Spikeopath Or The Eagle Has Landed...Out of Hammer Film Productions, The Devil-Ship Pirates is directed by Don Sharp and written by Jimmy Sangster. Filmed in Eastman Colour and Megascope, it stars Christopher Lee, John Cairney, Barry Warren, Suzanne Farmer, Natasha Pyne, Andrew Keir, Philip Latham and Michael Ripper. Music is by Gary Hughes and cinematography by Michael Reed.July 1588. In the English Channel the British Fleet has been battling for two days against the mighty Spanish Armada.....Badly damaged, with half their crews killed, the ships of Spain battle their way up the Channel. And in the thickest part of the fighting is one of the smallest Spanish ships – the licensed privateer Diablo.OK, so it's practically a landlocked pirate film, with the water antics confined to the running a ground of the Diablo ship up some English estuary. Yet this should not detract from the good old swashbuckling fun available in this Hammer pirate adventure. Premise basically sees Christopher Lee's band of pirates take control of a remote English village by the sea, they achieve this by telling them that Spain has triumphed in the war and Blighty is under Spanish rule. With most of the village men out fighting the war, there are only a few English guys around and the village is mostly populated by ladies. Some of the village citizens are far from enamoured with the Spaniards being in control, others are a bit more compliant. Something's going to give if the truth will out.With sets used from The Scarlet Blade the previous year, production value is hardly high. But as is often the case with Hammer, you can't really tell as the film is vibrant in colour and costuming. Great cast assembled as well. Lee hardly stretches himself but is most enjoyable to watch swishing a blade and generally being a miserable tyrant. Around Lee are a roll call of stoic Hammer performers, with Ripper (getting a meatier role than usual), Keir, Cairney, Warren and Farmer leaving telling marks. The script slips in some cynicism via a couple of weasel village elders, and there's class distinction in here as well, while much heroic interest is garnered by having Cairney's resistance leader as being lame in one arm on account of a previous scuffle with the Spanish. A true hero!Much of the budget went on the construction of The Diablo ship. It was a ship that went down in Hammer folklore as a pain in the derrière. Such was the bad craftsmanship it often caused accidents, while it also capsized and cost the production a number of cameras and equipment. For the finale in the film the ship is seen ablaze, that's real, they gladly burnt it! But it's a great prop and is well used by Sharp. The director also handles his action sequences well enough, with three solid sword fights of note, one of which is played out in and around a marshy bog. But any expectation of Lee and co being Tyrone Power like will only lead to disappointment. Elsewhere, Reed's Eastman Colour photography is mostly rich and vibrant, though a bit lifeless around the water scenes and Hughes scores it plainly with standard Hammer strains.It has many flaws, obviously for a low budgeted Hammer yarn; for one thing the Spanish invaders are more British than the villagers! But this is still very good genre film making, not a dull moment to be had in what is a classic Sunday afternoon adventure. 7/10

MARIO GAUCI As I said in my review for THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER (1962), this is a virtual retread of the script for that film (just as THE TERROR OF THE TONGS [1961] had reworked the central premise of THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY [1960] – all four titles, incidentally, comprise Columbia's recent "Icons Of Adventure" DVD set)…or, perhaps, it was closer to what Jimmy Sangster had originally envisaged before John Gilling got to work on it! In any case, the two pirate films don't have just the plot in common – but many of the names associated with BLOOD RIVER resume their duties on DEVIL-SHIP, including composer Gary Hughes as well as several Hammer stalwarts (production designer Bernard Robinson, editor James Needs, not to mention co-stars Christopher Lee, Andrew Keir and Michael Ripper, all of whose characters are practically identical!). This doesn't mean that the film is a cheap rip-off of the earlier effort: it can stand well enough on its own merits, and there are even those who prefer DEVIL-SHIP to BLOOD RIVER; as ever, the company managed to give the whole a semblance of expensive production values when it was typically done on a low-budget.The rest of the cast is generally effective, if not quite as satisfactory as that of BLOOD RIVER – even so, characterization is more fleshed-out this time around: John Cairney does alright by the hero (who, unusually, is a cripple); Suzan Farmer is a lovely heroine (though she gets little to do – but, then, neither did Marla Landi – and in her case, it's Lee who leers at the girl rather than his underlings); Duncan Lamont is imposing as Lee's right-hand man, but his role never really amounts to much; Keir and Ripper were both better served by each's first stab at their respective roles (Ripper, in particular, is here merely to supply the obligatory comic relief). However, we do get a couple of interesting 'new' characters: Farmer's aristocratic father (Ernest Clark) is a sycophant, while Barry Warren – a Spaniard officer detailed with an outfit of pirates-turned-soldiers is an outsider amidst their ranks and, on several occasions, lends a helping hand to the locals in order to defeat them! By the way, the narrative deals with the aftermath of the Spanish Armada's defeat by the British in the late 16th century; a stray vessel, the "Diablo" (hence the film's title), decides to rest furtively on British soil to effect the necessary repairs – however, when they're discovered, the Captain (Lee, of course) decides to risk passing themselves off as conquerors and, in no time at all, has the run of the village! The groveling Clark is all-too-willing in this respect (to the point of inviting Lee into his own house…but, on objecting to the latter's unsavory attentions towards his daughter, is summarily executed!), while Keir offers opposition – and pays the price for this affront with his life. His son, Cairney, naturally seeks revenge – which he attains, with Warren's help, by sabotaging the ship (Lee having ordered the artisans among the locals to carry out the required maintenance). Incidentally, unlike THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER, this does feature reasonable large-scale action with a sea-battle at the very start and a literally explosive climax. The ultimate assessment, then, is that THE DEVIL-SHIP PIRATES is a pretty good adventure flick…though, when it comes to director Sharp's Hammer output, I still feel he did his best work on the far more typical THE KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (1963) – which, if you ask me, is a genuine minor classic of Gothic Horror.

Jonathon Dabell A handsome but unremarkable pirate flick from the Hammer folks, The Devil-Ship Pirates is a fairly agreeable way to while away a rainy afternoon. It was also the first film in which Christopher Lee received top billing, so in some ways it has a kind of nostalgic importance in a study of his remarkable career. The story is quite intriguing, with a reasonably novel plot and some engaging characters, and director Don Sharp does a good job in putting most of the film's modest budget up there on the screen. I can't imagine anyone in the world claiming that this is their all-time favourite film, but I would be equally taken aback if someone were to call it the worst film ever made. It's just a solid, middle-of-the-road swashbuckler that's perfectly easy to watch and perfectly easy to forget.In 1588, the English defeat the Spanish Armada. A Spanish ship called the Diablo (Spanish for "devil", hence the title) is severely crippled in this unsuccessful invasion of the British Isles. The captain, a hissable villain named Robeles (Christopher Lee), puts his ship in for repairs in a lonely marshland area of South West England. Nearby is an isolated village, so detached from the rest of humanity that news is slow to reach the place. Robeles and his crew come up with the ingenious plan of seizing control of the village and hoodwinking the villagers into believing that the Armada has successfully invaded England. Initially the villagers have no cause to suspect the ruse, so they disconsolately give in to the Spanish demands. The Spaniards blockade the village to prevent the truth of the Armada's defeat from getting in while they ready their ship for the journey home, but gradually the villagers grow in pluck and soon a rebellion is on the cards, led by young aggressor Harry (John Cairney).The film is nicely photographed by Michael Reed, who manages to get across a stamp of quality that belies the film's meagre budget. Lee is very good as the sinister Spanish captain, looking truly intimidating in his costumes and bringing the same Dracula-like aura to the proceedings that he brought to his role in the Bram Stoker adaptations. The supporting cast of British stalwarts (how good is it to see Michael Ripper in such a prominent role??) provide engaging subsidiary characters that blend well with Lee's dominant presence. Like I've already said, the film is not particularly memorable or resonant, but that was never its aim anyway. This one is designed purely as entertainment - a simple blood-and-thunder pirate flick that can be enjoyed without pretensions - so within the context of its own aims it is a decent little film. You could do a lot worse.

Wilbur-10 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.