The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Don Sharp

Writer:

Jimmy Sangster (writer)

Release Date:

May 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Thriller

Plot:

A pirate ship, fighting in 1588 on the side of the Spanish Armada, suffers damage and must put into a village on the British coast for repairs...

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Shirtless Male Bondage | Flogging | Whipping | Independent Film

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Captain Robeles
Barry Warren	...	Don Manuel Rodriguez de Savilla
John Cairney	...	Harry
Suzan Farmer	...	Angela Smeeton
Michael Ripper	...	Pepe, a pirate
Duncan Lamont	...	The Bosun
Ernest Clark	...	Sir Basil Smeeton
Natasha Pyne	...	Jane, Harry's sister
Philip Latham	...	Miller
Harry Locke	...	Bragg
Charles Houston	...	Pirate
Andrew Keir	...	Tom, Harry's father
Leonard Fenton	...	Pirate
Jack Rodney	...	Mandrake
Michael Newport	...	'Smiler', a boy

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The naval battle depicted in the opening credits sequence, purported to be a battle involving the Spanish Armada in 1588, and which is obviously stock footage from some other film, includes wooden naval vessels and, more glaringly, naval attire from a much later period, late-18th Century at least.

What it lacks in historical accuracy, it makes up in entertainment value.

One of Hammer Studios forays away from the horror genre, the film still has the unmistakable Hammer stamp much in evidence.

Story concerns a fighting ship from the Spanish Armada, which after the defeat takes refuge on a remote stretch of English coastline for repairs. The crew, headed by Christopher Lee, convince the locals that the Spanish were victorious and blockade their village.

Many aspects of Hammers historical horror films are present - the nervous, subdued villagers, the local landowner who gives in to the outside forces, the buxom village wench to be plundered, the young headstrong villager who organises resistance etc. With Lee playing the evil force, the films middle is similar in tone to many a Hammer Dracula film - the pirate ship taking the place of the usual castle, but the effect and implications it has are the same.

As a swashbuckler, 'The Devil-Ship Pirates' doesn't really offer anything of lasting interest - for Hammer fans though there is much to enjoy, with production values above average, and a storyline which satisfies all requirements.

Nice to see Michael Ripper in a surprisingly large role - he must have as many lines in this as every other Hammer film he was in put together.