Runtime:
91 minutes
Directed
by: Brian Clemens
Starring:
Horst Janson, John Carson, Shane Briant, Caroline Munro
From:
Hammer
I
have returned to Hammer and this time it's one of their later films.
They would shut down a few years after this came out. I had heard of
this for a long while and last year I picked up the DVD for only a
few bucks. I figured this would be the appropriate time to watch it. And it's just a coincidence this is the same week as the DVD/Blu-Ray release of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
The
plot: in a remote town in England, several bodies are discovered and
they look to be unnaturally aged far beyond what they're supposed to
look like. A swashbuckling (but not a pirate; a vampire-fighting
pirate would be awesome, though; he was an Army captain) guy known as Captain Kronos (Janson)
is called in to investigate. He discovers it's the work of a special
sect of vampires that drain victims of its youth; interesting twist.
Overall,
I see why this has a cult following. There is your share of
wackiness; after all, Captain Kronos has a sidekick who is a
professor and just so happens to be a hunchback. He early on rescues
the beautiful Caroline Munro from the stockades; she was put in there
for dancing on the Sabbath. No, really. They team up with the doctor
who brought them into town to try and find that creature.
The
movie does take its time. It's not wall to wall horror or action or
any of that. Yet it's never boring. Talk about atmosphere and mood,
this has it in spades, along with many memorable shots. I mean, when
you see that creature out in the woods (and in the daytime, by the
way) it's always in a black robe where you can't see its face, adding
a whole lot of mystery. Also, there's a shot of the black-hooded
figure walking by some flowers and immediatey they turn black and
die. Awesome. You see hints of Kronos' skills as a master swordsman,
but it's not until near the end that you see it in full force. Oh,
and he smokes specal cigars from an unnamed herb. I'll just presume
it's marijuana based on his enjoyment of them and for comedy's sake.
Because
of the story, the great atmosphere, the memorable characters,
Caroline Munro and her beauty (along with seeing her nude body with
certain parts being strategically covered at some points), the beauty
of the other ladies you see in the film, and how the Captain often
uses his intellect to try and trap his quarry rather than just using
brawn... that is why I enjoyed this movie and it's a shame this did
not do well at the box office, as otherwise there would have been a
series of these movies. Poor Hammer. No surprise with that kind of
luck they soon went belly-up.
I'll
be back Friday afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment