Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Icons of Adventure Collection (The Pirates of Blood River / The Devil-Ship Pirates / The Stranglers of Bombay / The Terror of the Tongs)



NICE RELEASE OF EXCEEDINGLY RARE HAMMERS
Hammer Studios is known for its particular brand of horror films, but in the early sixties they also ventured into the realm of adventure. Four of those titles are included here. PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER is a swashbuckling potboiler, with Christopher Lee as a one-eyed pirate, and Sinbad's Kerwin Matthews as the persecuted hero who saves the town that rejected him from treasure seeking mauraders.

DEVIL-SHIPS PIRATES has a clever premise, a Spanish privateer that sailed with the Armada runs ashore near a small and remote British town and terrorizes the populace, tricking the hapless villagers into believing (at least for a while) that the Armada defeated the British navy and the rest of England is now occupied by the victorious Spaniards. This clever IT HAPPENED HERE touch from screenwriter Jimmy Sangster makes DEVIL-SHIP special, as does Christopher Lee's performance as the absolute nastiest villian he's ever played in his long and distinguished career.

Two dark...

Hammer films long awaited titles released on DVD!
Any fan of Hammer films and/or Christopher Lee cannot wait to snatch up this rare item. Be aware casual Hammer Film fans these are not Horror films but action/adventure. Many familiar Hammer actors and directors. So if you are a completist of the Golden Age of Hammer like myself,snatch up this DVD collection.

Glad to see "The Stranglers" on DVD finally!
I wanted to specifically point out my enthisiasm for "The Stranglers of Bombay". I've been trying to acquire this great 1960 Hammer film for a long time and, finally, it's now available!

This movie is shot in black-and-white and runs for 80 minutes. As I mentioned, this is a Hammer Studios film. It was directed by Terrence Fisher and conveys a sort of story about the Thuggees of India, a murderous religious cult.

Guy Rolfe plays Captain Harry Lewis, a seasoned British officer who trys to persuade the East India Company to investigate a situation where people have disappeared -- he is ignored. Lewis is replaced by an incompetent for all his troubles so he investigates the matter on his own. George Pastell plays the role of the High Priest of Kali.

The big picture is that this is yet another story of British mis-management of one of its colonies, in this case, India.

This is a very rare film and, for this movie alone, this movie set is worth...

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