Another Filipino Romero Romp
With the Japanese taking over a convent in the Philippines Capt. Kermit Dowling (John Saxon) and his bunch of Filipino guerrillas plan to wrestle control of the convent back despite being outnumbered. His plan is to use a couple of his men; Gaudiel (Fernando Poe Jr.) and Cruz (Victor Diaz) to keep the Japanese busy at the back of the convent whilst he and the rest of the men attack the front. But things don't go to plan when Cruz comes across an American woman, Sheila (Bronwyn FitzSimons), being kept in secret by the Mother Superior who having not seen a woman in ages turns nasty and causes Gaudiel to intervene.
Every movie I watch I try to find at least one positive but sometimes it just isn't possible and the best compliment I can give is to say "well at least it's not terrible". That is as great as my compliment can be when it comes to "The Ravagers" a forgettable war movie from the 1960s which was directed by Eddie Romero.
The thing about "The Ravagers" is that whilst it gives us a storyline which features a soldier who tries it on with a pretty American the rest of the movie is just a stock war movie which fails to give any depth. It lacks character depth, it lacks story depth, it lacks emotional depth and to be honest it lacks flare as well when it comes to the action. In fact it is lacking a lot of things from good dialogue to good editing.
You may ask why bother watching such a movie if it is so lacking. Well partly because lacking doesn't mean terrible but ordinary in a low budget, rushed out sort of way. But also because of two actors starting with John Saxon who seems to start off trying to make this movie works but ends up giving up and then pretty Bronwyn FitzSimons. Now some may not realise this but Bronwyn FitzSimons is in fact the daughter of Maureen O'Hara and whilst this is her only credited movie alongside some TV shows she could have had a decent movie career if she wished.
What this all boils down to is that "The Ravagers" is really just another cheaply made war movie from the mid 60s which only ever struggles to be average. But its interest beyond being a war movie is that it features Bronwyn FitzSimons in her only credited movie role.
