Renegade geologist David Jackson (an excellent and engaging performance by David Houffman) tries to warn people about the impending eruption of the volcano Mt. St. Helens while crusty and stubborn old-timer Harry Truman (a wonderfully ornery portrayal by Art Carney) refuses to leave his lodge home despite the fact that he lives in the immediate proximity of the volcano. Director Ernest Pintoff, working from an absorbing script by Larry Ferguson and Peter Bellwood, relates the compelling story at a steady pace, ably creates and sustains an ominous atmosphere of slowly mounting dread, and presents believable characters who are firmly grounded in a totally plausible everyday reality. This movie further benefits from sound acting by a top-drawer cast: Carney and Huffman excel in the lead roles, with bang-up support from Cassie Yates as the sweet Linda Steele, Albert Salmi as mean and greedy local mill boss Clyde Whittacker, Ron O'Neal as tough Vietnam vet helicopter pilot Otis Kaylor, Tim Thomerson as the amiable Sheriff Wayne Temple, Bill McKinney as belligerent lumberjack Kilpatrick, and Henry Darrow as arrogant scientist Lloyd Wagner. The climactic eruption is genuinely exciting and makes effective use of actual newsreel footage. Jacques Haitkin's striking cinematography offers plenty of breathtaking aerial shots and equally stunning panoramic depictions of the ripely verdant sylvan landscape. The shivery score by Goblin does the shuddery trick. Only some shoddy optical special effects of the deadly billowing clouds of volcanic ash fail to impress. A worthwhile and enjoyable picture.
Review of St. Helens
