When I first heard that the Hammer Dracula cycle had ended on a co-production with shaw-brothers I nearly wet my pants. But then I read countless negative opinions of the movie so I watched it with a little trepidation.
However what I saw was brilliant. I really don't see why this movie is loathed so much. I love it!
Me either...I really like this movie & I am not a generally a fan of "Hong Kong Chop Suey" Bruce Lee-type Kung-fu movies. I thought Hammer did a comendable job of trying to go in a different & unconventional directino with their vampire series (I guarantee if they had done just another "old-castle-Gothic-type Vampire movie set in England, people would be complaining how it's a case of "been there, done that at thousand times"...you can't win sometimes!).
I thought the fight scenes were very well choreographed, there was a really creepy sense of atmosphere, such as the Undead rising from the graves from nearby the protagonists (a la THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA) and the slow motion horseback riding of the vampires down the dirt road (a la TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD...both effects still chillingly effective dispite having been done before), the sense of dread & uneasy anticipation as the heroes are waiting in the fortress for the arrival of the undead zomobies and the remaining Golden Vampires...the wind getting louder & the sand blowing & the barred doors flying open & the inevitable attack...well at least I though it was pretty creepy!
Also, the fact that the 7 brothers (and one sister) were not invincible...5 of them die in the climatic battle (including the main one played by David Chiang, who you'd have thought would be the one to survive), and 2 get to survive....2 of the "other" brothers (generally, in a movie like this, all the "nameless/faceless" characters exist only to get killed off while the main guys survive). Julie Ege, the nominal "heroine", is killed off as she unexpectedly becomes a vampire (which leads Mr. Chiang to commit suicide after he kills her), and the little sister (Shih Szu), who proves herself a capable fighter herself, survives to the end.
Other nifty tidbits include Peter Cushing, obviously getting up there in years, being an active, vital participant in the fight scenes, wielding spear and torch with lots of skill (dispaching a fair amount of the undead) rather than being just a passive onlooker while the younger guys do all the fighting. His seemingly pampered son (Robin Stewart), at first glance appearing to be probably just another spoiled "I'm afraid to get my clothes dirty" kind of fellow, shows his skill at fisticuffs and "kung-fu" style fighting as well, completely holding his own in the fight scenes (although you'd think he'd have been a bit more comfortable if he removed his suit coat at some point!).
The idea of the Chinese vampire possibly being different than the traditional English ones Van Helsing was used to battling (and Cushing references to this fact & admits that he isn't that up on the Chinese vampires) I though was a nice touch, as was Dracula's taking the form of the Chinese warlord (or whatever Kah was). John Forbes-Robertson did a competent job as Dracula (although the early scene of him with the clownish makeup was almost laughable...fortunately Hammer seemed to recognize this pretty quick & by next scene he is in blueish light and the makeup isn't as noticeable), and the NOSFERATU-like scene of him rising from his crypt was rather chilling.
The fight scenes had the approproate amount of action, and gore, and (like the heroes), the undead and even the Golden Vampires of the title were not undefeatable, with casualties being suffered on both sides.
All in all, I thought this was a right combination of action and chills and was never boring. The fight scenes did not go on so long that they became repetitive (a common flaw in these Kung-fu type films, which seem sometimes to be one long extended fight throught the movie!), but were long enough to be exciting, the slower, "scary" scenes were appropriately creepy, and even the talky dialog scenes were interesting and kept to a minimum. The film is not without it's flaws surely (the climatic battle scene of van Helsing & Dracula could have been longer...Van Helsing dispatches Dracula a bit TOO easily & quickly), but I do not think it deserves the scathing it has gotten. Rather, Hammer should be congratulated for taking the familiar Vampire myth in a new direction with mostly satisfactory results.
"(although the early scene of him with the clownish makeup was almost laughable."
I got the impression that the makeup was designed to be used under the greenish light, and for some reason they shot the first closeups under the normal light. If you notice, it doesn't look so bad from a distance; the rising from the crypt looks good.
Despite the poor make-up, silly dialogue and sometimes
weak camera work, this movie can be a lot of fun.
There were a lot of unexpected twists, and the fights
were actually pretty good. I think this movie would be
great for a re-make with a higher budget and better fx,
but of course it would probably turn out to be a shoddy
Syfy production.
In any case, if you're a fan of Hammer horror and kung-fu
movies, you shouldn't pass this one up.
Gotta agree that this film doesn't deserve it's highly negative reputation. It's by no means brilliant, but it is a lot of fun. And sometimes fun is enough. Plus Peter Cushing is always good value, as he was again here.
Agreed. This film is a whole lot of loopy and energetic fun.
I'm a totally bitchin' bio writer from Mars!
It was alright. Kung fu movies aren't my cup of tea to be honest so because of that I didn't like it quite as much as the other Dracula movies. But just because it's not my favorite of the series doesn't mean it's a bad movie because it's not. I thought it was just okay. Not great, not terrible.
Death lives in the Vault of Horror!
This movie doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is. Seems the sour-pusses who don't like it are taking it too seriously.
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