The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
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| The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for the film |
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| Directed by | Roy Ward Baker, Cheh Chang |
| Produced by | Don Houghton, Run Me Shaw, Run Run Shaw, Vee King Shaw |
| Written by | Don Houghton |
| Starring | Peter Cushing, David Chiang, Julie Ege |
| Music by | James Bernard |
| Cinematography | Roy Ford, John Wilcox |
| Editing by | Chris Barnes |
| Distributed by | Dynamite Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | 1974 |
| Running time | 83 min |
| Country | Hong Kong/UK |
| Language | English/Chinese (Mandarin) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, released in 1974, was very much a movie of its time. It combined the then-new trend of kung fu films from Hong Kong with Hammer's classic Gothic horror.
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[edit] Production
Both Roy Ward Baker, a British director who had helmed several previous Hammer films, and Chang Cheh, a veteran Hong Kong action director, worked on the movie, though only Baker is credited.
Hammer was beginning to struggle at this stage and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires was a co-production with Hong Kong's Shaw Studio, made in the hope of garnering some of the kung fu movie market share. The mix of the two styles is interesting, though often a strain on plot and dialogue. The movie featured enough kung fu action and vampire thrills to satisfy many viewers.
Interestingly, a number of elements in the film, some refererenced by van Helsing, conflict with the continuity of previous Hammer vampire films. The main inconsistency being that the opening scene shows Count Dracula in 1804 adopting the guise of Kah, the mad taoist priest that had made the trip to Transylvania to ask for his help, and moving to China. Afterwards, we are introduced to Van Helsing making his presentation to the Chinese professors and students, in 1904, whereafter they go on a "vampire hunt". The viewer is left to wonder where and when exactly did Van Helsing fight Dracula before then, since the Count has seemingly been living in China for a century.
The movie was released with various titles in different locations, including The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula and Dracula and the Seven Golden Vampires. It is a clear precursor of the ghost kung fu comedy genre initiated by Sammo Hung some ten years later (Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind, Mr. Vampire).
[edit] Plot
Professor van Helsing (Peter Cushing) gives a lecture in 1904 at a Chongqing (Chungking) university on Chinese vampire legend. He talks of an unknown rural village that has been terrorized by vampires for many years. After the lecture, a student (David Chiang) informs him that the legend is true and he knows the location of the village. He then asks Professor van Helsing if he would be willing to travel to the village and destroy the vampire menace. Van Helsing agrees and embarks with his son, the student and his kung-fu trained siblings on a dangerous journey funded by a wealthy widow (Julie Ege). The seven golden vampires, rotting, sword-wielding, long-haired undead sporting golden masks and bat necklaces are acting under the guidance of Count Dracula himself, masquerading as a mad taoist monk.
[edit] Cast
- Peter Cushing (Dr. Lorrimar van Helsing)
- Julie Ege (Vanessa Buren)
- David Chiang (Hsi Ching)
- John Forbes-Robertson (Count Dracula)
[edit] Credits
- Directed by Roy Ward Baker
- Screenplay by Don Houghton
- Produced by Don Houghton and Vee King Shaw
[edit] Trivia
- John Forbes-Robertson, who plays Count Dracula in the film's prologue and ending, had previously appeared as the vampire Count Karnstein in Hammer's The Vampire Lovers.
- An LP record of Peter Cushing telling the story of the film with music and sound effects was released at the time of the film. This recording is included on the Anchor Bay DVD release.
