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Directed by: Brian Clemens Starring: Horst Janson, John Cater, John Carson, Caroline Munro, Shane Briant 1973 Hammer feature about a katana-weilding, hard-loving, undead-slaying englishman which should probably be more fun than it is but it's still good. Despite the sound of the premise, there's really not a hint of camp to be found and the film does pretty well for taking itself as seriously as it does. An old-fashioned gothic atmosphere is the film's greatest accomplishment. Feels very much a prototype for later films such as Blade, Vampire Hunter D, etc., and fans of those series would do well to check it out. The weakest element is the rather stiff fight choreography, particularly during the climax; a little more invention in this area would have gauranteed Kronos a greater level of cult celebrity today. RATING: 3.5 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071276/ jc dracula fucked around with this message at 13:43 on Jun 25, 2004 |
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Jun 25, 2004 13:03
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 06:36 |
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This was a really fun twist on the vampire genre, and was an especially cool project for Hammer, who were sometimes guilty of just making the same movie over and over again. Another cool vampire film by Hammer, Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, finds them teaming up with the Shaw Brothers studio to make a kung-fu Dracula film. Fans of this might want to check that out too.
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Jun 25, 2004 17:33
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I love this film so much I have three copies of it, just in case I lose one and my first backup breaks. The film was a franchise testbed that sadly (or perhaps happily) never spawned the intended sequels. I'm a real sucker for the late Hammers (Satanic Rites ..., AD1972, 7 Golden Vamps, the Wheatley adaptations etc.) and I count this as one of the best. Despite being something of an experimental gamble it is made with such confidence (e.g. the Western style saloon quick-draw fight that would have been so OTT and hammy if handled with anything less than big directorial balls of leather) that you can't help but enjoy it. Caroline Munro is the hottest of the Hammer girls (well, joint hottest), Horst Jansen makes a great Teutonic-knight style veteran hero and I always thought Shane Briant was a criminally underrated actor. The ubergothic touches make it perfect 4 a.m. viewing for those times when you've unintentionally pulled an all-nighter.
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Jun 28, 2004 14:26
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