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Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires

Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One Of The Best!
Review: As a child my father took me to see this movie one Saturday afternoon in 1979 when it was released as The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula. This was the movie that put me on to the old school martial arts film with the fantastic special effects. Also being groomed by a grandfather who was an avid horror flick fan,I honestly say that you get the best of both worlds in one tremendously action packed film. I saw this movie when I was 6 years old and have been searching high and low for it for 20 years. This film is a definite must for anyone who claims to be a collector of movies such as Master Killer or the old fashioned horror film bfore they all became slash and gore.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: mildly entertaining E. Asian supernatural martial arts hokum
Review: Dracula (John Forbes Robertson) has moved to China for reasons unexplained where he swiftly assumes the bodily appearance of Kah (Shen Chan) presumably because Robertson is a pretty crap Dracula so the less we see of him the better. He resurrects the local talent in the form of the Seven Golden Vampires who proceed to terrorize the neighbouring village. Meanwhile seven brothers from the village led by Hsi Ching (David Chiang) not to mention their sister Ma Kwei (Szu Shih), all, sister included, experts in exotic martial arts, recruit Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) with his expertise on vampires and such to mount an expedition to go and kill the vampires. They are joined by van Helsing's boring son Leyland (Robin Stewart) and some rich Scandinavian type lady (Julie Ege) both of whom seem a bit pointless as they are crap at fighting and experts on nothing. But presumably the makers of this feared that Western audiences would need someone to `identify' with and would be too ethnically parochial to identify with all these Chinese folks. The Chinese goodies, at any rate, are a formidable bunch, so to improve the odds, Dracula is able to summon a large army of zombies to his side. Happily, these are so completely crap at fighting that even the Europeans can kick their butt. The Seven Golden Vampires are a bit more of a tricky proposition and stretch our heroes to the full. Dracula himself, not being much of a kung fu sort takes something of a back seat and when, finally van Helsing is left to confront his arch-enemy, the latter's defeat is surprisingly and very anti-climactically swift and straightforward.

This is Hammer films fairly close to the end and running out of steam, looking around for novelty takes on their standard themes. It's not bad though, as we've seen since, the marriage of martial arts and horror is something the Chinese can do a whole lot better for themselves. If you're after wonderfully entertaining East Asian supernatural martial arts hokum check out, if you haven't already, Siu-Tung Ching's brilliant `A Chinese Ghost Story'. This, I'm afraid is just very mildly entertaining East Asian supernatural martial arts hokum.


Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Dracula in the East ... pretty neat idea!
Review: From the Hammer Collection. An original Shaw Bros. Film from HongKong. The DVD comes in 2 version, one on each side of the disc ( US release, and Asian release ). I watch this film when it was originally released in '74, the color redition is very good. The story is about Count Dracula in Transylvania who was trapped inside his castle when he was last defeated by Dr. Van Helsing. At that same instance in China, a Vampiric Cult which worshipped 7 vampires was also on the rampage. The cult ravage the village it was in by abducting women whom they literally kill to sustain themselves. A chinese peasant tried to save his daughter who too was abducted, but was too late to do so... in the process he killed one of the 7 vampire, but died in the process. The cult slowly desintegrated, and the monk leading the cult decided to seek help from ...guess who? Count Dracula in Transylvania. He travelled there, and found Dracula. And Dracula used him to escape his entombment in the castle. Travelling to China, Dracula took the role of the monk and revive the vampiric cult. At this time, Dr. Van Helsing ( Peter Cushing)and his son was in China giving a lecture on vampirism. He was only taken seriously by a student named Hsi Ching ( David Chiang ) who coincidentally was the descendant of the peasant who killed one of the original vampires. He believed in Dr. Van Helsing and wanted the doctor to help him eradicate the vampires now terrorising his village. The movie has some exciting Kung-Fu fight scene which have all-together disappear from the silver screen. This movie brings back some of those wonderful scene although unrealistic, but certainly worth watching. Unless you like old Kung-Fu shows, stay away from this one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Goofy fun!
Review: I hadn't heard much about the film before I bought it, save for the following: vampires, zombies, kung-fu and... Peter Cushing!!! Combining all those elements together, I just knew I couldn't stay away from this movie! I went in expecting it to be extremely cheesy (like most Hammer films), yet extremely fun to watch (also like most Hammer films). Needless to say, I was not disappointed. Once again, Peter Cushing turns in a great performance as vampire hunter extraordinaire Professor Van Helsing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fan-freakin'-tastic!
Review: If you are a Shaw Brothers fan, a "Black-Belt Theater" buff, a vampire collector, or a Peter Cushing freak, this movie is for you!

Now the fact that Peter Cushing is tracking Dracula to China is reason enough to pick up this flick. But wait, there is more!
Along the way Drac gets the help of the legendary "7 Golden Vampires" and Peter Cushing (as VonHelsing)gets some help of his own in the form of a Kung-Fu sibling team up. You see, the 7 Golden Vampires destroyed their village, and they want VonHelsing to help them get revenge.

Just when you think you couldn't fit another cliche into one movie, this movie features "Son of VonHelsing" and the Kung-Fu sister in a love element.

Get a pizza and phone the friends, this movie is a non-stop laugh riot.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of Hammers best!
Review: If you like Cushing/Martial Arts/Vampires/Hammer Films/Dracula........then this is for you. I love this film, being a fan of this led me to "The Vampire Hunters" (much more recent)another excellent film. I've been collecting Cushing films for years, many missing in action (imagine my hapiness at locating "Shock Waves"). With Anchor Bay releasing classic B-Films perhaps they'll finish off my collection of the Cushing/Non-Hammer films (out of print). Don't miss this movie.....its a must for many people with several different genre collections.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The infamous guilty pleasure Hammer Kung Fu vampire movie
Review: In the old days there was "Billy the Kid Meets Dracula," but for our generation it was "Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires," or, as it was released in the U.S. (with severe cuts) "The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula." This Hammer film has essentially nothing to do with any of the other Dracula or vampire movies produced by the studio, although Peter Cushing is back once again as Professor Van Helsing. What it does have to do with is the kung-fu craze sparked by all those fun Bruce Lee movies and the fact that Far Eastern audiences had been eating up Hammer's movies for years. Thus we have this collaboration between Hammer and the Shaw Brothers of Hong Kong (insert gong sound here).

It seems that back in 1804 a Chinese priest named Kah made his way to the castle of Dracula (John Forbes-Robertson this time around), to ask the Count to revive the seven vampires of his cult back in China. Dracula agrees and then we jump ahead a century to find Van Helsing lecturing on vampires in Chungking. While relating the legend of the seven golden vampires (so named becomes masks of beaten gold hide their ugly faces), he meets with Hsi Ching (David Chiang), who knows of the Professor's winning streak against Dracula and begs him to help save his village from the vampires. Ching has six brothers (hence the American title) and a sister, who are all martial arts experts. There is a bit more exposition, and then we get down to some serious fighting between the vampires and the brothers Ching. Actually, for its time, the martial arts sequences are above average. Cushing has his part nailed, as well he should by this point in his career, and Chiang is a passable Lee-clone. This one is fun, a classic example of how crazy ideas can work in the wacky world of the movies. Check this one out.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The infamous guilty pleasure Hammer Kung Fu vampire movie
Review: In the old days there was "Billy the Kid Meets Dracula," but for our generation it was "Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires," or, as it was released in the U.S. (with severe cuts) "The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula." This Hammer film has essentially nothing to do with any of the other Dracula or vampire movies produced by the studio, although Peter Cushing is back once again as Professor Van Helsing. What it does have to do with is the kung-fu craze sparked by all those fun Bruce Lee movies and the fact that Far Eastern audiences had been eating up Hammer's movies for years. Thus we have this collaboration between Hammer and the Shaw Brothers of Hong Kong (insert gong sound here).

It seems that back in 1804 a Chinese priest named Kah made his way to the castle of Dracula (John Forbes-Robertson this time around), to ask the Count to revive the seven vampires of his cult back in China. Dracula agrees and then we jump ahead a century to find Van Helsing lecturing on vampires in Chungking. While relating the legend of the seven golden vampires (so named becomes masks of beaten gold hide their ugly faces), he meets with Hsi Ching (David Chiang), who knows of the Professor's winning streak against Dracula and begs him to help save his village from the vampires. Ching has six brothers (hence the American title) and a sister, who are all martial arts experts. There is a bit more exposition, and then we get down to some serious fighting between the vampires and the brothers Ching. Actually, for its time, the martial arts sequences are above average. Cushing has his part nailed, as well he should by this point in his career, and Chiang is a passable Lee-clone. This one is fun, a classic example of how crazy ideas can work in the wacky world of the movies. Check this one out.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining hybrid of horror and martial arts
Review: The movie begins with a rather stupid opening sequence with the Chinese villain Ka asking Dracula (not Christopher Lee this time) to resurrect the 7 Golden Vampires. Though Ka is speaking Chinese and Drac is speaking English, somehow they both understand what the other is saying. Soon Dracula takes on Ka's image and goes about creating an undead army to attack a small village. Billed as "the first kung fu horror spectacular" (Why wasn't the movie called ENTER THE VAMPIRE? You can imagine Bruce Lee in this) there are some exciting martial arts sequences and a good cast led by horror legend Peter Cushing, once again in his role as Van Helsing. Another special highlight is Julie Ege's generous bosom; her accent is also delighfully, chillingly erotic.(Or maybe that's just my overabundance of testosterone speaking for me). Anyhow this is a fun, unique horror/ kung fu flick. A minor cult classic ripe for rediscovery.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Legend of Kung Fu Boredom
Review: This Hammer attempt to capture the new kung-fu market, which was expanding in the early 1970's thanks to the auspices of the Shaw Production team, is a failure. Hammer fans were growing up and the studio did not attempt to make more mature pictures, instead they saw their numbers dwindle even more by teaming up the Dracul legend with Kung-Fu action set in Peiking. Most of Hammer's audience was now watching 70's porn which showed more than the mere bulging breasts that Hammer had given fans in the 1960's. Peter Cushing is once again back as the mad professor Van Hesling and he is giving a lecture on vampires in China.

The mood is mysterious but there is never really any strong plot to get the viewer interested, instead we get terrible kung fu action sequences, mixed with cheap sword play. One example is the Englishman who is fighting off 8 dead zombies, he doesnt know how to fight and yet he is beating off the gruesome creatures! The only thing that is good to say is that the vampires are a cheap mixture of Italian special effects which arent that bad, almost bordering on the Dead Knights Templars series which had been a hit in Spain. If you have nothing else to do, go ahead and see this but don't expect more than a few moments of interest.




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