(John Gilling, 1963)
Release date: 22 July 2024
Standard Edition Blu-ray
Lionel Jeffries (First Men in the Moon), Oliver Reed (The Damned), Jack Hedley (The Secret of Blood Island), and June Thorburn (The Three Worlds of Gulliver) star in Hammer’s The Scarlet Blade.
During the English Civil War, Roundhead leader Colonel Judd (Jeffries) kidnaps King Charles I, aided by his sadistic second-in-command, Captain Sylvester (Reed). The task of rescuing the King falls to the secretive Scarlet Blade (Hedley), aided by Judd’s daughter, Claire (Thorburn).
Directed by John Gilling (The Pirates of Blood River), The Scarlet Blade is an action-packed period drama.
INDICATOR STANDARD EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- Two presentations of the film: The Scarlet Blade, with the original UK title sequence, and The Crimson Blade, with the alternative US titles
- New audio commentary with Kevin Lyons, editor of The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Films and Television
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Hammer’s Women: June Thorburn (2020, 19 mins): profile of The Scarlet Blade actor by film historian Josephine Botting
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Stephen Laws Introduces ‘The Scarlet Blade’ (2020, 7 mins): appreciation by the acclaimed horror author
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Doing Battle (2020, 8 mins): second assistant director Hugh Harlow and continuity supervisor Pauline Wise discuss the challenges of making the film
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Almost an Auteur (2020, 28 mins): horror author and critic Kim Newman looks at the career of director John Gilling and considers the films he made for Hammer
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Appropriately Military (2020, 12 mins): appreciation of Gary Hughes’ score by David Huckvale, author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde
- Original US theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
