Eric Porter plays the brooding captain of an old tramp steamer smuggling illegal explosives with a motley and mutinous crew and passengers on the run variously from dubious pasts, ruthless lovers and botched operations. When the ship becomes entangled in deadly seaweed, the passengers and crew encounter a twilight world of mutated molluscs, giant scorpions and a host of Spanish conquistadors, descended from the survivors of a Spanish galleon, who prey on the unlucky ships dragged to their hidden island.

The Lost Continent is something of a lesser-known – or perhaps that should be lesser seen – work from the later days of Hammer studios, and that's in spite of being based on the gothic fantasy novel Uncharted Seasby Dennis Wheatley, who the same year provided the source material for one of Hammer's finest works, The Devil Rides Out. Directed by Ealing old hand Charles Chrichton, the film features a striking psychedelic musical score by Gerard Schurmann.

The Lost Continent will get its UK DVD premiere on 22nd June 2009 from Optimum Home Entertainment at the RRP of £12.99. No extras have been listed.