A lighthouse circa Cape Horn is cared by a keepers(Fernando Rey , Massimo Ranieri, Kirk Douglas). A gang of pirates attacks the lighthouse .The pirates(Aldo Sambrell,Jean Claude Drout, Tito Garcia, among others) are fiercely commanded by Kongre(Yul Brynner). Handsome hero named Will Denton(Kirk Douglas) with only company a little monkey ,suffering misfortunes for the conditions in which unlucky is forced to exist. Denton soon realizes that the island in the base of pirates who lure ships to their doom on the rocky coast and arrange shipwrecks(appear castaways as Samantha Eggar and Renato Salvatori) for profit . Denton discovers the truth and confronts Kongre in a fight to death.This is an enjoyable adventures tale with tension, suspense, thrills and good action scenes. Some fierce hand-to hand combats and pursuits scenes will have you on the edge of your armchair. However the ending is some ridiculous, unconvincing and overblown. Spectacular landscapes shot in Spain : Cadaques and Manga Mar Menor, great location-footage of both locations, the Spaniard coast is the best thing about movie. Duo starring is frankly extraordinary. Kirk Douglas gives vigorous physical performance, he's magnificent as individualist, stubborn hero, such as ¨Spartacus, Vikings,Ulysses and 20000 leagues under the sea(also by Jules Verne)¨. Impressive Yul Brynner, as usual, playing exotic roles, such as ¨Taras Bulba, Salomon, The buccaneer and King and I ¨. The film displays a colorful cinematography by Henri Decae and Cecilio Paniagua , furthermore evocative musical score by Piero Piccioni. The picture is regularly directed by Kevin Billington. This is a highly agreeable movie and suits marvelously . I can recommend this work to everybody who enjoy good adventures and spectacular maritime outdoors, however no for small kids by violent and realistic scenes.

One of my favorite films of all-time. Unusual because the pirates depicted in this movie are all too real. None of the romanticizing Errol Flynn or Jack Sparrow stuff. These pirates were shockingly ruthless and a real sense of danger permeates the film. Yul Brynner and Kirk Douglas bring intensity to their roles. Brynner as the egotistic sociopath who is the leader of the cutthroats and Douglas as a man who must deal with a desperate situation in a fight for survival. Samantha Eggar as a woman with flawed instincts for her own preservation evokes frustration and pity. From the brutal opening scenes, the message is clear that these pirates don't play. A sense of urgency then takes over until the final outcome. A great movie!

Surprising that Jules Verne would write such a story. Even more surprising that Hollywood would produce it. Yul Brynner is unbelievably good as a man freed of all bounds of convention, free to indulge his taste for cruelty and domination. Douglass is an excellent counterpoint, a courageous individual who's chosen simple solitude as a way to deal with the complications and turmoil society had imposed on him. And Samantha Egger's character is the capper, a woman willing to sacrifice far too much for comfort and safety. Inotherwords, everyman. The movie does show its age and is limited by the conventions of time and place and technology of the time. If you're looking for special effects and action as substitutes for thought, look elsewhere.

As a young boy, I fell asleep at the drive-in while this movie was playing. It was part of a twin bill with "Twilight People", a very cheaply made version of "The Island of Dr Moreau". I had nightmares for years afterward. It wasn't because either of these movies were particularly scary--they weren't. I was mortified by how bad the acting, plot, & the writing were. It had something to do with pirates using a lighthouse to crash ships so that they could steal their treasure. Kirk Douglas was one of the people that lived on the island with the lighthouse. He had a monkey and hid in a cave on the edge of the cliff which conveniently had a hole in the floor. Gee, I wonder how that might fit into the film? When I say I had nightmares about this movie, I mean literally. It was not until I found it and "Twilight People" on video and relived the horror of these 2 awful films that the dreams ceased.