Many of Hammer’s films had their origins in other mediums – at first radio, then television. This proved to be a successful formula for them throughout their existence – indeed, among the last hits of the company were big screen versions of Man About the House and On the Buses. Anyway in the early 60s they enjoyed success with an adaptation of the Robin Hood series, Sword of Sherwood Forest. It prompted a swashbuckler series from the studio, including this, Devil Ship Pirates, Night Creatures, The Scarlet Blade, A Challenge for Robin Hood and The Brigand of Kandahar (although the latter could also be said to fall into their “Imperial adventure” cycle, which included The Stranglers of Bombay, The Terror of the Tongs and She).
Christopher Lee was born to play a pirate and he looks terrific here as one, dressed in black and an eye patch, glowering into the camera. Unfortunately the actual lead is bland Kerwin Matthews, who is meant to be a Hugenought; he’s tried for having an affair with a married woman (who has been eaten by a group of piranhas – blood river!) and sent to gaol, but escapes, falls in with pirates who hear about his homeland (on an island in the Caribbean) and think there is treasure there and set about trying to capture it. That’s quite a complex story – a hero being falsely imprisoned by his own community, which was originally set up to celebrate religious freedom but turned oppressive, then setting pirates on them, then defending it.
The action is very landlocked for a pirate movie but there’s plenty of it – not just swordfights, but shoot outs, sieges, and ambushes. While Matthews and some of the other leads have irritating American accents (matched with their bland acting), the support cast is strong – it includes Oliver Reed, Michael Ripper and Andrew Keir (plus a 12 year old Denis Waterman!). Bright, colourful and for the most part an enjoyable pirate movie.
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