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(John Gilling, 1962, 87 mins) Release date: 22 July 2024 Standard Edition Blu-ray Kerwin Mathews (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad), Glenn Corbett (The Crimson Kimono), and Christopher Lee (The Face of Fu Manchu) star in Hammer’s adventure classic, The Pirates of Blood River. Imprisoned in a penal colony, Jonathan Standing (Mathews) is kidnapped by pirates, led by Captain LaRoche (Lee), and forced to take them to his village in order to retrieve the priceless treasure they believe to be buried there. Directed by John Gilling (The Shadow of the Cat), written by Jimmy Sangster (Taste of Fear), and featuring early performances from Oliver Reed (The Triple Echo) and Dennis Waterman (The Sweeney), The Pirates of Blood River is a thrilling swashbuckling action film. INDICATOR STANDARD EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES High Definition remaster Original mono audio Audio commentary with screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, art director Don Mingaye, and Hammer historian Marcus Hearn (2008) Hammer’s Women: Marla Landi (2020, 12 mins): profile of The Pirates of Blood River actor by writer and film historian Kat Ellinger Stephen Laws Introduces ‘The Pirates of Blood River’ (2020, 12 mins): appreciation by the acclaimed horror author Andrew Keir at the Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films (1993, 21 mins): archival video recording of the acclaimed actor in conversation with Stephen Laws Did I Write That? (2020, 43 mins): Jonathan Rigby, author of English Gothic, provides a personal account of the career of screenwriter Jimmy Sangster Motifs of the Cheerful Heart (2020, 9 mins): appreciation of Gary Hughes’ score by David Huckvale, author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde Yes, We Have No Piranhas (2020, 11 mins): video essay on the censorship history of The Pirates of Blood River Original theatrical trailer Brian Trenchard-Smith trailer commentary (2013, 3 mins): short critical appreciation Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing #PHISE184B BBFC cert: 12 REGION B EAN: 5060697924657
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The Pirates of Blood River (1962)
87 min
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.