Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

A Nazi war criminal on the run after the end of World War II, assumes an Australian scientist's identity and sets up shop in England where he develops germ warfare experiments which he and his masters hope will return the Nazi regime to prominence. His plans are complicated though when he develops feelings for his pretty lab assistant.This British dramatic thriller was made very close to the end of the war, so its story revolving around an ex concentration camp commander who was notorious for carrying out sadistic experiments on inmates is one which must have been touching on a grim subject which was extremely recent at the time. The Nazi is played by Mervyn Johns who was familiar to me from the brilliant Ealing anthology horror film Dead of Night (1945) and he is once again very good in a character who is not presented as one dimensionally evil as you might expect. His feelings for his lab assistant bring out the humanity within him, which most probably is his downfall ultimately too. The story perhaps could have had more suspense in it and it is also maybe slightly over-long but I thought it was definitely an interesting one nevertheless. It ends on a blackly ironic ending, which finished things off on an appropriate note.

I have to admit that one of my greatest cinematic guilty pleasures is the horror of the Nazi film (unfortunately, certain political trends recently in my neighbour to the south, the United States, make me unfortunately feel that similar ways of thinking have yet to be eradicated). Thankfully, being born as I was in the late 60's, I didn't have to experience such terror firsthand, but it's fascinating to see, through the wonders of cinema, examples of that fascist type of thinking, carried out to its fruition (some of my favourites in this area are quite controversial films, like 'Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom', 'The Night Porter' and 'Dr. Strangelove'). At least in my estimation, I have no idea how I would have acted in either polarity of the situation: either being a German and told to act accordingly, or being a concentration camp inmate. I am simply thankful I didn't have to experience either horrific scenario.This film was an unexpected pleasure. Though no star power is behind it, or budget to speak of, and though there is suspense and a good script, it could have been a lot better handled, both in terms of direction and cinematography (it has 'British 40's B-picture' written all over it, while it's crying out for a capable helmer such as Sir Carol Reed, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, or The Archers, each of which would have made a minor masterpiece out of it). I am very thankful that it was included in my Mill Creek 'Nightmare Worlds' 50-film pack, or honestly I would have never heard of it. Now my main ambition is to get all of their sets, and see what other cinematic hidden treasures I can discover!

"A Nazi scientist escapes Germany prior to its surrender at the end of World War II and sets up a lab in England using the identity of an Australian scientist he murdered. Hoping to complete his germ-warfare experiment, in the hopes of its use by Nazis in a future war, the scientist's agenda becomes complicated when he falls in love with his lab assistant," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Mervyn Johns is terrific, deftly playing "Dr. Bruckner", who poses as "Dr. Anderson", to kill and take the place of "Dr. Forrester". Still, Paul L. Stein's "Counterblast" is unnecessarily slow moving, and simply refuses to get mileage out of suspenseful situations. For starters, the film should have begun with Mr. Johns' murder of "Dr. Forrester". Previous events are easily filled in during subsequent scenes; and, an air of mystery would be added to the unfolding events.

A good solid piece of British movie making of its period. No classic but watchable. In the hands of a director like Hitchcock, and there are some very Hitchcockian themes here, this material would have made a minor classic. The former Concentration camp doctor's comeuppance (he is gassed in the hold of a ship being fumigated) is wonderfully ironic.The DVD watched was part of a 50 movie boxset from Mill Creek called Nightmare Worlds and the transfer is far from good. The image was fuzzy and broke up from time to time towards the end, and, somehow, presumably to save space on the disc, the frame had been cropped on all four sides. This was especially apparent during the opening credits and in a scene on a train where the evil Doctor and a padre are seated facing each other in a carriage having a conversation - all we see is their noses peeping out from the sides of the frame.