The Pirates of Blood River (1962)

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

Director:

John Gilling

Writers:

John Hunter (screenplay), John Gilling (screenplay)

Stars:

Kerwin Mathews, Glenn Corbett, Christopher Lee

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kerwin Mathews	...	Jonathon Standing
Glenn Corbett	...	Henry
Christopher Lee	...	Capt. 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:

psychotronic film | treasure | penal colony | pirate | 17th century | 

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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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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Piraten am Todesfluss

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (photographed in) (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kerwin Mathews (Jonathon Standing) played the son of Andrew Keir (Jason Standing) in the film. However, in real life, Mathews was three months older than Keir. They were born on January 8, 1926 and April 3, 1926 respectively.

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Goofs

When the pirates first arrive at the Huguenot fortified village, they survey the area from the high hills surrounding the village (0:36:06). However, when two of the pirates and Jonathon Standing start walking down the path toward the village, we notice the imposing hills surrounding the village have become mere cliffs, just a few feet high from the ground (0:36:09). Also, the cliffs are located much closer to the fortified village than the imposing high hills from the previous shot.

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Quotes

Jonathon Standing: This was going to e a peaceful mission!
Captain LaRoche: Indeed, it was. Unfortunately, human nature is apt to determine where peace ends and strife begins.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: At the end of the seventeenth century, men, women and children voyaged far from their mother country, seeking some haven from persecution.

They were known as the Huguenots. They found their haven and called it the Isle of Devon, and gave thanks to God for their deliverance.

But in years to come, the just laws of the Colony began to yield to greed and tyranny.

Happiness became an echo of the past. Freedom-just a memory.

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Connections

Referenced in Matinee (1993)

User Reviews

Routine Hammer swashbuckler suffering from budget limitations

THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER, a 1962 swashbuckler from Hammer Studios, is one of their lesser outings. You can put this down to Jimmy Sangster's lacklustre story and the lack of a decent budget, which substitutes British locations for the tropics and doesn't even include a pirate ship (apart from in an opening stock shot).

Of course, those of us who enjoy B-movie fare will no doubt enjoy the spectacle of some nondescript British woodland standing in for a more exotic locale - adding a single fern leaf into the shot and a couple of pot plants isn't doing much to fool the viewer! At least it helps take the viewer's mind off the plot, which after a decent first half hour soon descends into repetitive inanity.

Kerwin Matthews (THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD) stars as the youthful, romantic hero figure who's sent to a penal colony after falling foul of his puritan elders. He escapes just in time to help his villagers defend themselves from the clutches of a group of dastardly pirates looking for treasure.

One of the problems with the production is the lack of a sense of menace. The pirates just don't seem to be particularly villainous and the script resorts to them fighting between themselves to supply the action. It doesn't help any when all the best actors play the pirates either: Christopher Lee, Michael Ripper, Peter Arne and Oliver Reed are all having a ball, supplying endless energy, while the villagers (including Dennis Waterman as a kid and an extra-dour Andrew Keir) are a bore.

Still, it's as colourful as ever for a Hammer romp, and I'm predisposed towards this genre so that it held my attention from beginning to end. But with a little more imagination, it could have been a whole lot better and more like the above-average DEVIL-SHIP PIRATES that Hammer made a couple of years later.