The Pirates of Blood River (1962)

A group of ruthless pirates attack a 17th Century Huguenot settlement on the Isle of Devon in search of treasure and will stop at nothing to obtain it.

Director:

John Gilling

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster (from a story by), John Hunter (screenplay),

Stars:

Kerwin Mathews, Glenn Corbett, Christopher Lee

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kerwin Mathews	...	Jonathon Standing
Glenn Corbett	...	Henry
Christopher Lee	...	Captain LaRoche
Peter Arne	...	Hench, a pirate
Marla Landi	...	Bess Standing
Oliver Reed	...	Brocaire, a pirate
Andrew Keir	...	Jason Standing
Michael Ripper	...	Mack, a pirate
David Lodge	...	Smith
Dennis Waterman	...	Timothy Blackthorne
Jack Stewart	...	Godfrey Mason
Lorraine Clewes	...	Martha Blackthorne
Jerold Wells	...	Penal Colony Master

Storyline

In a village of Huguenot refugees, Jonathon Standing is exiled by his father to a nearby penal colony for his improper relationship with a married woman. This penal colony is then invaded by pirates who force Jonathan to lead them back to his village, convinced that it contains a great treasure.

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Plot Keywords:

pirate | treasure | penal colony | 17th century | revenge | 

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Taglines:

Ransacking a lost tropic island... for a fabulous idol of gold!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aima sto kokkino potami

Filming Locations:

Black Park Lake, Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The penal colony where Jonathon Standing (Kerwin Mathews) was sent to was also the Callow Hill Location. The scene of his escape and his attempted killing by two men was shot in one of the swamps at Burnham Beeches. Other scenes of the pirates wading through the swamp and walking in wooded areas was a combination of Burnham Beeches and Black Park.

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Goofs

In the scene where Matthews and another convict overturn a wagonful of rocks on their pursuers, the position of the wagon changes after the cutback.

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Quotes

Jonathon Standing: [to the elders] I am not guilty. The cause of Maggie's death... was fear. Fear of her brutal husband. Yes, fear is your weapon, and it's a dangerous weapon because one day it will recoil on your heads.

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Connections

Referenced in Matinee (1993)

User Reviews

Hammer the pirates

I taped Pirates of Blood River off TCM only because it showed just before Morgan the Pirate w/ Steve Reeves, which I'd seen as a boy, but my appetite was whetted when the first credit indicated it was a Hammer Film. For post-boomers' information, Hammer was a unique studio from the late 50s through the 60s. The studio's most characteristic films were in the horror genre. The plots of these films featured stereotypical characters, dubious motivations, and exploitative outcomes. But the studio had a distinctive "house style" that featured lush colors, accomplished acting, and, for those Anglophilic times (Beatles, Stones, 007), nubile Brit babes displaying rosy cleavage. Sometimes the parts all clicked. A deep memory is of being home from college in NC around 1970 and walking with friends through the cold to a surviving downtown theater to see "Dracula Has Risen From the Grave." We expected a campy hoot-film but ended up marveling at its quality--haven't seen it since.

Point: given the convenience of a fast-forward button, I'll take a chance on any Hammer Film. Pirates of Blood River is outside Hammer's standard horror genre, but the very opening has the studio's look even if it's set on a lush island rather than in a Gothic castle. The color is rich, and the Maggie character with whom Kerwin Matthews dallies displays the overripe buxomness that was among the studio's signatures. Her escape from her angry husband and other Huguenot elders into a body of water where she is eaten by piranhas earns the film's "Blood River" title.

After that opening, it's not much of a pirate film or a Hammer film, and the Huguenot historical framework remains undeveloped. A painted-in pirate ship appears in one gorgeous landscape shot, but otherwise the pirates grow peckish as they attack a village on foot and carry a golden statue of a Huguenot leader back to the river. Christopher Lee and Oliver Reed, who would later play Dracula, Mummy, and Werewolf in other Hammer Films, embellish their characters with stylish physicality, but most of the other pirates are only irritating or bland beyond their standard costumes. The islanders stage an impressive ambush or two, but overall it's a low-budget, underwritten adventure that feels longer than its 87 minutes. What seems most impressive or charming--and maybe a minor testament to the 50s-60s in economic history--is that such a film could ever be made at all; unimaginable today.