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Horst Janson, Shane Briant, Caroline Munro, John Cater, Ian Hendry ... see more see more... , Elizabeth Dear , John Hollis , Robert James , Terence Sewards , Wanda Ventham , William Hobbs , Trevor Lawrence , Lois Daine , John Carson , Peter Davidson

A late entry from the foundering Hammer Studios, this intriguing and highly original twist on the vampire motif -- featuring for once a hero more charismatic than the vampires with which he does battl... read more read more...e -- was the first in a planned series of Kronos films, but poor planning on behalf of its overseas distributors killed the franchise's great potential in the American market. Kronos (Horst Janson) -- a kind of swashbuckling Sherlock Holmes of the occult sciences -- and his hunchbacked companion Professor Grost (John Cater), arrive in the village of Durward where the local young wenches are being victimized by a family of vampires that drain youth, not blood, from their victims, turning them into withered old hags. Kronos' mystical intuition and powers of deduction lead him to the elderly Lady Durward (Wanda Ventham) and her pompous children Paul (Shane Briant) and Sara (Lois Daine), and he soon squares off against his vampiric foes with a lethal sword (fashioned from a sacred cross) and a bag of occult tricks (including an interesting use of dead frogs). Well-photographed and cleverly directed by Brian Clemens (Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde), this is one of Hammer's few attempts to broaden its audience in the 1970's -- a trend which reached its zenith of zaniness with everybody kung fu fighting in the Hammer/Shaw Brothers collaboration Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

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57% liked it

3,124 ratings

R, 1 hr. 31 min.

Directed by: Brian Clemens

Release Date: April 7, 1974

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DVD Release Date: October 21, 2003

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Flixster Reviews (150)

  • kenstachnik
    April 25, 2011
    kenstachnik
    A Hammer-Horror Swashbuckling/Western Vampire film with the best crash zooms EVER!
  • ajv2688
    January 1, 2011
    ajv2688
    A swashbuckling vampire tale, I love it. This movie is very cool, it's about a vampire hunter back in the old days, and he travels to this town to slay the vampires. I highly recommend this Hammer horror movie.
  • rubystevens
    November 6, 2008
    rubystevens
    the lead actor was weak but this is a highly entertaining film nonetheless
  • harrycaul
    September 21, 2007
    harrycaul
    This is one of the last great movies Hammer made, and it was a telling display of how out-of-touch the studio was at the time that they sat on it for a couple of years before releasing it and went back to producing the increasingly dire Dracula series. This is a fabulously entert... read moreaining, audacious and offbeat movie which introduces elements of the western and swashbuckler genres to the vampire yarn.
  • DrStrangeblog
    April 14, 2012
    DrStrangeblog
    Successful entry in the Hammer horror vault due to very artful direction by Brian Clemens who also wrote the intelligent script. Kronos (Horst Janson), he of the too-tight trousers and too-short tunic, arrives in a village where young women are found in the forest with withered ... read morefaces, drained of life. Is this the work of a new species of vampire? Hunchbacked professor Grost (John Cater) and wild beauty Carla (Caroline Munro) accompany Kronos as he roots out this menace in the 18th century.

    There are many violent acts but interestingly very little is shown onscreen, apart from a fairly competently staged sword duel. Instead we see the aftermath - blood dripping down a lampshade or a basket of broken eggs carried by a victim - which doesn't give much of a visceral thrill but I appreciated its unusual cerebral style. I also liked how the identity of the vampire(s) are not who you might suspect at first, so the surprise ending was genuinely a surprise!
  • patrickdol
    July 28, 2009
    patrickdol
    Allow me to gush: This film is AWESOME.
    So it takes place in the times of the swashbuckle, you have your one dimensional (2 at most) hero, his smart as hell sidekick, who together comprise of a great vampire hunting team. The sidekick knows everything there is to know about vampi... read morere, and is intelligent as hell while Kronos, our hero, is like the gunslinger of fencing swords... or should I say samurai? Well that's actually where this film gets interesting as it shares so many attributes with the Italian western or the samurai film. Not only that but it has a healthy dose of Italian and French exploitation appeal, and is produced by a British studio (Hammer, to be exact). So what you have is a cowboy/samurai/brit-horror hybrid or sorts that works despite it's slow parts and especially because of it's cheese and B appeal.
    It climaxes in an excited sword fight as well.
    How can you loose?
  • johnxerxes
    May 13, 2012
    johnxerxes
    the peasant girls are in danger in the woods again! Luckily for Caroline Munro, looking brilliant and acting through hair flips, the sword buckling master vampire killer is here. Captain Kronos, himself, is a bit of a dork. But he has a hunchback, academic assistant who is probab... read morely a Red Communist or at least a Trotskyite. Of course, you figure out who or WHOM is behind all the blood draining fairly quickly, but luckily the movie does not waste any time making you wait for the pay off. Great movie this one. Especially for the tree sitting stake outs and the weird dead frog traps.
  • Johnlindsey289
    June 7, 2010
    Johnlindsey289
    Brilliant vampire movie and one of Hammer's greatest movies. This is one of the movies that feature vampires that are part of the Psychic-vampire or Psi-vampire or energy-vampire variety kind of vampire where they don't suck blood but suck out energy/youth/lifeforces instead like... read more in 1985's Lifeforce or Sleepwalkers.

    This movie is even better than Van Helsing all the way and it paved the way for similar vampire hunter movies like Vampire Hunter D series to all the way to Blade even though Blade was a Marvel comic made in 1973 but the movies are similar to Kronos.

    Caroline Munro is a gorgeous b-movie and British actress for this film and this is one of my favorite Hammer movie and vampire movies.
  • mikeboas
    January 25, 2010
    mikeboas
    Kronos could have been a James Bond or Indiana Jones of the vampire killing variety, but he lacks a certain personality. Still, I would have liked to see Hammer Studios try again -- sequels could have improved on the character.
  • jscottcorley
    July 2, 2009
    jscottcorley
    So Captain Kronos is a totally shitty vampire hunter. Movie spends 80 minutes confusingly building up to a face-off between Kronos and a character you have not seen even once before.

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Critic Reviews

Scott Weinberg
April 6, 2004
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

A goofily endearing old chestnut, and one that any self-respecting horror fan will eventually want to check out for themselves. Full Review

Eric Henderson
October 27, 2003
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine

Today, irony has started to look more and more like the death knell for serious horror films, and so the relative straightforwardness of a Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is a welcome throwback. Full Review

March 12, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 9, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
October 21, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

August 16, 2007
Time Out

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May 24, 2003
Film4

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  • What was the profession of Captain Kronos, according to the title of a 1970s Hammer Horror movie?  Answer »
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