Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974) April 24, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Blogroll, Horror, 1970s films, Kung Fu , trackbackDirector: Roy Ward Baker Starring: David Chiang, Peter Cushing Action Director: Lau Kar-Leung Territory: UK/Hong Kong Production Company: Hammer/Shaw Brothers
Dracula is visited in his Transylvanian lair by a Chinese man hoping to resurrect his vampires. Instead, Dracula possesses and takes over his visitor (you really can’t trust these evil types, can you?) and travels to a small village in China to escape his exile. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is given a lead to Dracula’s whereabouts by Hsi Ching (David Chiang) and they embark on a trek across China to rid the world of Dracula and his 7 unholy brothers.
By 1974, the once proud Hammer studio was starting to falter. In an obvious effort to latch on to the martial arts “craze” started when Enter the Dragon made it big, they decided to join their usual horror house style with that of the new-fangled eastern type of action. To their credit, at least they went to the Shaw Brothers and tried to do it properly. Hammer and Shaw were quite similar in some respects, and they both eventually went into television when their glory days were over (although the Shaw studios’ decline occurred a few years after Hammer’s).
Unfortunately, Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (AKA Dracula and the Seven Golden Vampires and many, many other titles) doesn’t really work. The action scenes seem bolted on, and the horror scenes are pretty ineffective. There’s a fair amount of talent on the Hong Kong end of the production - Lau Kar-Wing has a very visible role, Si Si is lovely as Hsi Ching’s sister, and none other than Lau Kar-Leung directs the action. But it’s David Chiang that’s supposed to drive the film.
I know what’s it’s starting to look like – this is the third David Chiang film in a row I’ve written about. I assure you all that much as I admire the guy, this is all purely co-incidence. It’s not like I’m in love with him or anything.
Anyway. It’s a bit of a shock to hear his real voice, which is higher in pitch than I’d have expected. Although not able to speak English, he learned his lines phonetically, and doesn’t come off as badly as you might imagine (although I strongly suspect he says “destroyded” at one point). It’s quite a novelty to hear him speak in English, and one that doesn’t wear off. Unfortunately, he is given very little to do on the action front, and what’s there isn’t all that thrilling.
The horror aspect is lacking, too. It might have turned out great if Chrispopher Lee played Dracula, but instead you have a guy who really doesn’t look the part. Having said that, the titular seven Vampires actually aren’t too bad. I mean, they look pretty ropey, but there’s a semi-neat plot device linking their powers to their medallions. They also have an evil lair where young ladies are drained of blood and killed, but I’m not sure if this was included for its horror factor or was just an excuse to show some nipple action. Both, probably.
The supporting cast (Julie Ege and Robin Stewart) tries to add a bit of romance and depth to the film, but once again it falls flat on its face, and I found I couldn’t give a toss about any of them. It’s such a shame that the only UK/Hong Kong collaboration didn’t work out, as the mixing of the genres could have produced a real cult classic. Instead, this vampire movie just sucks – and not in a good way.
Comments»
Interesting - I do kind of fancy watching it again but this text puts it into a realistic perspective. Those pair in the still look like they’ve been kicked out of a student party or something. I seem to remember those 7 vamps reminding me of the Blind Dead - is that accurate or is my memory playing tricks on me?
Yeah, you’re not far wrong with that, although I think the Blind Dead just have the edge. It’s one of those films you WANT to enjoy, but after half an hour or so, you realise it ain’t going to happen. I think I was fairly rat-arsed as well the last time I gave it a go! By the way, please point out any inaccuracies in the Hammer comments I’ve made - it’s obviously more your area than mine and I’m not sure of my sources.
Anyway, stay tuned, I’ve got something planned that you may like towards the end of the week
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Only thing I would have mentioned was the comment regarding Hammer’s ‘demise’ - I don’t think they ever officially actually ceased altogether. Oviously they haven’t made films for 3 decades but since their TV series in the 80s they seem to have continued to function producing retrospective documentaries and arranging events and things like that - there’s been talk of a new film now for 15 years or so. One day I’m sure it’ll happen (or at least Ingrid Pitt keeps telling us).