The Pirates of Blood River is a 1962 British swashbuckler film directed by John Gilling and starring Kerwin Mathews, Glenn Corbett, Christopher Lee and Oliver Reed.{{Cite web |title=The Pirates of Blood River |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150028272 |access-date=8 February 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}

Plot

While in a penal colony, Huguenot Jonathan Standing is captured by pirates led by Captain LaRoche who force him to lead them back to his home village to retrieve a treasure supposedly hidden there.

Cast

Kerwin Mathews as Jonathan Standing
Glenn Corbett as Henry
Christopher Lee as Captain LaRoche
Peter Arne as Hench, a pirate
Marla Landi as Bess Standing
Desmond Llewelyn as Tom Blackthorne
Oliver Reed as Brocaire, a pirate
Andrew Keir as Jason Standing
Michael Ripper as Mack, a pirate
David Lodge as Smith
Dennis Waterman as Timothy Blackthorne
Jack Stewart as Godfrey Mason
Marie Devereux as Maggie
Lorraine Clewes as Martha Blackthorne
Jerold Wells as Penal Colony master
Diane Aubrey as Maggie (uncredited)

Production

The film was produced at Bray Studios, Berkshire. Location shooting took place at Blackpark Lake, Black Park Country Park, Black Park Road, Wexham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK (Blood River); Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire, England, UK (jungle); Callow Hill Sandpit, Virginia Water, Surrey, England, UK (penal colony).{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Reception

= Box office =

The film was issued on a double bill with Mysterious Island (1961), Britain's biggest grossing double bill of the year.Marcus Hearn, The Hammer Vault, Titan Books, 2011 p55 According to Films and Filming it was the tenth most popular movie in Britain for the year ended 31 October 1962.British films are tops at box office Author: Douglas Marlborough Date: Monday, Dec. 10, 1962 Publication: Daily Mail p 3

= Critical =

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Stodgy, two-dimensional costume piece. Blood flows freely against colourful locations, but most schoolboys are likely to wish that the pirates had stayed out at sea."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1962 |title=The Pirates of Blood River |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305831287 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=29 |issue=336 |pages=83 |id={{ProQuest|1305831287}} |via=ProQuest}}

Leslie Halliwell said: "Land-locked blood and thunder for tough schoolboys"{{Cite book |last=Halliwell |first=Leslie |title=Halliwell's Film Guide |publisher=Paladin |year=1989 |isbn=0586088946 |edition=7th |location=London |pages=800}}

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "This Hammer swashbuckler is a colourful, action-packed adventure. ... There are wenches and scurvy knaves galore, but only tantalising vestiges of the X-rated bloodbath intended, as the film was reduced to U certificate derring-do for the school holidays after long sessions at the censor's office"{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=Immediate Media Company |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=722}}