Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter [DVD] [1973]

Made in 1972, but not released until 1974, this is an interesting departure from Hammer's usual vampire cycle, which consisted of the Dracula series, and the softcore Le Fanu adaptations.Horst Janson plays the swordsman Captain Kronos travelling the European countryside hunting all things fanged, ably assisted by his hunchbacked friend Professor Hieronymous Grost, an expert in vampire mythology. He comes to a village where all the young women are ageing and dying prematurely, and realises something is clearly very wrong.Janson is a bit wooden as the title hero, but John Cater is excellent as Grost, and Caroline Munro is also excellent as Kronos' feisty love interest Carla.What really makes the film a winner for me is some lovely stylistic touches such as the flowers and vegetation withering as the vampire passes and theres some welcome black humour to be found in the film as well. It was supposedly the first of a planned series of Kronos adventures, that sadly never made it to the screen.All in all, another example of how Hammer were at their most creatively diverse during the 1970's, and if youre tired of yet another Dracula remake, try giving this a bite instead

I have recently purchased the DD version which if it helps is what the pictured disc cover looks like - Hammer logo and the film title in garish green with Caroline Munro lurking at the bottom (!) I got confused for a while because the Amazon reviews cross over to all versions. This version has the booklet and you should not be put off by the very grainy picture on Amazon. And what about the film itself which I haven't seen for many years? Not quite as refreshing as it was way back then but still an enjoyable romp. I couldn't help having flashbacks to The Avengers because of the incidental music provided by Laurie Johnson (a la The Avengers). Strange mix of spaghetti western-style swordplay and classic Hammer horror.

I remembered this from my student days, when we spent Saturday nights around the telly, entertained by the double-horror bills (on BB2, I think), whilst stuffing our faces with pizza and engaging in other student-type, er, practices (Kronos's Chinese herb pipeweed should give you a clue). I have a soft spot for the old Hammer stuff. This is a slightly different take on the vampire genre, and has the odd glimmer of off-beat style and flair here and there, courtesy of its script and direction by Brian Clemens, who was responsible for The Avengers and its cult essence. Unfortunately Kronos has not worn as well as my memory would have wished, and the quality of the print on the DVD is abysmal in low-lit scenes (in other words, you can't actually see what is going on). I don't know if a better print is available in another format.Anyway: Captain Kronos (Horst Janson) is itinerant after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, travelling with his hunchback professor comrade to - yes, you've guessed it - seek out and destroy vampires wherever they be, in Mittel Europe at least. He's led to the village of an old doctor friend, to investigate the demise of people who've been found with the life sucked out of them, left as wizened relics.... I'd never heard of Horst Janson before this film and must confess I've never heard of him since, but he isn't that bad an actor, just lacking in charisma (think James Hunt crossed with Bjorn Borg). There are some excellent sword fighting scenes and a chance to see old stalwart actors like Ian Hendry and Wanda Ventham. The story has a slightly unexpected twist, there is a maverick touch when an innocent maiden goes to church - the place of safety, surely - to pray, and the silhouette of the cross on the wall begins to move its arms. So, a nostalgic revist to a fondly recalled oldie; but get a better print if you can, and maybe buy with a couple of friends to get better value.

I first saw this soon after it was released in 1973, and I've been a fan ever since. The opening is unforgettable - a handsome rider on a horse (Kronos, played by Horst Janson) canters across a lush landscape, followed by a rattling wagon loaded with stakes, crosses, and other tools of the vampire-hunting trade, driven by a black-clad hunchback (Professor Grost, John Cater). They've been summoned by the local schoolteacher, an old friend of Kronos, to investigate the death of a young girl who has been drained of her youth.Captain Kronos is a real oddity in the Hammer oeuvre, featuring a vampire-hunting team that uses weird (early 19th century or thereabouts) science to track down and eliminate vampires in a plot which plays out like a cross between a spaghetti western and the stereotypical vampire adventure, and features vampires that break most of the usual rules. Unlike Hammer's usual fare there are none of the usual suspects - no Dracula, Camilla, or Van Helsing - and many of the usual tropes simply don't work. Almost anyone can be a vampire, and no two are exactly alike, in powers or weaknesses. At one point an important character is horrified to discover that he has actually become a vampire unknowingly, and we're then treated to a harrowing series of "experiments" to find out exactly how his type of vampirism works and how he can be killed. As the story progresses the body count rises, with Kronos responsible for as many deaths as the vampires, leading to an eventual bloody resolution. It's all played out with immense style and occasional flashes of humour.Rumour has it that there were originally intended to be several Kronos films, but for some reason it never happened, Hammer chose instead to stick to Dracula and the other old familiar tropes. It's a real shame, because this film had a witty style singularly lacking from Hammer's usual extruded vampire product.