AllMovie

In this human drama, five passengers are held in isolation on a remote island in New Zealand to find out if any are carrying the cholera bacteria. They rebel and escape, unintentionally heading into the mountains. Among them are Eric (Tom Brennan) an American businessman, Keith (Roy Billing) a New Zealander, and Thomas (Ctibor Turba) a man from central Europe. After several days, the group is rescued by the somewhat introverted Victor (Nigel Davenport) a geologist studying volcanoes, a photographer, and a woman writer who is doing a book on Victor. The drama heads into a series of potential eruptions once it is revealed that Eric is in the weapons business, and Turba is a hired assassin with Eric as his target. Turba's animosity grows as he is cheated out of his intended victim and he is goaded beyond endurance by another member of the group. The various actors in this drama manage to evoke a range of depth in their characters that indicate there are several kinds of "strata" involved in this story.