Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (1974)

A Different, Inventive Kind Of Vampire Film

I've only seen a couple of Hammer horror films, but I'm impressed. They seem to be subtly effective if you're looking for a few thrills and chills, not overdoing the gore, being mild on the language but yet having a definite edge to them.

"Captain Kronos" isn't super but it's enjoyable. The direction is excellent, the DVD transfer looked nice, and - like a good mystery - there's a good twist at the end regarding the murderer, er.....vampire. For us guys, there are also a lot of pretty women in here, too. The acting isn't the best but who cares? It's entertaining, and not made to be taken seriously.

I enjoyed the team of "Captain Kronos and Professor Hieronymous-Grost," and I'm surprised there wasn't a sequel. These two guys make a good team: Horst Janson as the younger, dashing swordsman, and John Cater as the older assistant. The latter provides a little comic relief, too. Their relationship reminded me a bit of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce at "Holmes and Watson."

The good captain is not your normal vampire hunter. He's just as anxious to get it on with the ladies, and he has a sexy one for a partner in Caroline Munro as "Carla." Kronos also smokes "herbal" cigars! The brief touches of comedy, western, swashbuckling, horror, mystery, romance, sex, supernatural, and who-knows-what else all make it an inventive and fun hour-and-a-half. Hey, it even gives God several good plugs! This horror movie is different, all right.
November 12, 2008

"And suddenly the toad shall live"

By 1974 Hammer Films was in its death throes, its films had become formulaic--boring and predicatable. Their vampire films in particular were suffering from severe anemia despite copious amounts of blood being spilled, and not even the savage, arrogant charisma of Christoper Lee seemed capable of rescuing the Dracula films from certain death at the box office. It was at this point that Hammer finally decided to change its approach. Toward this end they hired Brian Clemens, best known for his work on television's AVENGERS, to "revamp" the genre. The film he created was CAPTAIN KRONOS VAMPIRE HUNTER, possibly the freshest, most creative vampire film to ever grace the genre. It completely re-thought the entire concept of the vampire, taking him out of the drawing room that Bela Lugosi had been limited to and away from the image of the revenge seeking, magnetic animal Christopher Lee frequently portrayed. His vampires (for this film was to have been the FIRST of a series of films) would be of many types, almost as if they were each of a different species. They would each "live" in a different manner, survive by taking different things from their victims, be detected in different ways, and be destroyed by totally different means as well. How cool is that?! In addition to having a good old fashioned monster movie of sorts we are also given a new type of monster movie that includes a mystery to be unraveled.

CAPTAIN KRONOS begins with the arrival of our titular hero (portrayed by Horst Jansen)who sports a Japanese katana,and his hunchbacked assistant/mentor Professor Hieronymos Grost (John Cater). They are seeking the village of Durward having been summoned by Kronos' old friend Dr. Marcus after some very strange deaths occurred in the village. Along the way they encounter the luscious Carla (Caroline Munro), a naughty gypsy girl whom Kronos frees from the stocks. Her crime? Dancing on Sunday. Of course she joins them, which is handy since they will need her for vampire bait later in the story. Marcus quickly fills our intrepid duo of vampire hunters in on the killer's modus operandi; it seems that young girls have suddenly been drained of their youth and left to die of old age, with only the slightest trace of blood upon their lips! This is a killer who seems to have no respect either for crosses or, as we soon learn, churchs themselves since one of the next girls meets her doom within the supposed safety of a church's walls. There are still more deaths as Kronos and Grost lay traps devised from Grost's knowledge of ancient folklore in an effort to determine the vampire's identity. Since this vampire steals youth itself from its victims rather than blood, they must seek out someone who has a "cheek with a bloom on it".

CAPTAIN KRONOS is one of the few 34 year old films that plays as well today as it did when it was initially released. One reason was the addition of the swordplay scenes which were choreographed by William Hobbs who also choreographed the 1974 Richard Lester version of THE THREE MUSKETEERS. The fight between Hobbs and Jansen pitted katana against a fencing foil and had a wonderfully, messy, realistic look to the action. The use of the katana was no doubt intended to capitalize on the new-found popularity of Asian martial arts films in the west. Hammers' own co-production with Shaw Brothers THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES was released in 1974 as well. Another reason was the film's absolute break from the traditional Hammer/Hollywood vamps whose vampire "lore" had been established primarily by Bram Stoker in his novel and which had been taken as gospel ever since. Instead Clemens has given us something unique and completely original. This is a vampire film based on folklore rather than a Victorian novel, some of the lore is real some of it "reel". The influences of its ground breaking storyline can still be seen today in BLADE and BUFFY and their ilk where for better or worse vampires and their eternal foes have evolved into the 21st century and perhaps fallen into their own brand new cliches. While we may occasionally long for a good old fashioned Victorian romp a la Cushing and Lee, I still live for the day that I might walk into a movie and see something as stunningly original as CAPTAIN KRONOS was in 1974.

This film unfortunately failed upon its initial release for reasons I can't fathom. Its recent release on dvd seems to have enabled it to finally have found its audience however, and its about time. But its far too late to do us any good. There will never be a series of CAPTAIN KRONOS films as Brian Clemens had intended, and all I can say is what a loss. If you haven't seen it, pick up a copy and give it a chance. The photography and sets are excellent and the film simply oozes vintage Hammer in that respect. The actors are all at their peak--Jansen, who looks like a taller, blonder Roman Polanski, was dubbed even though his English was supposedly more than acceptable--I defy you to notice the dub job. There is virtually no violence, the "killing blow" is delivered via a kiss, and even less gore. But there are a great many wonderful touches that more than compensate for this. And best of all the script and direction by Brian Clemens couldn't be better--with THE AVENGERS on one's resume, what would you expect?

Come on, give it a try!
October 7, 2008

Stylish twist on Vampire legend

Brian Clemens, responsible for the cult classic TV series The Avengers, creates another cult classic of sorts with this film. While it was regulated to second-billed drive-in theatres at the time of release, it deserved better treatment. Excellent cast including several actors who appeared in Avengers episodes make this a must-see for fans of the series. September 29, 2008

CORNY, RIDICULOUS, SILLY MOVIE.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME ON THIS STUPID MOVIE. IT IS AS CORNY AS CORNY GETS. October 3, 2007

Kronos: Good Action but Missing a Hammer HaveTo Have

Saw Kronos when it was on the horror circuit in Nashville right after it came out and again several times since. First time, I assumed it had been censored for US (by then odd but still possible). Later found Munro did not do nude scenes - strongly suspect that had a good bit to do with lack of success (R-rated, '70s, no nudity!!??!!).
On the other hand, the pub fight scene was wonderfully accurate as to the near certain result of three local toughs troubling a trained fighter with a quality sword. Quite much fun!!! September 23, 2007

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