Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (1974) aka Kronos aka Vampire Hunter

4 / 5 Feb '10
Tagline: Evil Ends Here.
Directed by: Brian Clemens
Written by: Brian Clemens
Actors include: Horst Janson, Caroline Munro, Shane Briant
Genre: Horror, Adventure
Length: 91 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Pretty amusing entry into the line of Hammer vampire pictures, this one follows a different sort of tale. See the vampires in this actually suck life from their victims and only leave a bit of blood on the side of their mouths. Additionally they prey on young women and when finished, their faces are extremely aged (or rather they each turn to the face of an old man wearing a wig). There is a heroic vampire hunter by the name of Captain Kronos (Horst Janson) fighting the good fight along with a wench he saved and his hunchback assistant. Thing is, Kronos isn't your typical hero, he's very into sexy ladies and he's been known to smoke herbal cigarettes (nudge nudge wink wink) and well he's a different sort of feller. Admittedly the hooded faceless vampire lurking about the woods is rather creepy and the idea is a very interesting one and it has a neat style to it. I also appreciate that it's unlike any of the others from Hammer that I've seen so far and it's very easy to appreciate. It's not their finest but it's far from their worst, a definite one to watch despite the lack of star power.

Availability:  On DVD

The Damned (1963) aka These Are The Damned

3 / 5 Nov '09
Tagline: Come At Your Own Risk ... If You Come Alone!
Directed by: Joseph Losey
Written by: Evan Jones, H.L. Lawrence
Actors include: Macdonald Carey, Oliver Reed, Shirley Anne Field
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length: 96 minutes
Banned: Nope

 

Review:

Though I generally love Hammer films and I think the idea here was a neat one, I didn't love this movie. It took way to long to get to the actual story and it was as if the first half hour didn't count (minus a boring love story). A group of toughs with Oliver Reed at the helm are trolling about with Reed's sister Joan (not in real life, in the film). Joan meets a man she likes and escapes the toughs (Reed won't allow her to date) so she jumps into this guy's boat. When an accident happens and the couple wind up at this strange place with cold children things get stranger. The children seem so lonely, they are talked to through a television and have never met "warm people" before. Of course the couple are compelled to stay and help, but when Reed turns up at the same place (searching for his sister of course) things get weirder. I just wish this were more to the point, less romantic shmoo and less of the terrible theme song the toughs use (seriously bad bad bad). At least the second half of the film is way more interesting than the first half! It really could have been so much better, but instead it feels rather half arsed in my opinion.

Availability:  On DVD as part of the Hammer Icons Of Suspense Collection