepers, etc. It's pretty pitiful stuff, bordering on "should never been made" territory.
An obscurity up until recently, Devils Island is now on Tubi, available for anyone to see, warts and all. It's worth at least one watch for B-movie lovers but expect to have that "I don't want to look at the car accident but I have to" feeling. 1.75 stars/2.75
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