Contains spoilers.

Fantastic performances all round, but god, what a depressing movie. For those who get to the end of this film heartened by the strength of human endeavour as two men survive seven years of total isolation including three years of total darkness, please note that on discovery - the shock of the light killed one instantly, and the lone survivor died three days later. Depressing indeed.

For a really interesting perspective on Seller's appearance and performance in such a bleak movie, I'd like to recommend Roger Lewis' verbose yet illuminating biography "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers". By the time you have finished it you're easily persuaded that seven years solitary is far less than Sellers deserved!

Aufret (Peter Vaughan), their leader in the world above, before they were trapped in this storehouse and inside the darkness, loses his power over the men and isolates himself while the others, like Visconti (Charles Aznavour) and Grabinski (Jeremy Kemp) try to play games and keep their spirits up. By the end, the survivors dwindle - Rouquet (Peter Sellers) and Lund (Per Oscarsson) are the others - and even their matches and candles have started to run out. All that remains is a life trapped in a small space and no light will find them again.

This is a rough movie - not a bad one, but a bleak entry - and also one that should be discussed more.

All the actors in this film do a fine job. But honestly, I can't see why other reviewers are going ape over Peter Sellers - are they just surprised that he could be serious? The man was a good actor, not just a clown. But in this film, we don't really know his character - he's just one of seven sorry souls trapped underground in a large storeroom after an Allied raid on the camp where they were held prisoner.

The film has an interesting premise, but trying to cram six years of action into 90 minutes is beyond the ability of the director and writers. It becomes very episodic, starting with a decent amount of set-up, followed by what more or less amounts to a series of death scenes. The story is certainly tragic, but it feels like Cliff's Notes on celluloid. I'm going to try to find the book.

This was probably Stanley Myers's easiest film to score, since it only called for an opening and closing bit with only a couple of instruments. The lack of music throughout underscores the claustrophobic atmosphere of the "dungeon." The sound and picture quality of the DVD available from Netflix (in 2010) leave much to be desired. If you enjoy dark, depressing, hopeless stories, this should be in your top ten.