To hell from the back door

Three American soldiers - Craig (Jimmy Rogers), Barnett (Jack Nicholson) and Jersey (John Hackett) land on the Filipino sharp Luzon in December 1944, a few weeks before the start of the liberation operation . They should meet with the Filipino partisan Miguel, his liaison officer, who will transmit information about the size and coordinates of the Japanese army. It turns out that Miguel is killed, and the scouts have to deal with Paco, the commander of the partisan detachment. Paco is distrustful of the Americans and is in no hurry to cooperate with them - his wife and child died during the American bombing.

Meanwhile, the Japanese captain (Joe Sison), the commander of the garrison in the nearest town, learns about the appearance of the Americans and tells the partisans to extradite them, promising in case of refusal to kill the Filipino children taken hostage. Using the element of surprise, the partisans, together with the Americans, interrupt the entire garrison and free the hostages. The interrogation of the captured captain and private is unsuccessful, and the partisans shoot them despite the protest of the Americans.

After some time, partisans and Americans meet in the jungle a small detachment of bandits, whose leader, Ramundo (Johnny Monteiro), agrees to transmit information about the movements of the Japanese in exchange for a radio station that he expects to profitably sell. The Americans agree on the basis of preliminary verification of information (Paco and Jersey are sent to intelligence). Ramundo, unhappy with the delay, damages the radio station and leaves with his squad.

The need to urgently transmit reconnaissance data forces the detachment to look for another transmitter. Paco reports on a nearby Japanese shortwave radio station, and a decision is made to capture the next night. The Americans manage to quietly remove the sentries, enter the building and begin the transfer, but one of the Japanese soldiers notices them and raises an alarm. During the ensuing skirmish, Barnett dies, who managed to send a radiogram. To allow Craig and Jersey to get out, Paco, with his squad, decides to distract the Japanese.

Jersey and Craig carry Barnett's body, intending to bury him by the river. From Mary (Annabelle Huggins), Paco's lover, they learn that Paco died along with most of the partisan detachment.

After filming, Monte Hellman fell ill and had to spend three weeks in the hospital. Therefore, the initial version of the installation was performed by Feli Cristonomo . He did not arrange Hellman so much that he decided to remount the film. Due to lack of time (he had to start filming Flight to Rage , he had to do this at night. ^{[1] [2]}

The company " 20th Century Fox " were unhappy with the dark ending of the film, so at the end a few minutes of military newsreel were added, and it was in this form that "Hell from the back door" went to the American film distribution. ^{[3] [4]}

• Brad Stevens. Monte Hellman: His Life and Films = Monte Hellman: His Life and Films. - McFarland, 2003 .-- 210 p. - ISBN 0-7864-1434-0 .

• Alexander Horwath, Thomas Elsaesser, Noel King. The Last Great American Picture Show: New Hollywood Cinema in the 1970s . - Amsterdam University Press, 2004 .-- 391 p. - ISBN 9053566317 .

• Stanislav Bityutsky. Philippine adventure (neopr.) . Session (2013). Date of treatment November 8, 2015.

• Patrick McGilligan Jack's Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson . - WW Norton & Company, 1996. - 480 p. - ISBN 0393248410 .

• " To Hell From the Back Door ” on the Internet Movie Database  
• “Back to Hell” on the Rotten Tomatoes website