The Pirates of Blood River (1962)
Ahoy, mateys.....and all Hammer films enthusiasts. Time to set sail for some tropical isle where the villagers might be hidin' a heap 'o gold....but not for long, they don't.
And look who's charge of this scurvy, scurrilous band of brigands.....a glowering eye-patched Christopher Lee as the taciturn French pirate Larouche. He's Dracula with a sword and pistol...hardly speaking but you know he means business.
Tireless Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster knew the studio had no money whatsoever for a seagoing adventure, so his pirates spend the entire film on land. In this case a long lost island of Protestant settlers, led by a stern religious zealot (Andrew Keir) who just banished his son (Harryhausen monster fighter Kerwin Matthews) to a brutal penal colony for having an adulterous lover. (Poor sweetie gets gobbled up by the resident river piranhas early on....)
Escaping the colony, Matthews comes upon Lee and his vicious crew, with Lee promising he'll restore justice to Matthew's community if his men can camp out on the island.
Foolish, foolish boy, that Kerwin. Lee and the 'arrrr' gang immediately commence to ravishing the women, shooting and stabbing the men and demanding Keir give up the hidden gold. Bloody battles ensue with Matthews joining forces with another island stalwart played by Glenn Corbett (of "The Crimson Kimono" and "Route 66").
While Lee never breaks his cool, cold demeanor, his Hammer-ized British pirates have themselves a terrific old time, chewing up the scenery and brawling with each other. You can spot a seething Oliver Reed and Hammer regular Michael Ripper, laughing uproariously as Lee's loyal (up to a point) First Mate. Ripper no doubt loved getting way more screen time here than he ever did playing grumpy innkeepers in the Dracula films.
Swordfights and gunplay rage on and on until it all ends as you knew it would, with those pond piranhas making a comeback to get in the final word. Director John Gilling moves things along fast enough so you'll hardly notice that this tropical island looks more like Sherwood Forest.
And let's tip our hats to this dedicated cast, who spent an entire scene wading through a filthy polluted pond that the film's stuntmen refused to set a toe in. (Lee and Reed suffered medical issues and Ripper almost drowned....) Such is the lot of actors toiling in the low budget trenches.....they're lucky Hammer didn't make them go out and buy their own swords....
Hammer completists won't want to miss catching this one at least once. And anyone (like us) who's always been a sucker for pirate movies......well, you could do a lot worse than this one.
2 & 1/2 stars (**1/2)
