User reviews

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.

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.

Although Hammer's audiences [and budgets] were declining in the 70s, they still made some interesting movies which are ripe for reappraisal. This film is a case in point. A collaboration with the Hong Kong martial arts film studio Shaw Brothers[ there was also another one, the very poor Shatter, a routine modern day thriller], it mixes horror and martial arts to extremely entertaining effect. Yes, the idea of mixing the two genres was done better in later Hong Kong films like Spooky Encounters, but there is a great deal of trashy fun to be had here.

Shot in extremely lurid colour, the first half hour has two amazingly vivid scenes- Dracula possessing a Chinese priest in Transylvania, and a terrific setpiece in China soon after with a peasant trying to rescue some women from a castle and encountering the wonderfully decrepit looking Seven Golden Vampires and than an army of zombies who come out of the ground in a stunning sequence, the use of speeded up film to convey their movement oddly effective. Thereafter, as our bunch of protagonists sets off to rid China of this evil, the film does tend to become a series of very bloody battles, but they are blisteringly staged. David Chiang has little charisma as the main hero, but Peter Cushing is solid as ever as Van Helsing ,and does look as if he his having fun. John Forbes-Robertson has quite a bit of presence as Dracula, but he's only in the opening and ending, and after all the terrific action beforehand, his death at the hands of Van Helsing is something of a damp squib. There are some somewhat stilted dialogue scenes, but James Bernard's music is typically exciting [Hammer fans will spot the cues from Taste The Blood Of Dracula though!].

Hardly classic Hammer, or Shaw Brothers for that matter, but this just sets out to provide a fun gory time, and succeeds.

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.

THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)

Sound format: Mono

Whilst lecturing in Chungking at the turn of the 20th century, Professor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is asked by a poor villager (David Chiang) to help defend his community from a plague of vampires controlled by Count Dracula (John Forbes-Robertson).

Filmed on location in Hong Kong under difficult shooting conditions, this Hammer/Shaw Brothers co-production attempts to meld the antiquated Gothic melodrama of Hammer's bygone glories with the new breed of kung fu thrillers emerging from a newly revitalized HK, spearheaded by the worldwide success of KING BOXER (1971) and ENTER THE DRAGON (1973). Roy Ward Baker (THE VAMPIRE LOVERS) took the reins from original director Gordon Hessler (THE OBLONG BOX) after only a few days, though his work was clearly hampered from the outset by co-producer Don Houghton's simplistic script, which describes events either in broad strokes or hasty scribbles, leaving most of the actors in disarray.

Cushing is urbane as ever, trading successfully on his established screen persona, but co-star Julie Ege (a former Bond girl) is merely decorative, while Chiang - an accomplished screen actor (also known as John Keung) whose work stretches all the way from STREET BOYS in 1960 to THE ADVENTURERS (1995) and beyond - is ultimately defeated by the English dialogue, which he's forced to deliver in a stilted, phonetic style. Robin Stewart (THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORROR) and Shih Szu are also featured as the juvenile leads, alongside hugely prolific actors Fung Hak-on (later a regular in Jackie Chan's movies) and Lau Kar-wing (an experienced performer and director in his own right). Elsewhere, Forbes-Robertson does a fair impersonation of Christopher Lee in Dracula-mode, though his first on-screen appearance is almost ruined by a comical makeup design. Les Bowie's special effects are also quite feeble, even for 1974. However, the studio sets are appropriately vivid, and the widescreen photography (by John Wilcox and Roy Ford) makes a virtue of Johnson Chow's atmospheric art direction - note the haunting prologue in Dracula's castle, where ghostly shadows billow softly on a multicolored wall just before the Count begins to stir from his coffin - and the fight scenes (arranged by veteran choreographers Liu Chia-liang and Tang Chia) are lively and energetic.

The film was subjected to major re-edits for its original US release, where it went out under the title "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula". This shabby hatchet job rearranges most of the key sequences in a miserable attempt to reduce exposition and characterization to the barest minimum, thereby transforming a fair-to-middling potboiler into an 'audience-friendly' mish-mash of violent horror and kung fu skirmishes. Not only does it cheapen the production and blacken the name of all involved with it, this variant edition treats American viewers as dim-witted simpletons, emphasizing cheap thrills over plot development for the sake of a quick buck. The film was screened in HK - completely intact - under the HK-English title "Dracula and the 7 Golden Vampires".

I saw this movie on television several years ago and remember it as being a confusing mess of chop-suey. After viewing the Anchor Bay version on DVD last night, I realize that, first time round, I must have been watching the bowdlerized version known as "Seven Brothers Meet Dracula." While not the best Hammer movie ever made, "Golden Vampires" is a coherent and entertaining movie that kept my interest throughout. I am not a martial arts fan, but this is basically a horror movie with some martial arts thrown in, and I enjoyed it as such. Peter Cushing is in fine form as Prof. Van Helsing, but John Forbes-Robertson's Dracula is a pale imitation of Christoper Lee's iconic vampire. Perhaps I would have felt differently if Dracula had been given more to do. As it is, he makes only a cameo appearance at the beginning and very end of the movie.

For the most part, the movie chronicles the adventures of the seven brothers (and one sister) as they travel with Van Helsing to their ancestral village to rid it of a vampire curse. The siblings are all skilled in the martial arts, which partially compensates for their lack of distinctive personalities. They overcome numerous obstacles along the way before finally reaching the village and encountering the vampires and their zombie allies in one final battle. The movie ends with the obligatory encounter between Van Helsing and Dracula, which is brief and somewhat unsatisfying.

Again, this is not the best Hammer movie I've ever seen, but I have to give the studio credit for trying. The later Christopher Lee Dracula movies were getting awfully repetitive and formulaic, and the decision to move the locale to China (after an opening sequence in Dracula's castle) offered interesting possibilities for a new approach to the old vampire legend. Indeed, the sight of Oriental vampires riding horses and wielding swords and aided by legions of zombies did make for some interesting viewing.

This movie is definitely a "must see" for all aficionados of Hammer horror and well worth a look for other horror fans. I wonder whether the clowns who hacked up "Golden Vampires" and turned it into "Seven Brothers" are the same talentless morons who ruined "Kiss of the Vampire" and "Evil of Frankenstein" for television. Their names should be posted on a wall of shame, so all will know who they are!

In 1804, in Transylvania, a Chinese walker heads to the castle of Dracula. He awakes Dracula from his tomb and explains that he is Kah, the High Priest of the Seven Golden Vampires in China that are powerless. He needs Dracula to restore their power and the vampire takes Kah's body and image.

One hundred years later, Professor Laurence Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) gives a lecture at a Chinese university about the legend of the Seven golden vampires but the students leave the auditorium finding that the all the exposition is superstition. However the student Hsi Ching (David Chiang) meets Van Helsing at home and tells that the legend is true and he knows the location of the vampires. Van Helsing accepts to travel to the village in the countryside to help to destroy the vampires and the wealthy widow Mrs. Vanessa Buren (Julie Ege), who has befriend his son Leyland Van Helsing (Robin Stewart), offers to sponsor the expedition provided she may go with them. Soon they embark with seven siblings skilled in kung-fu in a dangerous expedition to destroy the Golden Vampires and Dracula.

"The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" is the worst Dracula's movie produced by Hammer, with a ridiculous story that combines vampires with martial arts. This movie is a co-production of the Shaw Studio from Hong Kong and was released with different titles. The Anchor Bay DVD presents also the American edited version "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula" that I did not see. It is also funny to see Vanessa Buren and Leyland in a hard expedition dressed like they are going to a party. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Peter Cushing returns as Van Helsing once again but this time he's jumped across the pond and is a lecturer in China.

When an opportunity arises to investigate some local vampire mythology he teams with a group of martial artists to foil the scheme of the Prince of Darkness himself Dracula.

What makes this stand out from all the other Hammer Horror films is the attempt at genre blending. Hammer Horror blended with martial arts and with a proper martial arts movie studio to assist them.

Somehow it actually manages to work, the plot is credible and the action is fast and furious.

Peter Cushing is oddly stoic here and not on form at all and the absence of Christopher Lee is highly damaging. John Forbes-Robertson was just not up to the job at all.

Regardless this is a fun little Hammer Horror film that tries to break away from the usual mould. Less cheesy, tad more violent but the awful looking bats are still present.

The Good:

Decent choreography

Some nice ideas

The Bad:

John Forbes-Robertson

Some even worse than usual sfx

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Women cannot go to unknown territories

Christopher Lee simply IS Dracula, replacing him is like re-casting Freddy Kreuger and nobody would ever do that! Right?

I was expecting something a lot worse than what I got. Not to say that this film was that good, but I expected something a little cheesier. First off, it looks like Hammer wanted to capitalize on the growing popularity of martial arts films but keep to their monster movie roots. This is acceptable because I know that Hammer was starting to suffer because their previous formula of making Gothic horror films was not as lucrative as it had been in the 1950s.

Professor Van Helsing travels to China to teach about vampires at a university. He gets roundly rejected by the faculty, but a young student tells him that one of the legends that Van Helsing referred to did occur. The student enlists Van Helsing to help him and his seven brothers and sister defeat the vampires. Oh, and earlier a Chinese priest who worshiped the vampires went to Transylvania and was taken over by Count Dracula. He went back to China to make the vampire group strong again.

The plot obviously suffers because they're combining two kinds of films that don't always match up. There was some decent production value and the actors and actresses were all very professional. However, the film suffered because of the way that these two types of film were mixed. It tries to be serious and deliver on the martial arts action, but at the same time it gets campy in places and seems to almost parody itself. The problem is that it seems like they were trying too hard to make a hit.

By the beginning of the 1970s, Hammer Studios, once a world leader in horror, found itself struggling to compete with the harder hitting, more explicit fare coming out of the US. In a last ditch effort to appeal to a wider audience, the ailing studio began to experiment with horror 'cross-overs', injecting their traditional Gothic fare with elements from whatever other genres were enjoying global success at the time.

In 1974, the studio released two such genre-bending 'mash-ups': The Satanic Rites of Dracula, an espionage/vampire film in which Dracula was reinvented as a Blofeld-style villain intent on destroying the world, and The Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires, which saw Hammer join forces with Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers for some martial-arts monster fun.

For a Hammer film, Satanic Rites was an uncharacteristically drab affair, lacking visual flair and any sense of excitement; in fact, rather than turn the studio's fortune around, it probably helped to drive a few more nails firmly into its coffin. Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires, on the other hand, was a much more enjoyable effort: helmed by Roy Ward Baker, it delivered stylish colourful photography, great fight choreography by kung fu legend Liu Chia-Liang, sexy ladies from around the world (Norwegian babe Julie Ege and Taiwanese cutie Szu Shih), as well as blood, boobs, bats and bonkers action set-pieces. Despite the high fun-factor, however, AND another quality performance from Peter Cushing, it too failed to lure back the fans.

Count Dracula, it seemed, had finally met his match, not in Van Helsing, but in chainsaw wielding maniacs and possessed girls vomiting pea soup—a pity, because I would have loved to have seen more joint ventures from Hammer and Shaw Brothers, two of the greatest studios in the history of cinema.

"Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" is a movie that benefits greatly from an awesome title. I mean come on, who doesn't wanna see that? I heard about this flick when I was watching one of my favorite horror flicks, "Dust Devil." They mention this film in one scene, along with an Argento flick which I can't recall at the moment, but I thought man, sounds like I gotta see that one.

I finally tracked it down on Netflix and one thing I can say is that it sure is unique. Kung-fu fighting, British horror movie sets, lots of fog machines and awful special effects highlight this slice of strange, 1970's drive-in camp.

I can say that the kung-fu sequences are pretty good, (although it's no "36th Chamber of Shaolin") and the vampire twist is pretty different. Also, it's surprisingly bloody for the age, (although it's no "Shogun Assassin") and I was entertained by some pretty good arterial spray here.

All in all, if you like the British horror and the kung-fu stuff, check this one out. Interestingly, Rob Zombie puts this in his top 5 horror movies of all time. I'm not sure I'd even call this one a horror flick.

6 out of 10, kids.

This film is entertaining enough especially with the fight scenes, and Peter Cushing even getting in amongst the action. I have to say though that Dracula was rather a comical sight at the start, and especially when delivering his lines. While trying to be menacing he achieved the opposite effect, apart from perhaps the end when he managed a little bit of success. However, I got the impression that they cast someone who looked remotely like Christopher Lee, and perhaps that made the latter's absence even the more conspicuous. Thankfully we don't see too much of this character in his normal form. In places the film seemed a little slow, but the action soon followed, and on the whole it was enjoyable especially during the latter stages.

The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires marries two disparate genres - the period horror film and the martial arts film - with surprisingly entertaining results. It features a lovely performance from Peter Cushing, as Professor Van Helsing, who is travelling around China trying to convince its people of the worldwide threat of vamprism in 1904. Not many of the Chinese academics believe him, but one young man does.... he comes from a village in the Chinese interior cursed by seven deadly vampire warriors. He hires Professor Van Helsing to travel with him to this desolate place to rid it of its vampire curse. Guess who the main vampire is behind the horrid happenings in the village? Well, it wouldn't be a Peter Cushing/Hammer horror film without everyone's favourite Count Dracula, would it?

The film is badly acted by everyone except Cushing. Julie Ege plays a Norweigan noble woman, but her performance sucks. The Chinese and Hong Kong actors look distinctly uncomfortable in the talky scenes, chatting away about Transylvanian vampire lore but struggling to get their tongue around much of the dialogue. However, when the martial arts action kicks in, they are good value for money. It's a shame Christopher Lee wasn't available to play Dracula in this one.... I'm not sure who the guy is playing the evil count, but his performance is an embarrassment.

The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires is unusual enough and fast-paced enough to be entertaining. However, it's not a classic, so don't expect it to be.

The story is original, interesting and nicely developed. The mixture of the classic "Van Helsing vs. Dracula" plot with Chinese kung-fu movies was, at least for me, something completely new, it held my attention and entertained me well. But the movie simply screams "seventies." A potentially top-notch horror adventure disrupts the frivolous atmosphere typical of the B production of this period. Constant overacting and masks and requisites, which look as if they were purchased from the Chinese department store for kids' toys, do not allow you to fully experience the adventure, because the scenes on the screen for a good part of the film leave an impression of silly parody. And on the army of the undead and their bouncing around better not to comment. This is the only film about Dracula from Hammer Films that does not contain the name of Dracula in its title and the only one in which Dracula is not played by Christopher Lee, who turned down the role after reading the script. Also, this film claims that Dracula has spent the whole century, from 1804 to 1904, in China, which is contradictory to the timeline of other Hammer films about the famous vampire. However, originality and strangeness of the story, directing in which you can feel the influence of Kurosawa and Leone (or at least it seemed so to me) and overall fun atmosphere distinguish this film from the rest of the franchise and make it one of the most interesting Hammer productions. It is worth a look.

7/10

The Hammer Dracula series started very strongly with Horror of Dracula, which is still one of Hammer's best films. The following four follow-ups ranged from solid to very good and Scars of Dracula was just about above average. Dracula A.D. 1972 and Satanic Rites of Dracula while not quite as horrible as reputed were disappointing. The good news, is for all its flaws, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is an improvement on the previous two entries but not on par with the first five films.

It's very stylishly photographed with very effective camera angles and foreboding and vibrant colours, and has the most vivid set designs of any Hammer Dracula film since Taste the Blood of Dracula. Particularly true here is the Dracula's castle set for the prologue, which gave off a real spookiness that was much needed. James Bernard makes a welcome return, after hearing such outdated, unintentionally cheesy and out of place music for Dracula A.D. 1972 and Satanic Rites of Dracula it was really welcome to hear the rousing, thunderously booming and wonderfully eerie scoring provided by Bernard here. The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is often a lot of fun, has a great atmosphere and rarely feels dull, and Roy Ward Baker directs rousingly. The fight sequences are very entertaining and excellently choreographed, and Peter Cushing can do no wrong, playing with real involvement and professionalism and it is another classy performance.

However, most of the acting is weak(apart from Cushing, Robin Stewart is likable as well), with Julie Ege's vapid and expressionless acting skills not matching her luscious looks, David Chiang looking and sounding awkward and John Forbes-Robertson completely missing the suavity and menace for Dracula(instead coming over as too overly-theatrical, Christopher Lee may have lost interest in playing Dracula halfway through the series but is sorely missed here). The dialogue is often stilted, the special effects are laughably cheap and the vampire make-up even less believable and the climax is far too brief, too rushed and too easy.

All in all, fun and decent but middling final entry in the Hammer Dracula series. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Count Dracula guises himself as a warlord to gather 6 vampires together in a obscure Chinese village. It's up to Prof. Van Helsing to save the day and stop Dracula's schemes. Not only was this an absurd plot, but it was nowhere near as entertaining as it sounded. Hammer was throwing in everything but the kitchen sink to try and restore the Dracula series to what it once was. Unfortunately, audacious (dare I say ludicrous) ideas like this sunk any chances that it had. To be fair, this series should have stopped after Dracula Has Risen From The Grave. Kung-Fu and Vampires is a potentially lethal mix, but it's not that way at all. Even the action scenes failed to ignite my interest. John-Forbes Robertson isn't on the screen much as Dracula, and when he is, he's disguised. He was a very poor Dracula, lacking the menacing presence of Christopher Lee. Peter Cushing seems very bored and phones it in, not that I blame him. There is actually a surprising amount of blood for this sort of thing. A sword impaling and slit throats are highlights

This is by far the worst Dracula film in the Hammer series. Don't be persuaded into this drivel by the thought of vampires and martial arts together. It's nowhere near as fun as you might think

3/10

Hammer films can tend to be rather stodgy and talky. While the first half of this film moves rather slow and is full of exposition, the second half really kicks up some dust as we get kung fu fighting vampires getting sliced, kicked, punched and burned with wild abandon. Colorful lighting, well-choreographed fights and reliable old Peter Cushing make this one of Hammer's most entertaining films. This film heavily influenced the Hong Kong horror/action/comedy film boom of the 80s with films like ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND and MR. VAMPIRE borrowing much of the vampire look from this film and adding much more Chinese folklore to the vampire mythos, thus making them infinitely more entertaining than this hybrid.

Dracula is in this movie presumably because that was the deal but the story is independent of him and if you cut the first and last scenes he wouldn't be in it. That would be just as well since the actor is a very weak substitute for Christopher Lee. But it doesn't matter to the movie. It's silly but it has a lot of good things in it. It's well shot (although indifferently edited), the scenes of the vampires and their zombie army are genuinely creepy, the action scenes are fun, all the women are very attractive--for some reason the vampires first strip off their blouses; maybe they moonlight, or sunlight, as modeling agents--and the occasional contrasts between the Christian and Buddhist religions are intriguing (and might have been expanded into a general theme for the movie). The tape I saw included both the original version and the shorter American version, which is a shambles. What instructions did the cutter have: Mess it up?

Taking into account the film came out in 1974 when martial arts films were all the rage and horror films were changing pace the film is not all that bad - fun to watch.

For me the only real reason to watch the movie is for Peter Cushing who is back as Van Helsing giving a lecture in China when the villagers ask him to help stop the evil cult and put an end to the curse plaguing the area for centuries.

Because of the nature of the film... the cross is replaced with Buddha as a symbol of purity and all things good. That's a nice twist to add for this particular film.

This is one of those films that would be great for a morning or afternoon feature film. It's not a film for everyone -- that includes lovers of martial arts films and vampire fans.

5/10

Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974) is such an awesome film. How can you go wrong when you have Roy Ward Baker, Chang Cheh and the Liu brothers all working on a film together? This film has everything, the eeriness of a Hammer film with the red paint spraying, bone crunching action scenes of a Shaw Brother's flick!

Peter Cushing reprises his role as Professor Van Helsing who's in China to prove the legend of the Seven Golden Vampires. After a lecture he finds someone who actually believes in the legend (David Chiang in a dual role). After local run in with some angry triads (thanks to Van Helsing's no good son who falls for a Scandinavian beauty. Will the good professor and friends find something that'll get them into a nasty situation that's way over their heads?

Hammer films at this time was pretty much on their last legs when they went on a joint venture with the Shaw Brothers. Run Run and Run Mei Shaw at this time were also trying to find a worldwide market for their two biggest stars David Chiang and Ti Lung. Ironically, Hammer and Shaw studios were just like each other in many ways (beautiful sets, a staff of great directors and actors. They also cranked out very diverse product and most of their films sadly were never given their proper due overseas, their films usually ended up being hacked to pieces and shown in grind houses or sliced and spliced for matinée showings). Sadly after a couple of collaborations the two companies never worked together again. Hammer Films would slowly fade away whilst Shaw Brothers Studios would last another ten years or so before concentrating on T.V. soap opera (a majority costume operas). But for a brief time in history Shaw Brothers and Hammer (two of my favorite movie studios, especially when I was growing up) collaborated on a couple of films. Sadly they never worked with each other again.

Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires was filmed in Shawscope (a.k.a. Panavision). Avoid Seven Brothers Meet Dracula, it's a horrible grind house re-edit of this grand production.

Strongly recommended.

David Chiang speaks English very well and his brother Paul Chiang (a.k.a. Paul Chu, a.k.a. Pei Chu) has a small part as the Triad boss' assistant.

I first saw this in the mid 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently.

This is the 9th film in Hammer's Dracula series. Christopher Lee aint present in this one n Peter Cushing reprises his role of Van Helsing for the 4th time. This is a complete different n standalone film as ther is nothing to link this one to the previous one or to any one from the series. Even the Count is not creepy or scary. It has a village n a different castle, more like a Chinese bldg but the atmosphere, the chariot n the foggy n sleepy village is absent.

In 20th century, Van Helsing is a lecturer in China whose theory about a village terrorized by seven vampires is dismissed by his students except for one student whose grandfather was killed by the same seven vampires. He asks Van Helsing if he would be willing to travel to the village and destroy the vampires. Van Helsing agrees and embarks with his son, the student n the student's seven kung fu expert brothers. The dangerous journey is funded by a wealthy widow who was saved by the kung fu brothers. Old Van Helsing aint aware that his arch enemy, Count Dracula has migrated to the same village 100 years back n it is he who commands the seven vampires n an army of the undead. It cud have been an awesome genre mashup but the shoddy direction n lousy screenplay ruined it. Earlier they messed up in Dracula AD by tryin to mix it up with hippies n then they regained some value by mixing the sci fic n spy thriller in Satanic rites.. n finally they closed it up with a big blunder with this lousy mashup.