Street Date: June 10

Official Synopsis:
Hammer Was not Just Horror. The legendary British studio is justly revered for its classic horror movies, but they actually made all kinds of pictures, and this first Sony collection of their best films presents four pulse-pounding adventures – all new to DVD – three of them starring Hammer icon Christopher Lee.  He’s at his snarling best as blood-thirsty buccaneers in the rousing swashbucklers The Pirates of Blood River and The Devil-Ship Pirates.  Then he warms up for his famed Fu Manchu series by playing an evil Chinese crime lord in The Terror of the Tongs.  Rounding out the set is the rarely-seen The Stranglers of Bombay, based on the chilling true story of how the British attempted to vanquish the Thuggees, the notorious death cult that terrorized India for centuries.  So strap yourself in for the most rip-snorting group of movies since Errol Flynn laid down his sword!

Our Take:
And the award for “Most Senseless DVD Cover Art” goes to…Icons of Adventure! 

For some odd reason Sony decided not to market this excellent bargain four-film collection as one would expect them to; emphasizing that these are Hammer Productions and that three of the films star Christopher Lee.  Someone in the marketing department must have caught on late as a sticker was affixed to the shrinkwrap noting Christopher Lee’s involvement in the three of the films.  Otherwise, unless you happen to know these films by name, Hammer fans may overlook this.

The four films come two to a disc with The Pirates of Blood River and The Devil-Ship Pirates on the Disc 1 and The Terror of the Tongs and The Stranglers of Bombay on Disc 2.  The second disc is far stronger than the first, whose swashbuckling content is dreadfully dull.  The Pirates of Blood River, which stars Christopher Lee, is based on an interesting premise, at least.  Christopher Lee is the Captain of a Spanish war ship that lands on a British countryside and convinces the people that Spain has defeated England.  As interesting as the general story outline is, the film’s action fails to deliver.  The Devil-Ship Pirates is simply a picture about a village defending itself against a pirate invasion.  Disc 1 is rife with throwaway entertainment.

Disc 2, on the other hand, is thoroughly impressive.  The Terror of the Tongs is a gripping organized crime thriller that features some of the greatest make-up work I have seen.  Christopher Lee looks quite convincing as a Chinese crime lord and plays the part splendidly.  The film has some overt Chinese stereotyping, but looking past that it’s not only a fun film, but excellently made.  Such filmmakers as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese were all fans of Hammer films and it is easy to trace the influence.   This set, especially Disc 2 and its strong genre leanings, show an almost direct correlation to Lucas and Spielberg’s collaboration on the Indiana Jones series.  In The Terror of the Tongs there are two scenes featuring a man with an axe who screams while drawing the axe and proceeds towards his target.  In both instances the target, remaining calm, shoots the axe wielding man from a distance.  This immediately reminded me of the famous marketplace shooting in Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The Stranglers of Bombay is the most terrifying film in the set and the lone film not to feature Christopher Lee.  It’s a simple thriller about a man trying to rid India of the Thuggees.  The Thuggee cult was most famously depicted in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, perhaps as another Lucas-Spielberg allusion to Hammer films.  

Each film in the set was remastered in high definition, and it shows as the picture and sound quality are noticeably excellent.  The set contains the following special features:

* Commentaries - On all four films featuring Jimmy Sangster, David Z. Goodman, Marcus Hearns, Don Mingaye, and Chris Barnes.

* The Merry Mutineers – A classic color cartoon with Scrappy and many Hollywood caricatures.

* Serial - Chapter One of the 1953 serial The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd.

* Hot Paprika – A rare two-reel comedy starring Andy Clyde.

* Trailers - Original theatrical trailers for all four features.          

Icons of Adventure could have been marketed better, but Sony should nevertheless be applauded for bringing these four never-before-released Hammer productions out on DVD with such great care.

RECOMMENDED!

Overall Picture:
Movies (average): B-
DVD: B+

- Matthew Orlando
Staff Writer