La leggenda dei 7 vampiri d'oro

Vintage Kung Fu/Dracula flick with very well staged scenes , colorful ambient and stunningly directed . Hammer Film's last Dracula yarn was a co-production with Hong Kong's Run Run Shaw Brothers known mainly for their Chop-Socky pictures . Transylvania 1804 : Kah (Shen Chan), High Priest of a temple in Pang Kwei in the Szechuan province of China, has obviously traveled a long way on foot to look for the Prince of Darkness . Kah's temple has fallen out and he asks for Dracula's help (John Forbes-Robertson was furious when he discovered that he had been dubbed by another actor . Chung King 1904 , while lecturing in the Far East, Professor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) tells his students of a doomed village in China that becomes cursed every year at the time of the 7th moon . Van Helsing is persuaded by Hsi Ching (David Chiang) and his brothers , all of them Kung Fu experts , to rid the village of the 7 vampires that torment its citizens . Then , Van Helsing , his son (Robin Stewart) , a gorgeous wealthy woman (Julie Ege) and the Chinese brothers set out in pursuit Dracula and the seven golden vampires . As the motley group fighting a vampire cult located on a cursed village in China .

This classic flick was well produced by the famous British production company along with Run Shaw Brothers , as Hammer Films meets Chop-Socky Hong Kong . It displays creepy scenes , lots of violence , nudity , action filled , zooms , thrills and fierce combats . It is an exciting as well as original attempt to revive the Dracula long series , mainly played by Peter Cushing and Christophel Lee . This luxurious Kung Fu/horror film was wonderfully filmed with good production design , glimmer cinematography by John Wilcox , impressive combats and breathtaking scenes . This is a colourful , Hong-Kong set , mostly filmed in outdoors and quite budget movie ; leave no cliché untouched , though the fighting are magnificently staged . The picture is full of tumultuous sequences with terror scenes , frenetic action , surprises , climatic combats and groundbreaking struggles . Overwhelming and rousing fights with deadly use of fists , feet and palms , along with such weapons as swords, sticks , and lances . Highlights of the film are the notorious struggle between Kung Fu brothers and the seven golden vampires and and of course , the breathtaking final confrontation between Dracula and Van Helsing . Some critics have panned this film explaining that unless you are Kung Fu aficionado this outing will seem all too silly . This is the first of two Hammer productions shot back-to-back in Hong Kong, and the fifth and last time Peter Cushing would play Van Helsing. Although Christopher Lee was offered the role of Dracula, he declined after reading the script and he is is sorely lost . This is the first Dracula film from Hammer Film Productions to feature an actor other than Christopher Lee playing Dracula, although Lee was also absent for ¨The brides of Dracula , which did not feature the character . ¨The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" also titled "Dracula and the Seven Golden Vampires" or "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula" is a fine horror movie but isn't as good as the precedent films . It's the sixth part of Dracula series , the first is ¨Horror of Dracula¨ , the second is ¨Dracula , prince of darkness¨, the third ¨Brides of Dracula¨ and is followed by ¨Taste the blood of Dracula¨ and ¨Dracula has risen from the grave¨, continuing with two low budgeted , TV sequels directed by Alan Gibson : ¨The satanic rites of Dracula¨ and ¨Dracula A.D. 72¨ , most of them starred by the great Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing .

The cinematography by John Wilcox and Roy Ford is excellent and brilliant . James Bernard musical score is rousing as well as eerie and spooky . This Hammer film was rightly directed by Roy Ward Baker . Roy was a good professional , his first opportunity to direct a film, The October Man (1947). He then went to Hollywood in 1952 and stayed for seven years, returning to Britain in 1958, when he directed one of his best films, A night to remember (1958). During the 1960s and 1970s, Baker directed a number of horror films for Hammer and Amicus. He also directed in British television, especially during the latter part of his career.

In 19th century China Count Dracula takes the form of a Chinese tyrant who has control of a cult that contains six sword -wielding vampires and hordes of zombies. The legend is said that they mount a bloody reign of terror on a cursed remote village by taking young woman from the village to feed on them. Professor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) leads an expedition with some martial art experts, his son and a wealthy widow to the village to prove the legend is true and to rid the undead from this earth.

Hammer production gives us something a bit different in this film by making a far journey to the east: Honk Kong. Hammer horror meets Kung Fu for this outing, with a lot of exorbitance and flair to show. It might be a bizarre mix and ridiculously over-the-top hokum, but you can't deny the shocks and fun factor it achieves. It's rather silly stuff and that makes it enjoyable viewing. What's a Hammer film without Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, but Christopher Lee didn't return to play Dracula and John Forbes-Robertson took his place. He just lacked the charisma and gave a rather odd, if dour performance. Cushing on the other hand gave a solid performance and some value-added class to the film. Julie Ege is fine as the elegant Vanessa Buren the wealthy lady who funded the expedition. This film gives us what we expect, a lot of horror, flesh and blood.

The premise is a rather engrossing adventure even though it has a very formulaic narrative. The plot might be flawed, make not much sense and come across as disjointed. But it totally makes up for it with some unpredictable sequences of suspense and an intriguing mythology involving vampires of the East. Showing how their customs are far different to those of the traditional vampires. The colourfully taut action sequences are well set up and are terrifically paced. When these rather hectic martial art battles start they really do go on, but still don't overshadow the horror element of the film. The battles involving the golden vampires are dazzling and the zombies coming out of the ground was well established and a sight to see. The final set-up for the grand battle scene reminded me very much of "The Seven Samurai" and "The Magnificent Seven", especially in protecting them from an onslaught. The difference is that they weren't asked or paid to protect them. One thing it lacked was a seductive female vampire (there was one for 10 seconds or so). The plot's thin love story felt out of place in the overall context and so did Helsing's son Leyland who came across as nothing more then a annoying bystander. So was Dracula, as he didn't do that much and only had a small amount of screen time. The climax between Dracula and Helsing isn't much of a tussle. It was that brisk it felt like they wanted to get the film over pretty quickly.

The film was very atmospheric, especially at night with the howling wind, blankets of mist and menacing shadows. On the journey to the village the scenery provided by the countryside is fairly graceful. Ranging from the grassland, rocky terrain and the woodlands. The heart pounding score goes in hand to hand with the scenes. The production valves weren't great, but not bad. The set designs of Dracula's domain and the village are somewhat vivid. The effects were rather shoddy (rubber bats on strings) and props looked ludicrous (the weapons). The make-up and costumes on the vampires and zombies were rather fair. You get some close ups of rotting vampire's faces after dying. This is when you get some oozing, bubbling and steaming skin decay. Also there are cheesy sound effects and a glorious amount of blood splattering.

Rather entertaining, if unconventional horror by Hammer productions.

I usually try to avoid "defending" movies that I like. If people get it fine, if they don't, well them's the breaks. However I too profess to having been unsold on the charms of LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES for ages. But now after finally having seen a restored widescreen presentation courtesy of Anchor Bay I am convinced that one of the reasons why the effort left me cold the first few times through was due to the miserable, scrappy, fullscreen home video versions available previously which excluded as much as 12 minutes of footage.

I came of age during the home video years and heading out every week to the various rental shops in our area to see what Hammer or Hammer related flicks we could find became a regular past time. Certain movies were relatively easy to locate but we'd always heard about this legendary kung-fu/Dracula hybrid by Hammer that was made significant by Peter Cushing's final appearance as Professor Van Helsing, the world expert on the Undead. Rumor had it that the movie involved Van Helsing tracing the elusive Count Dracula to colonial era China where he'd set up shop and acquired a taste for the local food. Hijinx awaited in the form of supernatural kung-fu battles with a band of seven specialist martial arts masters, who were of course brothers, fighting off legions of vampiric barbarians. Somehow the combination sounded like trying to mix oil with water and when I finally managed to find the meager VHS release of the film my apprehension was proved well- founded by a muddled mix of Gothic horror chills with difficult to follow chop-socky interludes. The pan-and-scan compression of the widescreen shots was dizzying, the vampire interludes were anything but the dreamy "foggy castle on a hill" variety that Hammer had become specialists in, with lots of insert shots of Peter Cushing standing around looking concerned while Julie Ege's bosoms heaved, cruelly encased in her cleavage baring tops.

It turns out however that much of this muddling and cockamamie mish-mashing was due to the confinement of Roy Ward Baker (directing the talking scenes) and Cheh Chang's (directing the martial arts scenes) marvelous widescreen 2:35:1 Techniscope photography into a claustrophobic, nappy lookin' fullscreen image. Fading of color and reduction print distortions didn't help much, and my opinion now after seeing the widescreen print is that much of the disdain aimed at the film is in fact aimed at the miserable presentations that have been available until now.

Sure, it's still a bit cobbled together. Hammer's grip on the marketplace was tenuous at best by 1974, THE EXORCIST and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD had happened and they were still banking on Gothic shenanigans to sell movie tickets. One result was the creation of these genre crossing hybrids like LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES mixing martial arts mayhem with Gothic chills, and CAPTAIN KRONOS - VAMPIRE HUNTER which effectively blended the Spaghetti Western, swashbuckling high-adventure and the Gothic nightgowns blowing in the wind. The public didn't seem to care but the result were two very charming movies that had the gall to be different, even if horror fans had moved on. Hammer was hoping to extend their life by coming up with some new series and their collaboration with Shaw Brothers productions was perhaps both ahead of its times while a year or three too late to save the company. It was a glorious failure that deserves to be seen again now that present day technology can give viewers a better estimation of the movie's intended form. It is surprisingly entertaining and compulsively watchable.

What I would recommend is that anybody who may have heard of LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES should give it a try, and anyone who had dismissed it before as a crummy home video oddity to try it again now that the original full-length widescreen version is readily available. It's still somewhat confusing if you are looking for a discreet, beginning-middle- end story progression. But when taken as it's individual moments strung together into a greater whole some of it is actually quite compelling: Slow-motion legions of the Undead riding horseback whilst slaughtering the populace & making off with all the hot chicks (the Blind Dead, anyone?), torture chambers with topless girls strapped down to a bizarre rack designed to drain their blood, the re-insertion of some amusingly clever gore shots, James Bernard's at times utterly surreal & way under-appreciated musical score recalling some of his Dracula themes while experimenting with more Eastern inspired sounds, traditional non-wire guided kung fu fights with all the bravado and forced sentiment of a classic martial arts film, and rest assured, plenty of insert shots of Peter Cushing standing there looking concerned.

Just by turning his head slightly to the side and raising an eyebrow Peter Cushing is a treat, nobody can look concerned or impart a sense of dire urgency into an audience like Peter Cushing: It may be an odd movie but it does feature some of his best work at appearing concerned and some of the urgencies that he imparts within viewers are the most dire of his career. Yeah, he was getting old and tired and probably looked upon the movie as an expense paid trip to China to help him forget the sorrow of his wife's passing. But by golly he made the movie and if he means anything to you it simply must be seen because it is his last screen turn as one of his classic Gothic horror characters. Try it again, make sure it's a widescreen version, pop plenty of popcorn, perhaps an adult beverage or two, and put down the lights. Turns out it's not a bad movie after all.

7/10

This lovely Hammer Horror blending of the traditional vampire tale with martial arts stars Peter Cushing as Professor Van Helsing. The plot follows Van Helsing, who is drawn into a plot involving a legendary seven golden vampires, the prince of darkness; Dracula himself, the undead and a load of martial artists. Our hero must, along with his son and an escort of kung fu fighters travel to a cursed village somewhere in China to rid it of the vampire curse that holds it. One of the reasons why Hammer horror is so brilliant is that it isn't afraid to make a film that most other film studios would regard as stupid and then make it work. The main reason why Hammer horror does work is that the films, despite showing many macabre images, are always good natured and made with a lot of heart so they're easy to like; and this one is no different.

The Eastern style makes for a very different vampire film to what we're used to, and Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires seems keen to capitalise on that as it changes many of the traditional vampire rules to suit the east (for example, the traditional cross to ward off vampires is replaced by the image of Budha). As usual with Hammer, the effects are hokey to say the least, the production values are low and everyone except Peter Cushing leaves a lot to be desired acting-wise...but without these traits, this film wouldn't be Hammer, so these things are not only forgivable, but welcome. Peter Cushing's performance in this movie isn't his best, but fans of his will still relish it. There's something about Cushing's persona that makes him very watchable, and every film with him in it is worth watching, if only for that reason. He also gets involved in some of the martial arts fights, which is nice to see. The fights themselves are very well staged, much better than I was expecting with this being a horror film with kung fu elements, rather than a full blown fight-fest.

This is the fifth film I've seen by Hammer director Roy Ward Baker and although it's not the best, it's still a very solid offering from the man who was probably Hammer's finest director. This film is a lot of fun, and I don't doubt that it will delight anyone who sees it, and therefore it comes with the highest recommendations from me.

Van Helsing goes to China...and the result is ripping good yarn!

When this movie first came out, many Hammer fans were appalled at the idea of Hammer producer Michael Carreras teaming with Hong Kong movie mogul Run Run Shaw to create a Hammer/Kung Fu hybrid; it seemed like a desperate attempt to revive the declining Hammer brand by grafting it onto the ascendant Kung Fu craze. Looking back from the vantage point of 2011--after seeing Batman, Hellboy, Iron Man, The Mummy franchise, et. al. go to China--Carerras's cross-cultural gambit looks like genius, and 40 years ahead of its time...perhaps literally so, since the revived Hammer company is now talking about doing a remake.

If you fear this movie will be a Kung Fu actioner with lots of bone-crunching sound effects and nuggets of inscrutable wisdom, think again. It's pure Hammer from start to finish, with a reliable anchoring performance by Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. It seems the venerable doctor is doing some anthropological field work in China; when he lectures at a university, his unwelcome discussion of vampires draws catcalls but finds one receptive listener who knows the truth of the Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. Add a traveling European heiress with a taste for adventure and a fortune to fund an expedition into the hinterland, and the plot is off and running.

This is a work of high fantasy that draws not just on Bram Stoker but on a long tradition of English literature. The narrative brio reminds me of the adventure stories of H. Rider Haggard (here set in China instead of Africa). There's also a bit of Tolkien in the storytelling, with the 7 Golden Vampires reminiscent of the Nazgul, Dracula of Sauron, and Van Helsing of Gandalf, leading a motley fellowship on a journey to destroy evil. As the travelers draw ever nearer to their goal, they engage in repeated battles that take a terrible toll, right up to the final confrontation with the Evil One himself. (Lest you think the Tolkien parallel is a stretch, consider that the character of Van Helsing was one of Tolkien's inspirations for Gandalf, the keeper of secret knowledge who advises and motivates those who would rid the world of its greatest evil.)

The action scenes look quite dated, but only because we've grown used to seeing aerial martial arts performed with guy-wires against a blue-screen; in the old-fashioned Kung Fu films, acrobats were still subject to the laws of gravity.