I saw this movie on television several years ago and remember it as being a confusing mess of chop-suey. After viewing the Anchor Bay version on DVD last night, I realize that, first time round, I must have been watching the bowdlerized version known as "Seven Brothers Meet Dracula." While not the best Hammer movie ever made, "Golden Vampires" is a coherent and entertaining movie that kept my interest throughout. I am not a martial arts fan, but this is basically a horror movie with some martial arts thrown in, and I enjoyed it as such. Peter Cushing is in fine form as Prof. Van Helsing, but John Forbes-Robertson's Dracula is a pale imitation of Christoper Lee's iconic vampire. Perhaps I would have felt differently if Dracula had been given more to do. As it is, he makes only a cameo appearance at the beginning and very end of the movie.
For the most part, the movie chronicles the adventures of the seven brothers (and one sister) as they travel with Van Helsing to their ancestral village to rid it of a vampire curse. The siblings are all skilled in the martial arts, which partially compensates for their lack of distinctive personalities. They overcome numerous obstacles along the way before finally reaching the village and encountering the vampires and their zombie allies in one final battle. The movie ends with the obligatory encounter between Van Helsing and Dracula, which is brief and somewhat unsatisfying.
Again, this is not the best Hammer movie I've ever seen, but I have to give the studio credit for trying. The later Christopher Lee Dracula movies were getting awfully repetitive and formulaic, and the decision to move the locale to China (after an opening sequence in Dracula's castle) offered interesting possibilities for a new approach to the old vampire legend. Indeed, the sight of Oriental vampires riding horses and wielding swords and aided by legions of zombies did make for some interesting viewing.
This movie is definitely a "must see" for all aficionados of Hammer horror and well worth a look for other horror fans. I wonder whether the clowns who hacked up "Golden Vampires" and turned it into "Seven Brothers" are the same talentless morons who ruined "Kiss of the Vampire" and "Evil of Frankenstein" for television. Their names should be posted on a wall of shame, so all will know who they are!
For the most part, the movie chronicles the adventures of the seven brothers (and one sister) as they travel with Van Helsing to their ancestral village to rid it of a vampire curse. The siblings are all skilled in the martial arts, which partially compensates for their lack of distinctive personalities. They overcome numerous obstacles along the way before finally reaching the village and encountering the vampires and their zombie allies in one final battle. The movie ends with the obligatory encounter between Van Helsing and Dracula, which is brief and somewhat unsatisfying.
Again, this is not the best Hammer movie I've ever seen, but I have to give the studio credit for trying. The later Christopher Lee Dracula movies were getting awfully repetitive and formulaic, and the decision to move the locale to China (after an opening sequence in Dracula's castle) offered interesting possibilities for a new approach to the old vampire legend. Indeed, the sight of Oriental vampires riding horses and wielding swords and aided by legions of zombies did make for some interesting viewing.
This movie is definitely a "must see" for all aficionados of Hammer horror and well worth a look for other horror fans. I wonder whether the clowns who hacked up "Golden Vampires" and turned it into "Seven Brothers" are the same talentless morons who ruined "Kiss of the Vampire" and "Evil of Frankenstein" for television. Their names should be posted on a wall of shame, so all will know who they are!