The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

Infobox Film
name = The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires


caption = Promotional movie poster for the film
director = Roy Ward Baker
Cheh Chang
producer = Don Houghton
Run Me Shaw
Run Run Shaw
Vee King Shaw
writer = Don Houghton
starring = Peter Cushing
David Chiang
Julie Ege
John Forbes-Robertson
music = James Bernard
cinematography = Roy Ford
John Wilcox
editing = Chris Barnes
distributor = Dynamite Entertainment
released = 1974
runtime = 83 min
country = Hong Kong/UK
language = English/Chinese (Mandarin)
budget =
preceded_by = "The Satanic Rites of Dracula"
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:89950
imdb_id = 0070297

"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.

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.

An inconsistency in the film is 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." Though the opening sequence makes it seem that the Count has been living in China for a century, Van Helsing does mention that he encountered Dracula in the mountains of Transylvania, implying that the first film is in the same continuity. This would make Dracula's visit to China in the opening scene different from the one shown in the main body of the story.

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 (Encounters of the Spooky Kind, Mr. Vampire).

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.

Cast

*Peter Cushing (Dr. Lorrimar van Helsing)
*Julie Ege (Vanessa Buren)
*David Chiang (Hsi Ching)
*John Forbes-Robertson (Count Dracula)
*Shih Szu (Mai Kwei)

Cast notes

*John Forbes-Robertson, who plays Count Dracula in the film's prologue and ending, had previously appeared as the "Man in Black" 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.

External links

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