The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)

Calificación de los usuarios:

5.9/10   

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Guionista:

Don Houghton (screenplay)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

junio 1979 (USA)

Género:

Acción | Fantasía | Horror

Frase comercial:

Deadly Horrors! Dragon Thrills! The First Kung Fu Horror Spectacular!

Plot:

Count Dracula journies to a remote Chinese village in the guise of a warlord to support six vampires...

Plot Keywords:

Village | Vampire | Dracula | Cult | China

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Vampires, Orient style!

Reparto

Peter Cushing	...	Prof. Van Helsing
David Chiang	...	Hsi Ching
Julie Ege	...	Vanessa Buren
Robin Stewart	...	Leyland Van Helsing
Szu Shih	...	Mai Kwei (as Shih Szu)
John Forbes-Robertson	...	Count Dracula
Robert Hanna	...	British Consul
Shen Chan	...	Kah (as Chan Shen)
James Ma	...	Hsi Ta
Chia Yung Liu	...	Hsi Kwei (as Liu Chia Yung)
Fong Lah Ann	...	Hsiu Sung (swordsman) (as Feng Ko An)
Chen Tien Loong	...	Hsi San
Wong Han Chan	...	Leung Hon

También conocida como:

7 Brothers Versus Dracula
7 Brothers and a Sister Meet Dracula
7 Brothers of Dracula (UK)
7 Golden Vampires (UK)
Dracula and the Seven Golden Vampires
Seven Golden Vampires: The Last Warning (UK)
The Last Warning (UK)
The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (UK) (alternative spelling)
The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula (USA)
Kung Fu contra los siete vampiros de oro (Spain) [es]
Los siete vampiros de oro (Argentina) [es]

Duración:

USA:83 min

País:

Hong Kong | UK

Idioma:

Inglés | Mandarin

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Relación de Aspecto:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Mono

Clasificación:

New Zealand:R18 | UK:15 | UK:18 (original rating) | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Australia:M | USA:R

Compañía:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivialidades:

Although Christopher Lee was offered the role of Dracula, he declined after reading the script.

Errores:

Errores que Revelan: In the first battle scene as the Seven Brothers are rushing forward to meet their foes, one of them stumbles over a sword that is lying on the ground, apparently from a previous take.

Conexiones de Película:

Apareció en Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)

Vampires, Orient style!

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.