Perfectly adorable

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Hammer Studios was well known for the Gothic styled horror films. But they made forays into other genres as well including film noir, comedy and this gem, an actual pirate film. While the time period might be the same as those Gothic films this movie is far from those with the exception of a few actors who seemed to be in all their movies. What matters is the fact that it ends up being an enjoyable one to watch.On a small island in the Caribbean called Devon a group of Huguenots has made a home for themselves. While the group sought religious freedom here things have changed with men in power abusing their positions. The man in charge is Jason Standing (Andrew Keir), a religious zealot who finds himself forced to condemn his son Jonathan (Kerwin Matthews) to 15 years in a labor camp. Jonathan was having an affair with the wife of one of the town leaders, a woman who we watch eaten by piranhas as she fleas capture from Jason and his men.Jonathan is taken away to the work camp but eventually escapes months later only to fall into the hands of a band of cutthroat pirates led by Capt. LaRoche (Christopher Lee). Decked out in all black with a lame arm and the perfect pirate eyepatch, LaRoche decides to put Jonathan to good use. He wants him to escort him back to the settlement with two goals in mind. One is to use the settlement as a safe haven to rest in and the other is that he believes there is a treasure hidden there.The settlers and the pirates come into conflict with one another, a battle follows and eventually the pirates take over the town. Demanding to know where the treasure is Jason tells them there is none. Unwilling to accept that LaRoche tells him he will hang two people per day until he reveals where it is.An escaped Jonathan frees several of the men in town and gets help from his sister's boyfriend Henry (Glenn Corbett). Is there a secret treasure on the island? Does Jason know where it is? And will the pirates kill everyone on the island to find a treasure no one is certain exist? The movie offers plenty of action, plenty of swordplay and enough pirate clichés to fill several movies. What is most amazing is the fact that this pirate movie never goes to sea or involves their ship! One scene shows the ship in the harbor and one segment takes place in the Capt. LaRoche's quarters. Other than that it's all on land! Made in 1962 these movies were still a staple at the time, a genre which demanded little reality and plenty of action. This film did the genre well. The pirates are indeed scurvy dogs dress in tattered clothing, drinking to excess and on the prowl for any women they can find. The crew turns out to be a potentially mutinous group and LaRoche has his hands full with them as well as the settlers.All involved do a great job in the acting department. It was nice to see Lee play something other than Dracula and his LaRoche comes with the aforementioned accoutrements of a pirate along with a decent French accent. Matthews was still making sword play films at the time and this is just another in the notch on his belt. Corbett is wasted here but makes the most of his time on screen. In a small role and just 6 years before his breakout performance in OLIVER as Bill Sykes is Oliver Reed playing woman hungry Brocaire. My favorite though is Michael Ripper as one of the most vocal of the pirates. Ripper was a regular in nearly all Hammer movies that I can recall growing up.Having never seen the film or even heard of it I found it to be a treat. Twilight Time is presenting it in a beautiful presentation with the cleanest possible widescreen offering found for the film. Extras include an isolated music and effects track, an audio commentary track with writer Jimmy Sangster, art director Don Mingaye and film historian Marcus Hearn and the original theatrical trailer. As with all Twilight Time releases this one is limited to just 3,000 copies so if interested order yours today.

John Gilling directed this pirate adventure that stars Kerwin Mathews as Jonathan Standing, an inhabitant of a 17th century Huegenot village where he was exiled by his father for adultery to a penal colony. While there, pirates led by Captain LaRoche(played by Christopher Lee) kidnap him and force him to lead them back to the village, because the pirates want a rumored buried treasure that their founding fathers left behind, and LaRoche will stop at nothing to find it, not even murder. Marginal Hammer studios film certainly has a colorful title that sums up the plot, and good production values and acting, but story is strangely unappealing and unmemorable, despite an interesting "landlocked pirates" premise.

Pirates of Blood River is directed by John Gilling and written by Jimmy Sangster. It stars Christopher Lee, Kerwin Matthews, Glenn Corbett, Michael Ripper, Andrew Keir, Oliver Reed, Marla Landi and Peter Arne. Music is by Gary Hughes and cinematography by Arthur Grant.When Huguenot Jonathan Standish (Matthews) is found guilty of adultery, he is banished from the village and sent to serve hard labour at the penal colony. However, managing to escape, Jonathan is captured by pirates led by Captain LaRoche (Lee) and forced to lead the pirates back to his home village, where, LaRoche is convinced valuable treasure is hidden.One of Hammer Film Productions pirate ventures, Pirates of Blood River is landlocked but still a whole bunch of piratical fun. Sangster's screenplay dangles interesting carrots that aren't fully unearthed, such as the religious fervour holding the Huguenot village in its grip, and questions of main character's pasts are left unanswered, but cast are very spirited and Gilling, in spite of being brought in late and being a pain in the ass, crafts a fast paced picture of excitement and tension. The small budget and absence of a ship and seafaring malarkey is barely noticed, though this place of plunder doesn't look much like a tropical island. There's good action, especially for the "big" battle at the finale, while it's good to see low cost effects, such as a piranha attack simulated by ripples on the water, actually be very effective for dramatic purpose. Blindfold duelling, too, always a bonus.Plenty of beards, jolly roger speak, bodily abuse and guerrilla warfare, enough in fact to lift it above its obvious flaws. 7/10

Part of Hammer Films' expansion into genres other than horror, this swashbuckler is unique and offbeat, yet entertaining and adventuresome. Matthews plays the son of a town elder on a remote island, populated by Huguenots, whose involvement with a married woman results in his being sent to a harsh penal colony. Following a narrow escape, he is rescued by a band of pirates led by black-clad, eye patch-wearing Lee, who want him to lead them to his settlement, ostensibly to use as a home base, but in reality to pillage for alleged treasure. When the pirates have barely made it to the outskirts of town before killing one person and trying to rape two others, Matthews determines how evil they are (what? Pirates evil??) and rejoins his townspeople in an effort to ward them off. The resultant skirmish and the relentless quest for the treasure, which the townspeople deny even exists, lead to bloodshed and destruction. Matthews, one of the cinema's unsung lookers and an underrated actor, gives a very earnest and skillful performance. He's put through his paces with regards to both grime and action sequences. Lee is suave and dangerous, providing just the type of villain a piece like this needs. Corbett, an appealing but generally inexpressive actor with a limited voice, is quite out of place here with his neatly parted, contemporary hair and anachronistic persona. Likewise, Landi, as Matthews' sister and Corbett's love interest, adds precious little to the film. Other cast members include Keir, as Matthews' stern, unyielding father (the actors were the same age, though it doesn't show!), Ripper, as Lee's shiftless, right hand man and Arne and Reed as dueling pirates. Fans of classic 007 films will briefly spot Llewelyn as a farmer. Waterman, who plays a young boy in a tree, grew up to become a noted actor and singer in the U.K. Hampered by budgetary restrictions that forbade the use of a ship or of filming at sea, the screenwriter more than made up for this by including many action scenes. The film clips along at a brisk pace, even with the "Ben-Hur"-esque imprisonment scenes, and features some truly lush foliage with more shades of green than could be counted. Cited by many as playing much like a western, the film does indeed come off that way, which ought to make it pretty accessible to fans of that genre. The title does fit the film, as is revealed at least twice. Matthews, for some reason, keeps his shirt on throughout the movie, though Arne barely has his on at all, adding some welcome beefcake to the proceedings. Lee and Reed would square off a little over a decade later in "The Three Musketeers" with Lee, once again, sporting an eye patch.